Open House Begins This Week for the Lindon Utah Temple

Images courtesy of the Church Newsroom.

The newly finished Lindon Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is ready to welcome the public through its doors.

On Monday, March 9, Elder Jorge T. Becerra of the Utah area presidency presided at a media day, sharing his testimony of sacred temples: “The temple is very much a place of light. It’s a place of learning. It’s a place where you put your life in order, in order to increase the light in your life.”

Leading media groups through the temple were Elder James R. Rasband and his wife, Mary. As the Assistant Executive Director in the Temple Department, Elder Rasband expressed a deep love for temple and its role in our Heavenly Father’s plan.

He expressed, “The temple is a place where we learn about God’s love for each of His children and His extraordinary mercy for us,” he said. “I hope that you’ll see that Jesus Christ is at the very center of everything in the temple, and that the blessings that we receive in the temple are only possible because of Him, because of His resurrection, because of His atoning sacrifice, which ensures that this life is not the end of our existence, but it continues on.”

The open house will be held from Thursday, March 12, through Saturday, April 11, 2026 — excluding Saturday, April 4, and Sundays. The temple is located at 850 E Center St Lindon, UT 84042.

Reservations are not required, so visitors may plan to visit as their schedules allow. Temple open houses welcome church members, neighbors, members of other faiths, and anyone who would like to know more about the purpose of temple work. Members are encouraged to invite others to attend the open house with them.

The temple will be dedicated on Sunday, May 3, 2026, and the dedicatory session will be broadcast to all units in the temple district.

Come Follow Me Podcast #39: “It Is Thy House, a Place of Thy Holiness,” Doctrine and Covenants 109-110

Maurine

The building of the Kirtland temple marked a pivotal moment in the history of the earth, a time yearned for for centuries, when this key part of the covenant would be restored to the earth. The Lord said, “I gave unto you a commandment, that you should build an house, in the which house I design to endow those whom I have chosen, with power from on high” (Sec. 95:8).” That power was manifest in astonishing ways that we will talk about today.

Scot

Hello, we’re Scot and Maurine Proctor and welcome to Meridian Magazine’s Come Follow Me podcast where today we are looking at Doctrine and Covenants Section 109 and 110. These include the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple and the restoring of priesthood keys to the earth that happened the next week.

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Latter-day covenant Israel, which we are, must understand clearly, that the restoring of the “Abrahamic covenant path leads to and through the temple.” The temple is a template that gives us that special, covenant connection to God. It gives us that covenant blessing that He is our God and we are His people. When we talk about the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, then, we are talking about a renewing and restoring of that which had been lost for centuries—the opportunity for covenant blessings, without which life can seem very random and barren. We hardly recognize the blessings that flow to us, that began at the Kirtland Temple. The astonishing sacrifice that went into building the temple was met with astonishing, unprecedented, divine manifestations that many beheld. What the restored gospel did that had been lost and was therefore not evident in any other religion, was tie the covenants of Abraham and the ancient prophets to this day. The Lord works with His children in covenants. We’ll explore the awe-inspiring manifestations, but first some context.

We have talked about Kerry Muhlestein’s book God Will Prevail, before, but we highly recommend it. This is what he says about how restoring the covenant with its attendant blessings had been part of the restoration from the beginning.

Scot

He says, “By Joseph Smith’s day, the world had spent too long wandering in mists of darkness rather than pursuing the covenant path. The need for the reinstatement of the Abrahamic covenant was stressed in the opening moments of the Restoration. In his First Vision, Joseph Smith was taught that one of the reasons God was displeased with the world was that ‘the Everlasting Covenant was broken.’ In the next phase of bringing about the Restoration, the angel Moroni expanded on the need for restoring the covenant. Moroni taught the young prophet that he had been ‘sent to bring the joyful tidings, that the covenant which God made with ancient Israel was at hand to be fulfilled, that the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah commence.’

“This emphasis on the renewed covenant continued throughout Joseph Smith’s ministry, but it was especially prevalent in the early years of the Church. The first section of the Doctrine and Covenants teaches that mankind had broken the everlasting covenant, but that part of the purpose of the Restoration was so that God’s ‘everlasting covenant might be established’ (D&C 1:15, 22). As Joseph Smith was translating the Book of Mormon, he learned that an important part of his role was to make the covenant known, for Joseph of Egypt was told that a latter-day Joseph would ‘do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers’ (2 Nephi 3:7–8).

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Muhlestein continues: “Just after this, in the same year that the Book of Mormon was published (1830), God told Joseph Smith that the promises of the covenant with Joseph, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham remained in force with their descendants (D&C 27:10). The next year, God made repeated references to the importance of the covenant, such as when He sent forth missionaries with instructions to baptize people and gather them together so that ‘ye may be my people and I will be your God’ (D&C 42:9). This use of the most oft-employed covenant catch phrase makes it clear that God was having His saints spread the gospel so that the Abrahamic covenant could be restored.

‘Similarly, a short time later, God instructed the Saints to gather together in a land which He would ‘consecrate unto my people, which are a remnant of Jacob, and those who are heirs according to the covenant’ (D&C 52:2).115 In the months between those revelations, God said specifically that He was sending forth ‘mine everlasting covenant, even that which was from the beginning’ (D&C 49:9). Sometime during that year, Joseph Smith learned that the promises made to Abraham were still in effect, that he was descended from Abraham (D&C 132:30–31),116 and that the blessings promised to the tribes of Israel—especially Ephraim and Judah—were still to be fulfilled (D&C 133:30–35).

Scot

When you begin to see these scriptures all lined up together, the emphasis on covenants broken and covenants restored becomes so clear and important. The Lord’s hand has been over the covenant from the beginning and continues to the end. In the eyes of the world we may be a new religion, but in God’s eyes we are part of an ancient order and promise.

Muhlestein said, “The next year [in section 84], the Lord revealed that those who obtained the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods became sons of Aaron, Moses, and Abraham (D&C 84:33–34). The same revelation said that ‘the Lord hath redeemed his people, Israel, according to the election of grace, which was brought to pass by the faith and covenant of their fathers’ (D&C 84:99). In 1835, more information about those covenants was provided as Joseph Smith translated the records of Abraham, which expanded the Saints’ understanding of what the covenant was…

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Muhlestein said, “The Book of Mormon teaches that the covenant needed to be restored. In Nephi’s great vision, he saw a book that was written by the Jews and would go forth to the world. This book was clearly the Bible. In describing the book to Nephi, an angel told him that it ‘is a record of the Jews, which contains the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets; . . . [and] they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; wherefore they are of great worth unto the Gentiles’ (1 Nephi 13:23). As the Bible was introduced to Nephi, the emphasis was on the covenants it contained.

Scot

“Nephi then saw that a great and abominable church would arise. He was told its members ‘have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away’ (1 Nephi 13:26). In this way, it was made clear to Nephi, and to us, that while teachings about the covenant were once abundant in the Bible, many were excised at some point, and the loss of these covenant teachings and the attendant covenant consciousness was one of the great losses of doctrine from the Bible It is likely that the covenant teachings given to Abraham, as recorded in the Book of Abraham, which were so clear as to the need to share the gospel and spread the covenant (Abraham 2:9–11), were among the things that were removed from the Bible. God’s children have suffered as a result, and thus one of the major purposes of the Restoration was to renew the covenant.” [End Quote] (Kerry Muhlestein, God Will Prevail, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book).

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Remember the covenant leads to and through the temple. A temple is required for the covenant blessings and power to be available. No wonder the Lord gave such urgent instructions to build the temple, despite their impoverished conditions and lack of manpower. His people had to be given the covenant blessings and power.

Karl Ricks Anderson said, “These sacred manifestations came after disciplined schooling, methodical organization, and difficult trials. The Saints met the prerequisites necessary for their spiritual rewards by consecrating their worldly goods and their efforts to the Lord’s work.” (Karl Ricks Anderson, “The Kirtland Temple—‘A Pentecost and a Time of Rejoicing’, Meridian Magazine.)

Scot

Karl Ricks Anderson has done more research on the Kirtland period than anyone else. We love his work and rely on it here. He notes, “The major activity in Kirtland from July 1833 through March 1836 centered around construction of the temple. According to the Prophet’s mother, the Saints ‘had to endure great fatigue and privation, in consequence of the opposition they met with from their enemies, and which was so great, that they were compelled to keep a guard around the walls much of the time until they were completed. They “gave no sleep to their eyes, nor slumber to their eyelids, until they found a place for the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.’ . . . There was but one mainspring to all our thoughts and actions, and that was, the building of the Lord’s house.’” (Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book).

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Though the brethren had first thought to build the temple out of brick, they changed to stone since the Stannard Stone Quarry was so close by. “Heber C. Kimball told how, when the brethren returned to Kirtland from the march of Zion’s Camp, ‘Joseph said, “Come, brethren, let us go into the stone quarry and work for the Lord.” And the Prophet went himself, in his tow frock and tow breeches and worked at quarrying stone like the rest of us. Then, every Saturday we brought out every team to draw stone to the temple, and so we continued until that house was finished.’” (See Ricks, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland). In fact, Joseph Smith was the foreman of the quarry, doing the hard, dirty work, shoulder to shoulder with the rest.

Anderson notes, “Obtaining sufficient wood for the temple was a problem because a vast quantity was needed quickly. Much of the freshly cut wood from neighboring forests had to be dried and seasoned before it could be cut and used. In order to expedite the drying and seasoning process, a board kiln was built in the flats. The board kiln was apparently located adjacent to the sawmill so that when the wood was ready, it could be cut.

Scot

“The kiln, which required heat and evidently open flame, caught fire frequently. The Prophet recorded in his diary on December 10, 1835, ‘The board kiln had taken fire, and on our return we found the brethren engaged in extinguishing the flames. After laboring about one hour against this destructive element, we succeeded in conquering it, and probably saved about one-fourth part of the lumber. I do not know the amount of loss the committee have sustained, but it must have been considerable, as there was much lumber in the kiln. There were about two hundred brethren engaged on this occasion; they displayed much activity and interest, and deserve much credit.’

“Three days later he wrote, ‘Today the board kiln, took fire again,’ and the next day he recorded that he met ‘to make ar[r]angements to guard against fire, and organized a company for this purpose.’”

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“Daniel Tyler recalled:

“’How often have I seen those humble, faithful servants of the Lord, after toiling all day in the quarry, or on the building, when the walls were in course of erection, weary and faint, yet with cheerful countenances, retiring to their homes with a few pounds of corn meal that had been donated. And, in the case of those who lacked a cow to give a little milk, the corn meal was sometimes, for days together, all that they and their families had to subsist upon. When a little flour, butter or meat came in, they were luxuries. Sometimes a little New Orleans molasses, not as good as our sorghum, would be donated; but oftener the hands had to seek a job elsewhere to get a gallon or so, and then return to the labor on the temple.”

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Karl Ricks Anderson notes:

“The women in Kirtland contributed toward completing the temple by providing support for the workers. Heber C. Kimball reported:

“’Our women were engaged in spinning and knitting in order to clothe those who were laboring at the building, and the Lord only knows the scenes of poverty, tribulation, and distress which we passed through in order to accomplish this thing. My wife toiled all summer in lending her aid towards its accomplishment. She had a hundred pounds of wool, which, with the assistance of a girl, she spun in order to furnish clothing for those engaged in the building of the Temple, and although she had the privilege of keeping half the quantity of wool for herself, as a recompense for her labor, she did not reserve even so much as would make her a pair of stockings; but gave it for those who were laboring at the house of the Lord. She spun and wove and got the cloth dressed, and cut and made up into garments, and gave them to those men who labored on the Temple; almost all the sisters in Kirtland labored in knitting, sewing, spinning, etc., for the purpose of forwarding the work of the Lord.”

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When the building was nearing completion, the women also made carpets and heavy canvas veils or curtains to divide the large rooms into smaller rooms.
Polly Angell, wife of the Church architect, said that the Prophet told them: “Well, sisters, you are always on hand. The sisters are always first and foremost in all good works. Mary was first at the resurrection; and the sisters now are the first to work on the inside of the temple.”

Scot

Anderson continues: “Many accounts tell of persecution and mob violence. Heber C. Kimball wrote from firsthand experience: ‘While we were building the Temple, in Kirtland, . . . we were persecuted and were under the necessity of laying upon the floor with our firelocks by our sides to sustain ourselves, as there were mobs gathering all around to destroy us, and prevent us from building the Temple. And when they were driven, every man that was in the church, arose, and we took our firelocks, to reinstate our brethren, and in the night we laid upon the floor; we laid upon Brother Joseph’s floor, and upon Sidney Rigdon’s floor, so as to be ready to keep our enemies at bay.’

Joel Hills Johnson said that the Saints had ‘but very few friends’ while they also had ‘thousands of enemies who were holding their secret meetings to devise plans to thwart and overthrow all of our arrangements. . . . We were obliged . . . to keep up night watches to prevent being mobbed, and our work being overthrown.’

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“In December 1833 the Prophet wrote to Church members in Missouri: ‘The inhabitants of this county threaten our destruction, and we know not how soon they may be permitted to follow the example of the Missourians; but our trust is in God, and we are determined, His grace assisting us, to maintain the cause and hold out faithful unto the end.’” Consider what a very real threat this possible violence and secret plans against them were to the Saints. They had already seen what enemies of the Church could do in Missouri. This was not an abstract idea or an unfounded fear, but a living, breathing reality.

Seeing the great poverty of the Church, Sidney Rigdon “frequently used to go upon the walls of the building both by night and day and . . . wetting the walls with his tears, crying aloud to the Almighty to send means whereby we might accomplish the building,” wrote Heber C. Kimball.

Scot

“After nearly three years of sacrifice, when many families had lived together in small quarters or even without homes, this magnificent structure was completed. There was a thrill in every heart on Sunday, March 27, 1836, when a large congregation began to assemble at the temple at seven o’clock in the morning for its dedication. Six hundred were there before the doors were to be opened. Joseph and Sidney and Oliver seated as many of the Saints as they could. Nearly a thousand packed into the first meeting.

“Sidney Rigdon said to those assembled, ‘There [are] many houses, many sufficiently large, built for the worship of God, but not one except this, on the face of the whole earth, that was built by divine revelation; and were it not for this the dear Redeemer might, in this day of science, this day of intelligence, this day of religion, say to those who would follow Him: ‘The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.’

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“Hymns sung at the temple dedication emphasized the Saints’ feelings: ‘In faith we’ll rely on the arm of Jehovah/To guide through these last days of trouble and gloom.’ Then the dedicatory prayer was offered by the Prophet Joseph: ‘We ask thee, Holy Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of thy bosom . . . to accept of this house. . . . For thou knowest that we have done this work through great tribulation; and out of our poverty we have given of our substance to build a house to thy name, that the Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people.’ (D&C 109:4-5.)

“The choir then rose to their feet and sang a hymn written for the occasion, thrilling every soul: ‘The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!/The latter-day glory begins to come forth;/The visions and blessings of old are returning,/The angels are coming to visit the earth./We’ll sing and we’ll shout with the armies of heaven—/ Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!/Let glory to them in the highest be given,/Henceforth and forever: amen and amen!’” (Scot Facer Proctor, Maurine Jensen Proctor, Witness of the Light, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book).

Scot

As it is in all temples, the dedicatory prayer that morning was a written prayer, and as we said became Section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants. We know that Oliver Cowdery assisted in its writing. We mentioned that this temple was to restore and renew the opportunity to create a covenant people and the very first verse starts with that: “Thanks be to thy name, O Lord God of Israel, who keepest covenant.” Then Joseph prays, what we also hear in all temple dedications: “we ask thee, O Lord, to accept of this house,” a house that they had given so much for.(v 4). One could build the most beautiful building in the world and it wouldn’t be a temple, unless the Lord accepted it as such. In this case, God answers that prayer the following Sunday, 3 April, 1836, when the Lord appeared to Joseph and Oliver saying, “I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here” (D&C 100:7). We will talk more about this.

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They have sought to obey the commandments and prepare, following this, “Organize yourselves, prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.” If ever there were a description of a temple—a place of prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, order and a house of God, this is it. “That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord” (vv. 8,9).

This reminds us of something we learned in Israel. In sifting through the soil just south of the temple mount, archaeologists found a bullae from the second Temple period. A bullae is an ancient clay seal about the size of a coin, and hundreds of these are found, but this one caused a stir because on it were these significant words “deka Leyah.” In Aramaic, this means “pure for God.” Another translation of this could be Holiness to the Lord.

Why did this seal matter so much? It gave us a critical glimpse into ancient temple worship. This was a seal of purity required to mark any products that could be brought into the temple and used in worship. They had to be “ure for God” or they could not be brought into the temple, into that holy place. They had been marked, sealed, approved as pure, ready for the Lord’s house. Nothing profane was allowed there.

Scot

Just as any item that came into the house of the Lord, had to be pure for God, so did the people through discipline and sacrifice. “No unclean thing shall be permitted to come unto thy house to pollute it” (v. 20). Their ingoings and outgoings had to be in the name of the Lord and they sought to be worthy, “that thy glory may rest down upon thy people, and upon this thy house..that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord’s house may feel thy power and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness” (vv. 12, 13).

Think of this marvelous prayer, “We ask thee Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them.” These are covenant promises, and again they are reiterated.

“Put upon thy servants the testimony of the covenant, that when they go out and proclaim thy word, they may seal up the law, and prepare the hearts of thy saints for all those judgments thou art about to send..that thy people may not faint in the day of trouble” (v. 38).

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Since it is the privilege and charge of those who have the covenant to bear this news to the whole world and bring others to it, Joseph asks that “from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth” (v. 23) and that “no weapon formed against them shall prosper,” “that no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in thy house” (v. 26).He is asking here for the covenant promise of protection against all enemies who would come against God’s people. This theme of protection rings throughout the Old Testament. The covenant people are protected against their enemies, including “all those who have spread lying reports abroad” (v. 29).

Remember the fear of Elisha’s servant when he arose and saw the city compassed about with a great host of Assyrian horses and chariots? “Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 6: 17) He said, “They that be with us are more than they that be with them.” This is the same covenant promise that Joseph asks for

Scot

Joseph also prays for the same power of heavenly outpouring that was seen on the day of Pentecost in the New Testament. “Let the gift of tongues be poured out upon thy people, even cloven tongues be poured out upon thy people…and let thy house be filled, as with a rushing mighty wind with thy glory” (vv. 36,37). This was answered in an unprecedented outpouring.

Again, we turn to Karl Ricks Anderson, who has researched journals and gathered these quotes which involve so many witnesses there is no doubt of their veracity.

“Joseph Smith called this period ‘a pentecost . . . a year of jubilee, and time of rejoicing.’ Daniel Tyler testified, ‘All felt that they had a foretaste of heaven . . . and we wondered whether the millennium had commenced.’  Orson Pratt declared that ‘the people were blessed as they never had been blessed for generations and generations.’

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“Lorenzo Snow enumerated blessings received in the temple during this pentecostal period: ‘There we had the gift of prophecy—the gift of tongues—the interpretation of tongues—visions and marvelous dreams were related—the singing of heavenly choirs was heard, and wonderful manifestations of the healing power, through the administrations of the Elders, were witnessed. The sick were healed—the deaf made to hear—the blind to see and the lame to walk, in very many instances. It was plainly manifest that a sacred and divine influence—a spiritual atmosphere pervaded that holy edifice.’

Anderson noted, ”The Savior appeared in five different meetings held in the temple. Visions, including a vision of the Father and Son, were beheld at eight meetings, and the congregation saw heavenly beings or angels in nine meetings. In other sessions many Saints reported that they experienced such manifestations as the gift of tongues, the sounds of a mighty wind, a pillar of fire resting down upon the temple roof, prophesying, and the voices of angels…

Scot

Anderson said, “The Savior himself spoke of the far-reaching implications of these blessings when he appeared and accepted the temple in April 1836. He told Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery: ‘Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house. And the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands; and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people.’ (D&C 110:9-10.)

“The pentecostal experiences in the temple [leading up to the dedication] commenced with an overpowering vision of Deity accompanied by the ministering of angels, communion with heavenly beings, and glorious visions given to key priesthood leaders. On January 21, 1836, Joseph Smith and others experienced a vision of the Father and Son at a meeting on the west end of the temple’s upper story,” that became Section 137. They saw the celestial kingdom, the “blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son” and much more.

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The building of the temple ushered in a pentecostal period, and when the day of dedication came, it was astonishing in its power and left no question that these people were involved in the Lord’s great work.

“Heber C. Kimball relates that during the ceremonies of the dedication, an angel appeared and sat near Joseph Smith, Sr., and Frederick G. Williams, so that they had a fair view of his person. He was tall, had black eyes and white hair; wore a garment extending to near his ankles, and had sandals on his feet. ‘He was sent,’ President Kimball says, ‘as a messenger to accept of the dedication’ (Whitney’s Life of Heber C. Kimball, p. 103). A few days afterwards. a solemn assembly was held in accordance with a commandment received (See Sec. 108:4), and blessings were given. ‘While these things were being attended to,’ Heber C. Kimball says, ‘the beloved disciple John was seen in our midst by the Prophet Joseph, Oliver Cowdery, and others’ (Ibid., p. 104). (Hyrum M. Smith, Janne M. Sjodahl, Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book).

Scot

“In the evening meeting, Brother George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy, ‘when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and ‘I beheld,’ Joseph recorded, ‘the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished at what was taking place.’ Eliza R. Snow wrote, ‘The ceremonies of that dedication may be rehearsed, but no mortal language can describe the heavenly manifestations of that memorable day. Angels appeared to some, while a sense of divine presence was realized by all present.’” (Scot Facer Proctor, Maurine Jensen Proctor, Witness of the Light, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book.)

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“Prescindia Huntington’s records tell of pentecostal events in two temple meetings:

“’I was in the temple with my sister Zina. The whole of the congregation were on their knees, praying vocally, for such was the custom at the close of these meetings when Father Smith presided; yet there was no confusion; the voices of the congregation mingled softly together. While the congregation was thus praying, we both heard, from one corner of the room above our heads, a choir of angels singing most beautifully. They were invisible to us, but myriads of angelic voices seemed to be united in singing some song of Zion, and their sweet harmony filled the temple of God.

“’We were also in the temple at the pentecost. In the morning Father Smith prayed for a pentecost, in opening the meeting. That day the power of God rested mightily upon the saints. There was poured out upon us abundantly the spirit of revelation, prophe[c]y and tongues. The Holy Ghost filled the house; and along in the afternoon a noise was heard. It was the sound of a mighty rushing wind’”.

Scot

Prescindia also described a meeting she did not attend:

“A little girl came to my door and in wonder called me out, exclaiming, “The meeting is on the top of the meeting house!” I went to the door, and there I saw on the temple angels clothed in white covering the roof from end to end. They seemed to be walking to and fro; they appeared and disappeared. The third time they appeared and disappeared before I realized that they were not mortal men. Each time in a moment they vanished, and their reappearance was the same. This was in broad daylight, in the afternoon. A number of the children in Kirtland saw the same.

“When the brethren and sisters came home in the evening, they told of the power of God manifested in the temple that day, and of the prophesying and speaking in tongues. It was also said, in the interpretation of tongues, ‘That the angels were resting down upon the house.’ (See Anderson Joseph Smith’s Kirtland).

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Speaking of angels and fire upon the roof of the temple as we’ve seen described in these journals, you and I, Scot, chased down a story that had been passed down for generations to see if it was true and we could publish it. The story goes that a reporter from the anti-Mormon newspaper The Painesville Telegraph had come to report on the temple and, seeing the bright lights on the temple, assumed it was on fire and hurried back to write a story about the Kirtland Temple burning to the ground. We wanted to know if that was true or just a pleasing rumor. Nothing could diminish or add the magnificent manifestations that actually did happen at the temple, but we wanted to know the truth of this. The Kirtland Temple dedication happened on March 27 and, since the newspaper was published every Friday, it would have been in that Friday, April 1st issue. We wanted to check it out. We started at the Church historian’s library, and went through the file of Painesville Telegraph newspapers. We found all the issues, but Friday, April 1^st was mysteriously missing.

Next, we turned to the Library of Congress. We made the inquiry about this April 1^st issue of the Painesville Telegraph, and they reported back, that they had all the issues, but this one. Why didn’t we try the Western Reserve archives that would have the most thorough record of all? We called them, asked for the the April lst issue and the librarian said, “Oh, I’m sure we have this.” She called back a couple of hours later dismayed. They, too, had every issue but April 1, 1836. She said, “It’s almost as if it has been pulled.”

Scot

So we may never be able to verify that story, but we do not need it because the witnesses to this divine outpouring are so many and so fervent. The Sunday, following the dedication was April 3, 1836, an Easter Sunday and also Passover. A congregation of 1000 people had gathered and after much prayer and speaking, the veils were dropped around the pulpits, and Joseph and Oliver bowed themselves in solemn and silent prayer.

They arose from their prayer, and a great vision opened to their view. Before them, on the breastwork of the pulpit, stood the risen Lord, and “under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber.” (D&C 110:2.)

Maurine

“His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:

“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.

“Behold your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore lift up your heads and rejoice” (Doctrine and Covenants 11: 3-5).

Scot

What we see in this description of the Lord, is that His glory is indescribable in something as weak as the words we have, and so metaphors like “the brightness of the sun” and “the rushing of many waters” is used instead. Since no unclean thing can stand in the presence of God, their sins must be forgiven them. He accepts this house. This partitioned off area of the temple becomes for this period of time a Holy of Holies where man goes to meet God.

What follows is a series of priesthood keys that were necessary now for the kingdom to roll forth and covenant blessings to be fulfilled. The heavens were opened Moses appeared before them and “committed unto [them] the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.” (D&C 110:11.)

What this means is that missionary work will begin in greater earnest. Moses had the keys to gather Israel out of Egypt, and now those keys are given again. It is noteworthy that it is after this that the first missionaries are called to England where such a bumper crop of people are waiting, who will become some of the most stalwart converts ot the church.

Maurine

Right. In June, 1837, when things are in an uproar in Kirtland and it couldn’t be a more unlikely time to send one of your most stalwart lieutenants away, Heber C. Kimball was sitting in the Kirtland Temple and the Prophet came to him and said quietly, “The Spirit of the Lord has whispered to me, “let my servant Heber go to England and proclaim my Gospel, and open the door of salvation to that nation.”

Heber, who would have spared no sacrifice for the restored gospel, was staggered by the weight of the call and his own weakness. “O Lord,” he payed, “I am a man of stammering tongue, and altogether unfit for such a work; how can I go to preach in that land, which is so famed throughout Christendom for learning, knowledge and piety; the nursery of religion, and a people whose intelligence is proverbial!” He later wrote, “The idea of such a mission was almost more than I could bear up under. I was almost ready to sink under the burden which was placed upon me.” (Maurine Jensen Proctor, Scot Facer Proctor, The Gathering: Mormon Pioneers on the Road to Zion, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book.) But go he did, and many missionaries followed. That entirely changed the future of the Church.

Scot

After this Elias appeared and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham to them.

Then, Joseph wrote, “another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet . . . stood before us, and said: Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (D&C 110:12-14.)

“The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that the ‘spirit, power, and calling of Elijah is, that ye have power to hold the key of the revelation, ordinances, oracles, powers and endowments of the fullness of the Melchizedec Priesthood and of the kingdom of God on the earth; and to receive, obtain, and perform all the ordinances belonging to the kingdom of God, even unto the turning of the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the hearts of the children unto the fathers, even those who are in heaven.’ Why would the earth be wasted without the coming of Elijah? ‘Because there could be no sealing up against the day of destruction, no sealing of parents to each other, no sealing of children to parents, no contracts, bonds, obligations entered into that would be valid on the other side—because the clinching power was not there.” The mission of Elijah is to complete, finish, seal, or—to use President Joseph Fielding Smith’s word— clinch the work of the priesthood upon the earth and thus prepare it for the return of the Savior.” ( Garrett and Robinson, Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, Vol. 4, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book)

Maurine

It is noteworthy that Elijah came during the Jewish Passover, as he had been anticipated since ancient times. Remember the Jewish tradition of leaving an empty chair at their Passover meal for him. What an intriguing fulfillment.

That’s all for today. We’re Scot and Maurine Proctor and this has been Meridian’s Come Follow Me Podcast. Next week we’ll study Doctrine and Covenants 111-114 called “I Will Order All Things for Your Good.”  Thanks to Paul Cardall for the music and Michaela Proctor Hutchins who produces this show. See you next week.

Ground Broken for Lone Mountain Nevada Temple

The following is excerpted from the Church Newsroom. To read the full article, CLICK HERE. 

Editor’s Note: The temple was originally planned to be a three-story building of 87,000 square feet, with a 216-foot steeple, but to receive the Las Vegas City Council’s approval, those dimensions were changed to 70,194 square feet, with a 196-foot steeple.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Thursday, September 25, 2025. Elder Michael A. Dunn, First Counselor in the United States Southwest Area Presidency, presided at the event.

In his dedicatory prayer, Elder Dunn asked the Lord to bless the workers, craftspeople and artisans who would soon begin constructing the temple.

“Guide the hands that will shape stone, wood, glass and steel, that the beauty and craftsmanship of this temple may reflect the divine truths that will be taught within its walls,” he said.

He then asked for a parallel blessing of spiritual preparation upon those who enter this new house of the Lord.

“Help us, as a covenant people, to continue to stand on holy ground, to reach toward heaven even as heaven reaches down to us through this magnificent house of the Lord,” Elder Dunn said.

Elder Thomas A. Thomas, a regional leader in the Church, spoke about how attending the temple has strengthened his relationship with Jesus Christ.

“When I enter a temple, it is a reminder of my love for the Savior and His teachings,” he said. “It is an opportunity for me to ask if I am striving to be a peacemaker [and] to mourn with those who mourn. Am I trying to love my neighbor? Am I showing gratitude for my blessings and striving to lift the hands that hang down?”

To read the full article, CLICK HERE. 

President Russell M. Nelson 101: The Temple: Where the Spirit Teaches Us to be Disciples of the Savior

This is the second in the series called: President Russell M. Nelson 101. President Nelson has, under the direction of the Savior, placed temples closer and closer to the entire membership of the Church and has given us plenty of spiritual reasons why this is being done. The temple leads us closer and closer to Jesus Christ and allows our ancestors to have the sacred ordinances of salvation extended to them.

Read yesterday’s Russell M. Nelson 101 article on the Atonement of Jesus Christ here.

Happy birthday, President Nelson. We’re so grateful and happy we have you.

We are reminded of his consistent, powerful teachings on the temple and how, in the temple, the Spirit teaches us how to be devoted disciples of the Savior Jesus Christ and draw closer to Him.

The Magnificent Depth of Blessings

“Positive spiritual momentum increases as we worship in the temple and grow in our understanding of the magnificent breadth and depth of the blessings we receive there. I plead with you to counter worldly ways by focusing on the eternal blessings of the temple. Your time there brings blessings for eternity.”
(Now Is the Time–April 2022)

Keep Your Covenants

“The Lord has clearly taught that only men and women who are sealed as husband and wife in the temple, and who keep their covenants, will be together throughout the eternities.”
(Think Celestial!–October 2023)

Rejoice in Priesthood Keys

“Temple work makes these exquisite blessings available to all of God’s children, regardless of where or when they lived or now live. Let us rejoice that priesthood keys are once again on the earth!”
(Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys–April 2024)

The Temple Spiritually Empowers You

“Joseph Smith’s dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple is a tutorial about how the temple spiritually empowers you and me to meet the challenges of life in these last days. … The temple is ‘a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.’ … Those who serve and worship in the house of the Lord … can expect to receive answers to prayer, personal revelation, greater faith, strength, comfort, increased knowledge, and increased power.”
(Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys–April 2024)

The Lord Will Teach You How to Draw Upon His Power

“Establish a pattern of regular temple attendance. This may require a little more sacrifice in your life. More regular time in the temple will allow the Lord to teach you how to draw upon His priesthood power with which you have been endowed in His temple.”
(Sisters’ Participation in the Gathering of Israel–October 2018)

Direct Access to the Power of God

“Several months ago, at the end of a temple endowment session, I said to my wife Wendy, ‘I hope the sisters understand the spiritual treasures that are theirs in the temple.’ … Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God. Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord receive a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power.”
(Spiritual Treasures–October 2019)

Armed with God’s Power

“Satan certainly does not want you to understand that every time you worthily serve and worship in the temple, you leave armed with God’s power and with His angels having ‘charge over’ you.”
(Spiritual Treasures–October 2019)

The Lord Teaches in His Own Way

“We can also hear Him in the temple. The house of the Lord is a house of learning. There the Lord teaches in His own way. There each ordinance teaches about the Savior. There we learn how to part the veil and communicate more clearly with heaven. There we learn how to rebuke the adversary and draw upon the Lord’s priesthood power to strengthen us and those we love.”
(Hear Him–April 2020)

Schedule Regular Time in the Temple

“When these temporary COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, please schedule regular time to worship and serve in the temple. Every minute of that time will bless you and your family in ways nothing else can.”
(Hear Him–April 2020)

A Place of Security

“The temple—the house of the Lord—is a place of security unlike any other. There, you sisters are endowed with priesthood power through the sacred priesthood covenants you make. There, your families are sealed for eternity. Even this year, when access to our temples has been seriously limited, your endowment has given you constant access to God’s power as you have honored your covenants with Him.”
(Embrace the Future with Faith–October 2020)

Stand Ye in Holy Places

“Often when the Lord warns us about the perils of the last days, He counsels thus: ‘Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved.’ These ‘holy places’ certainly include the Lord’s temples and meetinghouses. But as our ability to gather in these places has been restricted in varying degrees, we have learned that one of the holiest of places on earth is the home—yes, even your home. … Just 185 years ago, this very day, April 3, 1836, Elijah restored the keys of the priesthood that allow our families to be sealed together forever.”
(What We Are Learning and Will Never Forget–April 2021)

Make Time for the Lord

“As I emphasized this morning, please make time for the Lord in His holy house. Nothing will strengthen your spiritual foundation like temple service and temple worship.”
(Make Time for the Lord–October 2021)

A Vital Part of the Restoration

“Keep your temple covenants and blessings foremost in your minds and hearts. Stay true to the covenants you have made. … Temples are a vital part of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness. Ordinances of the temple fill our lives with power and strength available in no other way.”
(COVID-19 and Temples–April 2021)

The Savior and His doctrine are the Very Heart of the Temple

“The temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith and spiritual fortitude because the Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power.”
(The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation–October 2021)

The Crowning, Life-Changing Ordinance

“If I could speak with each husband and wife who have still not been sealed in the temple, I would plead with you to take the necessary steps to receive that crowning, life-changing ordinance. Will it make a difference? Only if you want to progress forever and be together forever. Wishing to be together forever will not make it so. No other ceremony or contract will make it so.”
(The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation–October 2021)

These nine words are engraved in every temple. Saratoga Springs Utah Temple.

Spiritual Doors Will Open

“And to each of you who has made temple covenants, I plead with you to seek—prayerfully and consistently—to understand temple covenants and ordinances. Spiritual doors will open. You will learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend you, and how better to receive direction from heaven. Your diligent efforts to do so will reinforce and strengthen your spiritual foundation.”
(The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation–October 2021)

Live Inside Your Temple Covenants

“Whenever any kind of upheaval occurs in your life, the safest place to be spiritually is living inside your temple covenants!”
(The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation–October 2021)

Be Worthy of Admission to His Holy House

“For these sacred purposes, holy temples now dot the earth. I emphasize again that construction of these temples may not change your life, but your service in the temple surely will. … Our safest insurance is to continue to be worthy of admission to His holy house. The greatest gift you could give to the Lord is to keep yourself unspotted from the world, worthy to attend His holy house.”
(The Future of the Church: Preparing the World for the Savior’s Second Coming–April 2020, Liahona)

Helping to Gather Israel on Both Sides of the Veil

“When we speak of gathering Israel on both sides of the veil, we are referring, of course, to missionary, temple, and family history work. … Anytime we do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—to make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel.”
(Let God Prevail–October 2020)

The Heavens Will Open

“When we couple increased purity and obedience with fasting, diligent seeking, study of the scriptures and the words of living prophets, and temple and family history work, the heavens will open. The Lord, in turn, will fulfill His promise: ‘I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind.’”
(Grow into the Principle of Revelation–January 2021, Liahona)

Fix Your Focus on Jesus Christ

“Never underestimate the profound truth that ‘the Spirit speaketh … of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be.’ … Nothing invites the Spirit more than fixing your focus on Jesus Christ. … Please make time for the Lord in His holy house.”
(Make Time for the Lord–October 2021)

Heavens are Just as Open to Women

“The heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood. … Sisters, you have the right to draw liberally upon the Savior’s power to help your family and others you love.”
(Spiritual Treasures–October 2019)

Ask the Lord to Teach You How to Open the Heavens

“Take time to ponder what you hear and feel when you are [in the temple]. Ask the Lord to teach you how to open the heavens to bless your life and the lives of those you love and serve.”
(Hear Him–April 2020)

Power and Strength Available in No Other Way

“I pray that your desire to worship and serve in the temple burns more brightly now than ever. … Ordinances of the temple fill our lives with power and strength available in no other way.”
(COVID-19 and Temples–April 2021)

A Spiritual Foundation Built Solidly Upon Jesus Christ

“Please believe me when I say that when your spiritual foundation is built solidly upon Jesus Christ, you have no need to fear. As you are true to your covenants made in the temple, you will be strengthened by His power. Then, when spiritual earthquakes occur, you will be able to stand strong because your spiritual foundation is solid and immovable.”
(The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation–October 2021) https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/47nelson?lang=eng

****
Watch for another in the Russell M. Nelson 101 series on young missionary service.

Elder Soares Dedicates Nairobi Kenya Temple

The following is excerpted from the Church Newsroom. To read the full article, CLICK HERE. 

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated the Nairobi Kenya Temple, the first house of the Lord in East Africa, on Sunday, May 18.

The Apostle honored the deep commitment of faithful Church members of East Africa to follow the Lord, knowing some had traveled great distances or humbly waited years for their temple blessings.

“These members in Africa, generally speaking, they embrace the gospel in such a way that they make it the center of their lives,” he said. “Having a temple in Nairobi is a moment of celebration of that covenant confidence they have in the gospel with the Lord, and a celebration of their faith.”

Elder Soares continued: “The decision to extend temples closer to the people is a sign that God and His Beloved Son want to extend their blessings to all people. Seeing temple ordinances and covenants extended to every person who is worthy is a marvelous blessing.”

Elder Soares said he hopes members will learn and appreciate the following truths about the house of the Lord.

First, understand that God loves His children.

“God has a perfect and infinite love for His children and has inspired our dear Prophet to announce and to build a temple in this part of the world, where so many people from different countries will rejoice together,” he said.

Second, as members receive ordinances and make covenants with the Lord, they will feel closer to Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. They will desire to be better, to continue in their discipleship, and to walk on the covenant path in preparation for the Second Coming of the Savior.

To read the full article, CLICK HERE. 

The Doctrine and Covenants and the Temple: The Worth of Souls

“The ⁠worth⁠ of ⁠souls⁠ is great in the sight of God.” Consider how many souls you can bring to the Lord in the temple. You can bring as many as you have time for! There’s no limit to the work of salvation you can do in the temple.

 

Dews of Heaven Podcast: What is Your Heart’s Desire?

Proctors on a Mission #16—Kisses at the Temple

If someone told me that the Puerto Rican temple was actually paradise, I’d believe it. Because we come home from our mission November 1, we are trying to memorize every moment, engrave it in our hearts, and particularly the wonder of living 117 steps from the temple.

It’s what happens when we walk through that door that I want to take with me, because I am kissed and hugged several times over. The Puerto Ricans aren’t so distant as we northerners are. They don’t keep you an arms-length away with a handshake. No, you are pulled affectionately right into their hearts. They love you and you know it, like a feeling of goodness and well-being that immediately chases any dim corners away and lights up the world.

It’s like last week. I went to show my recommend at the desk, but immediately the woman there, left her chair, came around the desk and kissed my cheek and hugged me. I met someone on my way to the locker and the love was repeated. Open arms like long lost friends that you have been looking for a long time. In the locker room there were four workers in their pristine white. Each loved me. Most kissed me. Then while I was waiting on a bench to go into the endowment room, another walked across the lobby, took my head in both of her hands and kissed me three times. It reminded me of how my Grandmother Stevens kissed me when I was just a little girl.

Now, if that sounds like too much hugging for you in the states, in Europe or many other places where we pride ourselves on efficiency and a bit of distance, you just don’t understand what is behind all this effusion. I felt through them the pure love of Christ, that this love is possible because we are centered together on Him.

The Spirit began its stirrings, and then its motions of fire, and I felt like the greatest thing I could ever do was to give that kind of purring contentment and sense of well-being to others. All is right with the world in the walls of the Puerto Rican temple

Love and the Missionaries

 We also feel a great affection for our missionaries. We love them and sense both how young they are and how much is asked of them. We say to the bewildered missionaries who are young in the mission and still struggling with the language, “How is it going, Elder?” “How is it going Hermana?” They give very game answers, with only the slightest hesitation. “It’s coming.” We know with certainty that it will come and that this mission will shape, sanctify and transform them. What fortifies them for the great work they are doing is love.

We have never been told so many times that we are loved as they tell us. It is in almost all communications. We tell them the same. They tell each other. They are trained to see goodness, so, of course, they see it amply and generously in each other and in us.

That is the language of the mission. It is laced with affection and understanding as we share the connection with each other of giving our all to the Savior. It is as if we are dancing with ribbons of light around the same maypole, our strands crossing and weaving and making an intricate pattern of hope and missionary devotion. But the maypole is actually the Savior, and we are dancing and working in concourses around Him.

Oh, what becomes of these missionaries as the days, and then the weeks, and then the months pass. They grow in beauty and strength before our eyes. See, for instance, this photo where it took five missionaries to help a wheel-bound friend be baptized in the ocean.

Striplings

In our Sunday school class this week, where we teach new converts and investigating friends, we spoke of the Stripling Warriors. This is one of those profound moments in the Book of Mormon as we see the goodness a group of virtuous, young men who are riveted and fixed in the covenant.

“And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. (Alma 53:20)

Then, as we were teaching, we glanced over and saw Elder Luke Stacey and Elder Samuel Green. These are the Assistants to the President in our mission, whose days are numbered in Puerto Rico. Elder Green leaves Wednesday morning and Elder Stacey leaves the end of October. They are both exceptional missionaries.

We asked, “Do we have striping warriors among us today, who can be so true, firm, steadfast and immovable as they were? All eyes turned to Elder Stacey and Elder Green, whose faces shine with that kind of radiance and dedication. Truly, you can see this light all over them. Their goodness is palpable as they see to every detail to care for those they teach. That is what happens when you yield yourselves to God. He makes so much of you.

Ask them about their schedule for the next day, and they say, “We have an appointment at 1, at 3, another at 5 and one at 6. What happens at each of these appointments? They bear testimony of Jesus Christ again and again, and their souls are quickened by their recurring witness.

Ada Osorio, who was baptized in February, and whom we dearly love, gave the closing prayer. She said, “We are grateful, dear God, that we have another striping warrior to add to your army today, in our dear brother, Craig.”

Craig’s Baptism

This was appropriate because it was Craig Raffucci’s baptism day and he asked Scot to perform both the baptism and confirmation for him.

For the baptism, about a hundred ward members gathered, but something especially made us happy. There on the front row, filling every chair, were the members of our class, all of them so new to the church, and all of them eager to welcome Craig. When the ordinance finished, they were clapping their hands together for joy, just as happened at the baptismal scene at the Waters of Mormon. It was this spontaneous leap of joy.

This group of new ones to the Church have become like a family for each other. They talk often, help each other out, laugh together—and the bond really comes from this marvelous and growing connection they have to Christ.

Truly, every ward should have a class like this to bond their new converts and friends to the Lord, to the Church and to each other. This, for us, is one of the most satisfying surprises of our mission. Of course, we need to nurse a new convert along with knowledge, so the Spirit and understanding grows in them. It’s been a powerful thing to watch the process so closely.

Ernesto and Brown Outs

Hurricane season in Puerto Rico is June through November, and this year, a heavy hurricane season has been predicted. So far, we haven’t seen too much, but Tropical Storm Ernesto came pounding through here recently and we all got prepared. We have lanterns, flashlights, water, food and camp stoves, waiting for the storm and the inevitable loss of power.

Since our power grows dim if you plug in a curling iron, and flickers for no reason, just to remind you not to count on it, we decided to weather Ernesto at a friend’s house with a generator. The only challenge is that his home is near the beach on the northeast side of the island, about thirty minutes from our home, and this was in an area that was hit hardest.

The sky was ominous, dark and troubled the day that the storm was to hit, and then at 3:30 am, it woke us with a thundering sound and ferocity like a freight train. We watched out the window as the torrents fell, but we were completely warm and safe in the house.

It reminded us of what it is like to have the Lord in your life. The storms may be fierce and even a bit frightening, but inside calm can reign, a supernal stillness that is not touched by ravages just outside your soul.

Most of our friends in other places on the island hardly felt the storm, though many lost power. Rather than hitting us directly, Ernesto side-stepped Puerto Rico by 85 miles and then barreled northward to become a Category 1 hurricane.

We all remembered this part of Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s dedicatory prayer in the temple 19 months ago:

“Dear Father, we pray that the presence of Thy temple on this island may draw down Thy blessings upon Puerto Rico, its people and its leaders. In recent years, they have endured storms and natural disasters that have caused destruction, hardship and suffering. Bless them now with a period of calm and respite and with the time and means to recover and rebuild and to prepare for a brighter future.”

For the hurricane outlook this season by meteorologists, we are prepared, but not worried.

However, we do have a thing we must endure with grace—electrical outages, the brownouts, that seem sudden and undeserved, even though they are scheduled. Puerto Rico has trouble with its electrical power grid and one of its major generators is on the skids. Our neighbor learns all about this on the Spanish-speaking news, so she is our source of information about it. We have searched the Internet in vain for news of this. She said it was announced that our power would be turned off every other day for four hours to conserve energy for many months. When she told me, it was the first day for an outage, and sure enough it came.

I hoped she had it wrong, but 48 hours later, at about the same time—5:30 p.m., the power went out again. So now, today is the question. If it goes out at 5:30, the pattern will be clear, and we’d better have our phones and computer charged and ready.

Diving Deep on Joseph Smith

Studying the life of Joseph Smith has been both a great passion and pleasure of ours for many years. Scot’s heroes, even when he was a teenager, were those people who gave birth to the gospel’s restoration.

Now, as we have mentioned before, we are preparing to shoot a series of mini-docs on his life for a YouTube channel devoted specifically to Joseph Smith. We are shooting at the places he knew, using voice actors to give life to the story, and exploring the chapters of his life visually, so people get a clearer sense of who he was and his astonishing connection to God.

We are doing this in part because so many people say they are leaving the Church because of Joseph Smith. Our unspoken response when we hear this is: “Do you really know Joseph? Have you considered his life, his remarkable optimism, his stamina and perseverance, his keen intellect, his profound ability to sacrifice for others or the revelation that flowed through him like a spring and upended all the rigid religious traditions that had blinded and limited man? Do you know how he opened the heavens for all of us to have more direct contact with God?

I love what Truman Madsen says about the prophet here:

Joseph Smith said: “’It is the first principle of the gospel, to know for a certainty the character of God.’ That is more than saying it is the first principle to know that God exists. He doesn’t use the word existence at all in this context. You can’t find one argument in Joseph Smith for the existence of God. Why not? One answer: Because one does not begin to argue about a thing’s existence until serious doubts have arisen. The arguments for God are a kind of whistling in the dark. In the absence of experience with God, men have invented arguments to justify the experience of the absence of God.

“They have built a rational Tower of Babel, from which they comfort themselves with, ‘We haven’t heard from God, but he must still be there.’ But Joseph wasn’t speculating. He was reporting his firsthand experience. Prophets always have.

“’It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character [the personality, the attributes] of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another.’ That is the testimony of Joseph Smith from beginning to end. He is talking about all of us, now. A man, a woman-it is the first principle for any of us. That is where we begin.

“And lest we should say, as occasionally we do, ‘But his remarkable life and experience is utterly beyond my own,” we should note that Joseph said in 1839: ‘God hath not revealed anything to Joseph [calling himself by name], but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them.’ Even the least Saint, I repeat.

The Prophet continued: ” ‘For the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him (who remain) from the least to the greatest. Note that ‘all shall know him’ is different from knowing about him.” (Madsen, Truman G., Joseph Smith the Prophet (pp. 18-19). Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition.

“Shall we not go on, in so great a cause?”

30 Powerful Prophetic Promises to Strengthen Your Faith

Part of my daily holy habits, in addition to prayer and scripture studies, is to study the words of the living apostles and prophets and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ. Their words are living waters and I love to drink deeply from the well of life. I was just going through this past conference again and was pondering some of the promises given to us.

I look at what we have been through as a world (and here in the United States of America) in the past few months and the promises you find below will truly bring you comfort and encouragement in a world that is embracing more and more darkness and careening further and further away from Judeo-Christian values—bedrock values that have always held the world together. When these values are rejected, the world naturally falls apart.

This list is in the order they were received in general conference and is not by any means meant to be comprehensive. At the end of the article or review of promises, I have put the brief summary titles into order together. You could print that page out and cut out those and put them in your favorite walk-by-gazing location. These promises are for pondering, deep meditation, prayerful consideration and individual application.

Prayers are Heard and Answered
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

It is for reasons known only to God why prayers are answered differently than we hope—but I promise you they are heard and they are answered according to His unfailing love and cosmic timetable.

A Multitude of Blessings
Sister J. Anette Dennis

Through honoring our covenants, we enable God to pour out the multitude of promised blessings associated with those covenants, including increased power to change and become more like our Savior. Jesus Christ is at the center of all covenants we make, and covenant blessings are made possible because of His atoning sacrifice.

The Temple Tranforms Us
Elder Ulisses Soares

The house of the Lord is where we can be transformed in higher and holier ways. So, when we walk out of the temple, transformed by our hope in the promises of the covenants, armed with power from on high, we take the temple with us into our homes and lives. I assure you that having the spirit of the Lord’s house in us changes us, completely.

God Never Tires in His Efforts to Help Us
President Henry B. Eyring

You may then experience a feeling of light and hope testifying that the promises are true. You will come to know that every covenant with God is an opportunity to draw closer to Him, which will then create a desire in your heart to keep temple covenants. We have been promised, “Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us.”

Blessed to Do and Overcome Hard Things
Elder David A. Bednar

I promise that as we build the foundation of our lives on the “rock” of Jesus Christ, we can be blessed by the Holy Ghost to receive an individual and spiritual stillness of the soul that enables us to know and remember that God is our Heavenly Father, we are His children, Jesus Christ is our Savior, and we can be blessed to do and overcome hard things.

Blessed with Clear Vision and Understanding
Elder Massimo De Feo

I promise that as we hear the voice of the Lord and allow Him to guide us on the Savior’s covenant path, we will be blessed with clear vision, spiritual understanding, and peace of heart and mind throughout our lives.

We Will Find Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ
Elder Jose L. Alonso

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The clarity of His invitation “come unto me” and “take my yoke” affirms the profound nature of His promise—a promise so vast and complete that it embodies His love, offering us a solemn guarantee: “Ye shall find rest.”

All Things Work Together for Our Good
Elder Gerrit W. Gong

In time and eternity, the purpose of Creation and the nature of God Himself are to bring all things together for our good. This is the Lord’s eternal purpose. It is His eternal perspective. It is His eternal promise.

God Keeps All His Promises, Always
Elder Shayne M. Bowen

I testify that miracles and ministrations are continually occurring in our lives, often as a direct result of priesthood power. Some priesthood blessings are fulfilled immediately, in ways we can see and understand. Others are unfolding gradually and will not be fully realized in this life. But God keeps all of His promises, always…

Your Foreordination Brings About Premortal Promises
Elder Steven R. Bangerter

Before you were born, God appointed each of you to fulfill specific missions during your mortal life upon the earth. If you remain worthy, the blessings of that premortal decree will enable you to have all kinds of opportunities in this life, including opportunities to serve in the Church and to participate in the most important work happening on the earth today: the gathering of Israel. Those premortal promises and blessings are called your foreordination. “The doctrine of foreordination applies to all members of the Church.”

Jesus Christ Will Walk Hand in Hand with You
Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus

Dear friends, Christ is eager to accompany us on the journey of our lives. I promise you, as you hold on to the iron rod, you will walk hand in hand with Jesus Christ. He will be guiding you, and He will be teaching you. By His hand, you will be able to bring down every Goliath that appears in your life.

Temple Blessings will Be Yours Even if Your Spouse Has Broken His or Her Covenants
Elder Matthew L. Carpenter

If you remain faithful to the covenants you made when you were endowed, you will receive the personal blessings promised to you in the endowment even if your spouse has broken his or her covenants or withdrawn from the marriage. If you were sealed and later divorced, and if your sealing is not canceled, the personal blessings of that sealing remain in effect for you if you remain faithful.

God’s Path of Happiness is Available to All
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Joy is the very purpose of God’s plan for His children. It’s what you were created for—“that [you] might have joy”! You were built for this! Our Father in Heaven has not hidden the path to happiness. It is not a secret. It is available to all! It is promised to those who walk the path of discipleship, follow the teachings and example of the Savior, keep His commandments, and honor covenants they make with God. What a remarkable promise!

The Powers of Heaven will Pour Down Upon Us
Elder Ronald A. Rasband

I promise that if we “feast upon the words of Christ” that lead to salvation, our prophet’s words that guide and encourage us, and our own words that speak of who we are and what we hold dear, the powers of heaven will pour down upon us. “The words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” We are Heavenly Father’s children and He is our God, and He expects us to speak with “the tongue of angels” by the power of the Holy Ghost.

God Will Be There to Catch Us
Elder Paul B. Pieper

The good news is that regardless of the trust we may or may not have chosen to place in God in the past, we can choose to trust God today and every day going forward. I promise that each time we do, God will be there to catch us, and our relationship of trust will grow stronger and stronger until the day that we become one with Him and His Son.

God’s Plan is Designed to Bring You Home
Elder Patrick Kearon

My friends, my fellow disciples on the road of mortal life, our Father’s beautiful plan, even His “fabulous” plan, is designed to bring you home, not to keep you out. No one has built a roadblock and stationed someone there to turn you around and send you away. In fact, it is the exact opposite. God is in relentless pursuit of you. He “wants all of His children to choose to return to Him,” and He employs every possible measure to bring you back.

The Lord will not Leave Us Comfortless
Elder Brian K. Taylor

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

“I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; … that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.” “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” With joyful reverence, I witness our Savior lives and “His promises are sure.”

Powerful Promise: Ask, and it Shall Be Given You
Elder Taylor G. Godoy

Is there a promise more powerful than the one the Savior Himself made when He declared, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock,” or call, “and it shall be opened unto you”?

Prayer is the means of communication with our Heavenly Father that allows us to “call and don’t fall.”

The Blessed and Happy State of Those Who Keep the Commandments
Elder Gary E. Stevenson

King Benjamin promised remarkable power for those who follow the first great commandment. “I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments. … They are blessed in all things, … and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven … in a state of never-ending happiness.” Loving the Lord leads to eternal happiness!

Jesus Takes Upon Him the Pains and Sicknesses of His People
Elder Mathias Held

Let us never forget that Jesus promised to “take upon him the pains and sicknesses of his people … that he may … succor,” or help, us as we turn to Him. We can choose to build our foundation on the rock that is Jesus Christ so that when the whirlwind comes, “it shall have no power over [us].” He has promised that “whosoever will come [to Him], him will [He] receive; and blessed are those who come unto [Him].”

You Will Be Armed with His Power
Elder Neil L. Andersen

The temple is literally the house of the Lord. I promise you as you come worthily and prayerfully to His holy house, you will be armed with His power, His name will be upon you, His angels will have charge over you, and you will grow up in the blessing of the Holy Ghost.

You Will Receive Answers and Directions in Your Life
President Mark L. Pace

The invitation to come to the tree of life by holding fast to the word of God is not just an invitation from Lehi to his family, and it is not just an invitation from my mother for me to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. It is also an invitation from our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, to each one of us. “I promise,” he said, “that as you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon every day, you will make better decisions—every day. I promise that as you ponder what you study, the windows of heaven will open, and you will receive answers to your own questions and direction for your own life.”

The Lord will Manifest Himself in His Holy House
President Russell M. Nelson

Jesus Christ then declared that He had accepted the temple as His house and made this stunning promise: “I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.” This significant promise applies to every dedicated temple today. I invite you to ponder what the Lord’s promise means for you personally.

Priesthood Keys Extend Abraham’s Blessings to the Faithful
President Russell M. Nelson

Priesthood keys give us the authority to extend all of the blessings promised to Abraham to every covenant-keeping man and woman. Temple work makes these exquisite blessings available to all of God’s children, regardless of where or when they lived or now live. Let us rejoice that priesthood keys are once again on the earth!

Promised Blessings of Those Who Serve and Worship in the House of the Lord
President Russell M. Nelson

That dedicatory prayer [of the Kirtland Temple], which was received by revelation, teaches that the temple is “a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.” This list of attributes is much more than a description of a temple. It is a promise about what will happen to those who serve and worship in the house of the Lord. They can expect to receive answers to prayer, personal revelation, greater faith, strength, comfort, increased knowledge, and increased power.

Temple Worship Will Enhance the Way You See Yourself
President Russell M. Nelson

Time in the temple will help you to think celestial and to catch a vision of who you really are, who you can become, and the kind of life you can have forever. Regular temple worship will enhance the way you see yourself and how you fit into God’s magnificent plan. I promise you that.

Promised a Fulness of the Holy Ghost in the Temple
President Russell M. Nelson

We are also promised that in the temple we may “receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost.” Imagine what that promise means in terms of having the heavens open for each earnest seeker of eternal truth.

No Combination of Wickedness Will Prevail over Temple Worshipers
President Russell M. Nelson

Finally, we are promised that “no combination of wickedness” will prevail over those who worship in the house of the Lord. Understanding the spiritual privileges made possible in the temple is vital to each of us today.

Nothing Will Open the Heavens More than Temple Worship
President Russell M. Nelson

My dear brothers and sisters, here is my promise. Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement or help you understand God’s magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing!

All of the Blessings Promised to Abraham Can Be Ours
President Russell M. Nelson

The temple is the gateway to the greatest blessings God has in store for each of us, for the temple is the only place on earth where we may receive all of the blessings promised to Abraham. That is why we are doing all within our power, under the direction of the Lord, to make the temple blessings more accessible to members of the Church.

A Condensed List of the Promises:

Prayers are Heard and Answered
A Multitude of Blessings
The Temple Transforms Us
God Never Tires in His Efforts to Help Us
Blessed to Do and Overcome Hard Things
Blessed with Clear Vision and Understanding
We Will Find Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ
All Things Work Together for Our Good
God Keeps All His Promises, Always
Your Foreordination Brings About Premortal Promises
Jesus Christ Will Walk Hand in Hand with You
Temple Blessings will Be Yours Even if Your Spouse Has Broken His or Her Covenants
God’s Path of Happiness is Available to All
The Powers of Heaven will Pour Down Upon Us
God Will Be There to Catch Us
God’s Plan is Designed to Bring You Home
The Lord will not Leave Us Comfortless
Powerful Promise: Ask, and it Shall Be Given You
The Blessed and Happy State of Those Who Keep the Commandments
Jesus Takes Upon Him the Pains and Sicknesses of His People
You Will Be Armed with His Power
You Will Receive Answers and Directions in Your Life
The Lord will Manifest Himself in His Holy House
Priesthood Keys Extend Abraham’s Blessings to the Faithful
Promised Blessings of Those Who Serve and Worship in the House of the Lord
Temple Worship Will Enhance the Way You See Yourself
Promised a Fulness of the Holy Ghost in the Temple
No Combination of Wickedness Will Prevail over Temple Worshipers
Nothing Will Open the Heavens More than Temple Worship
All of the Blessings Promised to Abraham Can Be Ours

Pioneers in Paupers’ Graves

If you go to the Salt Lake Cemetery, the largest city-operated cemetery in the United States, you may notice large areas with few or no headstones. Don’t assume no one is buried there. These unmarked areas may be pauper’s graves, which are called potter’s fields in the New Testament (Matthew 27:3-8). Potter’s fields and pauper’s graves are where unknown, unclaimed, or indigent people are laid to rest.

Pauper’s Graves: In more established communities in the eastern United States and Great Britian, it was a disgrace and blight, a lifetime stigma, on the family’s reputation if a relative died “penniless and was dumped into a paupers’ grave.” “The ultimate disgrace for a Victorian worker’s family was a pauper burial. Having the means to avoid it and provide for a decent funeral that would preserve the family’s standing in the community was the measure of basic respectability.” One of the many difficult aspects of burial in a pauper’s grave was the quality of the coffins. “The coffins were notoriously cheap and ineffectual…. Their quality was so poor that they cracked when a nail was driven in, and unless bodies are carefully handled, they fall out of them” (https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/16653100.pdf).

Stigma: This stigma, although present in the formational years of Salt Lake City, was tempered by the fact that no one, except perhaps Native Americans, had lived in Salt Lake more than twenty years and most everyone was poor. This burial service provided by the community was necessary and appreciated. Today, however, when my friend Becky Anderson found out that her fourth great grandmother, Lydia Kenyon Carter, was buried in a pauper’s grave, she immediately organized her family to purchase a marker for her. Other families have also honored their dead in this way. One of the markers gives the name and dates of the deceased with the caveat, “buried somewhere close by.” Records do not exist for who is buried where in this common grave.

Lydia Kenyon Carter’s story is similar to thousands of others and differs only in the detail. She was born in Benson, Vermont in 1799, the twelfth of fourteen children. She married Simeon Dagget Carter and gave birth to Orlando, Eveline, and Lorain. In 1823, they moved to Ohio. As the story goes, Simeon and Lydia were neighbors of Parley P. Pratt. One day Parley sought safety in Simeon and Lydia’s home as a constable had come to arrest him. Simeon helped him escape, and Parley left a Book of Mormon on his way out. Simeon read the book, he and Lydia joined the Church in Kirtland, and soon they moved to Far West, Missouri. Their fourteen-year-old daughter, Lorain, died there.

After being expelled from Missouri, they moved to Nauvoo, where she became a close friend to Emma Smith and comforted her after the martyrdom. She and Simeon were endowed and sealed in the Nauvoo Temple in December 1845. Simeon served missions. Lydia was often alone. Lydia and Simeon along with about 70,000 others, who had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, crossed the plains before the railroad came in 1869. Lydia and Simeon were members of the Silas Richards Company, leaving Kanesville, Iowa in July 1849, arriving October 29, 1849. A couple of weeks after arriving in Salt Lake, Simeon married another wife. When Lydia died at sixty-seven, Simeon was living with another wife in Brigham City, and she was living with her daughter. Lydia passed away in December 1866 of dropsy. (Today a more specific diagnosis might have been edema due to congestive heart failure (https://www.rxlist.com/dropsy/definition.htm).

Plat D, Block 7, Lot 1: Becky has figuratively adopted all who are buried in Plat D, Block 7, Lot 1. (The coordinates are about 275 North and Center Street.) She asked me if I would be interested in writing about what she was finding. We went to the site and I took the photo above. We learned this plot was filled, death-by-death, with people who left this frail existence between 1863-66. Each person is in a space measuring forty-nine inches by seven to eight feet. The list below shows the names of those who are awaiting the resurrection in Plat D, Block 7, Lot 1. (We are still in the process of figuring out everyone who is buried there. The cemetery office estimates between eighty and one hundred just in Lot 1. And this is not the only mass grave; there are others nearby as you see in the photo below.

Latter-day Culture: In Latter-day Saint culture, death is a transition not an end, and as with many other cultures, reverence is shown to the physical body, rich or poor, living or dead. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “I would esteem it one of the greatest blessings, if I am to be afflicted in this world, to have my lot cast where I can find brothers and friends all around me [and]… to have the privilege of having our dead buried on the land where God has appointed us to gather His Saints together…. The place where a man is buried is sacred to me…. Even to the aborigines [Native Americans] of this land, the burying places of their fathers are more sacred than anything else” (https://rsc.byu.edu/salt-lake-city-place-which-god-prepared/should-we-die).

Book of Remembrance: Part of the respect for the dead is evidenced by the records that were kept since the time of Adam and Eve. Adam kept a genealogy of his descendants and recorded important events during his lifetime. “For a book of remembrance, we have written among us, according to the pattern given by the finger of God” (Moses 6:46). Similar records have been kept by prophets and many others according to the same pattern with whatever tools and technology were available.

How Poor: Now to the question, how poor do you have to be to qualify for a pauper’s burial? The answer is that those buried in pauper’s graves, generally speaking, were on public or private assistance. Today, we might say, they were on welfare. This may indicate that the family of the deceased did not have the money or were unwilling to pay the cost for a private burial plot or other associated costs. 

How poor is pauper-grave poor is an important distinction because most everyone in early pioneer Utah was poor. In 1863, about ninety percent of the people in the territory, Utah didn’t become a state until January 4, 1896, had a yearly income between $600 and $1,000. This number does not include what a family could produce on their own farms and gardens. In 1956, Leonard Arrington wrote: “The number of persons in Utah who were in the middle- and upper-income brackets was limited to a mere handful. Only six persons received an income in excess of $5,000 in 1863; this number increased to sixteen in 1864, but dropped to eleven in 1865 and 1866. Only after the railroad came, did the average income increase and that is because those in the upper brackets increased significantly. Some thirty-seven persons received more than $5,000 in 1871” https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/volume_24_1956/s/95990).

This is how a yearly income of $600-$1,000 compares to today (https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1863?amount=1000).

Acknowledging the poverty, was it really that expensive to bury someone? Records of the Salt Lake City Council in 1864 set the following pricelist:

Coffin, per running foot – $1.75
Recording – $ .25
Digging grave – $2.00
Recording certificate – $.25
Grave over 4 feet – $3.00
Lot (Lot in Ravine for less.) – $12.00
Conveying Coffin to City – $1.50.

It is interesting to note that this money was to be paid to the sexton (the person whose duties might include, taking care of a churchyard, ringing the church bell, and/or digging graves).

What Happens Today: What happens today if a family cannot afford a burial or cremation? It is basically the same: “Most coroners will pitch in to bury or cremate the remains of your loved one if you can’t. You will have to sign release forms permitting the county to cremate the body. Once the body is cremated, the coroner will likely allow you to claim the ashes for a small fee. However, if you fail to claim the ashes, then the coroner will bury the ashes in a common grave” (https://www.wujekcalcaterra.com/what-to-do-if-you-cant-afford-funeral-costs/). According to (https://www.funeralocity.com/average-funeral-price/ut), the average cost of a full-service burial today in Utah is $8,028. (Full-service cremation is $5,790).

You might be interested in what is considered poverty today. I found the following: “The table below provides examples at various income-to-poverty ratios for a family of four with two children in 2016, illustrating that while a family making $18,250 and one making $6,000 a year would both be considered to be in poverty, income-to-poverty ratios provide a more precise understanding of their economic circumstances”

(https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2020/09/degrees-of-poverty.html).

Story of Sacrifice: In spite of these relevant facts, the real takeaway is in the stories of sacrifice made by faithful saints who left all for the gospel of Jesus Christ only to be buried in Plat D, Block 7, Lot 1. For example, if Professor James William Pigg Stannard had not joined the Church and felt guided by the Holy Ghost to come to Zion, he would have been buried with much pomp, even Queen Victoria would have known about his passing.

In 2019, two new headstones were placed on Plat D, Block 7, Lot 1, honoring James William Pigg Stannard and two of his grandsons, Isaac Jensen and James Jacob Stannard Jensen. These graves were unmarked for 154 years. As you can see on the headstone for Isaac and James, they did not live long. Their grandfather, James William Pigg Stannard, was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England on May 4, 1792 and died February 14, 1865. Even though he was buried in a pauper’s grave, the Deseret News published his obituary on March 1, 1865. Here is a shortened version.

“Professor Stannard became a proficient scholar in the French, Latin, & Greek languages, but his favorite study was mathematics, which he pursued with an ambition characteristic of the man…. He grew up in a 20-room, 2-story home with four servants. He dined with Queen Victoria. He sacrificed everything to come to Salt Lake City to join his wife and four adult children. His wife, Caroline, never made it to Zion. Professor Stannard died four months later after arriving in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake.”

Who Died of What: Becky looked up all the names she could read who are buried in plot 1 and found details of their lives. She found babies and children. She found others like Professor Stannard who died shortly after arriving in Salt Lake City. These are noted as: “newly arrived immigrant.” One man is known as “Danish Man.” And one column of interest lists the cause of death. People buried in Plat D, Block 7, Lot 1 died of convulsions, putrid sore throat, liver complaint, drowning, child bed (complications of giving birth), stillborn, brain fever (encephalitis), cancer, scarlet fever, croup, shot, diarrhea, consumption (tuberculosis), typhoid fever, inflammation of the lung, inflammation of the bowel, kicked by a horse, canker, suicide, accidental poisoning, heart disease, worms, teething.

Receiving Temple Blessings: Becky has found thirteen for whom the temple work has not been done. One example is George Selby who is buried in this plot. He was born in 1810 in Hitchwell, England. He married Sarah Hill who was born in 1815 in Sydmonton, Hampshire, England. They were married in 1834 and sealed by proxy in the Salt Lake Temple in 1977. A note on ancestry.com reads: “No known children.” Doing more research, Becky happily discovered they had six children. The temple work is in progress!