Monticello Utah Temple - Growth

Leaving Denver, we traveled seven hours through some of the world's most awesome creations, and finally arrived at the Monticello Temple.  Monticello is located just an hour south of Moab Utah, one of the most visited sites of outdoor enthusiasts.   The red mountains reminded me of a question one of our sons asked, many years ago, while driving to a dinosaur bone quarry near Vernal, "Is that dinosaur blood?"

The Monticello Temple was the first of all the small temples built.  However, within a very short time they realized it was too small to accomodate all those who wanted to attend, and it was expanded.  I have heard many times, that the greatest challenge the church faces is accommodating for it's growth.  That's a good problem to have.

The warmth inside the temple was a welcome reprieve from the desert cold.  At the end of our visit, we lingered in the Celestial Room with our son, and quietly discussed questions and impressions.  I realize that even after these many years, I have everything to learn.  I feel like an infant, struggling to take my first steps.

As we prepared to leave, one of the temple presidency took a moment to visit with our son.  He soon discovered that our son knew his grandson, and they had sung in a high school choir together, a few years ago and many miles away.  As I often say, "You just have to be nice to everyone!  You never know if you might be related, or acquainted somehow."

Vernal Utah Temple - Sacred vs Secret

For Christmas, our youngest son, traveled with my husband and I to Denver, to visit our daughter and her young family.  As part of the journey, we discussed attending three temples, the Vernal, Denver and Monticello.

The Vernal Temple is unique among all other temples.  This building was once used as a Tabernacle, where Stake Conference and other general meetings were held, and anyone could attend.  Now that the building has been remodeled and dedicated as a temple, only church members worthy of a temple recommend can enter.  Some people might question why everyone is not allowed inside a temple, once it is dedicated.  The ultimate goal is that everyone would eventually desire to enter the temple, to make additional, sacred covenants with God.  However, it is important to be prepared to make these sacred promises, in order to understand them and because we are held accountable for them.

Similar preparation happens before someone is baptized into the church.  They meet with missionaries, who teach them how to have faith, to repent, and prepare themselves to take upon them the name of Christ, and serve him.   And just like we wait for a young child to reach an age of maturity, knowledge and experience before being allowed to drive a car, so each individual grows and prepares themselves to understand and be willing to accept the consequences of their choices when making spiritual covenants.

So, the purpose of the temple is not to withhold or deny anyone the opportunity to enter, but instead it is an invitation for someone to prepare themselves to receive greater power and understanding about God.  The temple is for individual members of the church who have shown their desires by honoring their baptismal covenants and who seek to receive even greater blessings.

At the conclusion of the session we attended, I was delighted to recognize the wife of a former bishop, serving there.  Her and her husband moved to Vernal many years ago.  We visited for several minutes, and I was reminded what a small world we live in, and continue to cross paths with people again and again.

My husband mentioned how subtile the symbols and decorations were, within the temple.  He said it had a similar beauty as that of the desert, for those with eyes to see.

Birmingham Alabama Temple - The Lord is in the Details

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.