After attending a session in the Birmingham, Alabama Temple, Bill and I visited with some of the temple workers. One of them shared the following story that occurred on the day the temple was dedicated. As with all temple dedications, there was more than one dedication service, in order to allow more people to participate. On that day, the temple ordinance worker we were visiting with, was approached by the Temple President, and was asked to find his sister, and get a sewing machine with notions (thread etc). His sister did sewing as a hobby. He was also asked to arrange for a place for the sewing machine to be used. Locating a surface to sew on was a challenge. The solution he came up with, was using a rectangular mortar slab, that had been used to hold the mortar when the corner stone was put in place. It was washed off and set in one of the offices, for the sewing machine to sit on.
After he located his sister, it was explained to them that President Hinckley made the mistake of bringing a pair of temple pants that were too small, and he was very uncomfortable. As soon as the first temple dedication session was completed, he asked to have them adjusted. What is most interesting, is that the sister who made the adjustment had needed, just the night before, to adjust her son's pants, in preparation for dedication day. So, she knew just what to do. I am touched by how merciful the Lord was in preparing her for this service, and allowing her to have a very personal experience serving the prophet. Of course the Lord could have arranged for the President to have the right size of pants regardless, but I think this was an experience intended to strengthen the faith of those personally involved, including President Hinckley, and how his immediate needs were met. President Hinckley mentioned this experience during the next dedicatory session. This was such a small thing, yet it is the perfect example of how the Lord is aware and involved in the details of our lives.
The Birmingham Temple is one of the smallest of the temples. It, and other small temples dotting nearby states, were built so that members would not have to travel such long distances to get their ordinance work done. Another observation I made, was how personable and intimate the relationships are between the workers and the patrons, because they are fewer in number.
