Boise ID Temple Re-Dedication

Today, was the Boise temple re-dedication.  The church cancelled all regular meetings for the day and the dedication was broadcast 3 times.  I caught the 12 noon one.  It was awesome!  I totally loved it and finaly when Elder Bednar got up to talk I started taking notes.  I wish I had started earlier.   As  I walked in the Stake President said when I shook his hand "Welcome to the temple!"   That's what the stake center was while we were there- a temple!  Pretty cool!

The opening hymn was #5, High on the Mountain Top. Some words spoke to me.  Verse four says this, speaking of the temple: For there we shall be taught, The law that will go forth, With truth and wisdom fraught, To govern all the earth.  The meaning to me?  Those who are endowed with power, that know the law will be those who govern the earth! I'm excited for the day when righteous men and women who know the law will govern.

One of the assistant to the matrons spoke.  She got teary eyed about her son who didn't get married till he was 29 (Big eye roll there).  Two of her daughters were married in that temple.  It was a spiritual talk.   I wish I could remember more.

The entrance. New stained glass!

One of the speakers talked about how in 1973 when Spencer W. Kimball was made prophet there was only 15 temples on the earth. When he passed away there was 36 more, Boise was one of those- # 27 I believe. Now there is 140.

The next speaker was Pres. Monson's Secretary for 42 years.   She said that she is  largely who she is because of him. He is caring, kind, serving, etc.  I really appreciated her coming and sharing.

The hall way.

Then Elder Bednar. Gotta love Elder Bednar.  He talked about  some of the things the Savior did in Matthew chapter 8 and then read these verses:   

19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will ^afollow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Then he taught what that scripture means.  He quotes Joseph Smith at the corner stone dedication/laying at the Nauvoo temple, Brigham Young, and at the South Jordan Temple dedication (3 witnesses) that said that Father has no house (a temple) for his Son dedicated to him to lay his head.  I'm sure I must of heard that before, but this time it really made sense. 

He then told us some of the blessings of temple work- avoiding temptation, being just one of them.  He said something to the effect of any struggle, any price to obtain temple blessing is worth it.  He talked about family history work and quoted the scripture "where much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48)  He pointed out that it does not say 'encouraged', but REQUIRED! 

He read verses from section 109, which is the dedicatory prayer for the Kirkland Temple. I believe he read vs 5:  "To build a house to they name, that the Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people."  He suggested that every member should study this chapter and find the meaning for them in their individual lives.  This is something I want to do. 

The baptismal font.  New stained glass and paintings.  One of the most beautiful rooms there!

Then the holiest man on the earth stood talked to just the State of Idaho.  He pointed out future missionaries and wiggled his ears.  He also pointed out others who would marry here too.  The Boise temple was announced on March 31st 1982 and in May of 1984 Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated it. 

"The heaven seem so close today", he said.  If you remember well we can take our children  to the re-dedication of the temple through our memories.  

He mentioned going to South Africa and how people came up to him and asked him if they could have a temple there.  He told them he'd see what he could do.  Spencer W. Kimball told them 1 month later that yes they would have a temple.  Elder Monson received telegrams from some there congratulating him on his success.  It was not him.  He did nothing.  Temples come about through the prophet!  

A sealing room

President Monson has been the president for 5 years.  It was 49 years ago that David O. McKay called him to the apostleship.  He then told a story of talking to a man in Tonga.  He asked him if he had all this children sealed to him.  In sadness he hung his head and explained that he and his wife had 10 children, but they could only afford to take 4 of them to the New Zealand Temple, but he was saving up money to take the others. He came home and told this story and his daughter Ann (Now is the 2nd counselor in the General YW presidency) told her seminary counsel.  All of the seminaries in the SLC area did a service project every year at Christmas time.  Without her father knowing the counsel raised enough money for this family and others to take their families to the temple and be sealed.

Then stories of the Temple in Frankfurt Germany behind the Iron Curtain.  It was dedicated in 1985.(The country would not let the church bring in any materials, so Thomas S. Monson with a photographic memory, memorized it all and had it written down while there)  There was a couple in Prague or the Ukraine who had 12 pictures of temples in their home.  Elder Monson asked the wife if her husband loved temples.  The sister said yes and then "I too, I too."  This man became the second president of the Frankfurt Temple and served for 4 years.

President Monson said he felt sad about what was said in Matthew chapter 8.  We have room for TV, for computers, for eating, for sleeping.  Do we have room for the temple?  We have time for golf and movies.  Let us have time for the temple. Then he quoted  Section 76: 5-6 

For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am ^amerciful and gracious unto those who ^bfear me, and delight to honor those who ^cserve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.  Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their ^aglory. 

The ceiling of the Celestial Room!  So beautiful!  They had to shrink the whole room down considerably to get everything in they wanted to.

I loved being there. I loved giving the Hosanna Shout. That was my second one.  The first being at the dedication of the Nauvoo Temple.  I gained glimpses of all the many many blessings of going.  It makes me want to find all of them.  It makes me want to be righteous that I may obtain them.   I'm so glad I was able to go and do that.  What an important thing!  I hope to be able to partake of many more temple dedications in the years to come.  

I know this is the true church.  I know that we are pulling down the powers of heaven and destroying the powers of Satan every time a temple is dedicated and we keep our selves worthy and do the work there-in. I am so happy to be a part of it and can't see why friends of mine don't make the necessary changes in their lives to be able to do and say the same thing.  I hope I will always be worthy to have a recommend and be in the temple.  Praise God from who all blessings flow. 

To learn more and see more pictures go here.  All pictures were from the church web sight, the link being provided.

Five For Friday # 5

ONE

Parker my little Japanese chin is a runner.  He loves to get away and explore.  I have a long lead I put him on in the front yard, so he can get around, but when it's on, he does his business and comes right back in, then waits to sneak out.  It's worrisome to me.  He can get pretty far away within a short time.  Coco on the other hand stay very close to home and I never have to worry about loosing him.  I was worried about how I was going to deal with this come summer when we have the door open all the time.

Little Parker with his clothes on.  I love his little paws sticking out!

But a few weeks ago, he got out MANY times and each time I did not scold him at all, just told him he's my little baby dog, that I loved him and carried him back home.  I did this over and over again for the next few days and you know what?  He's coming back on his own ALL the time.  It's so nice not to have to worry about this  anymore and I hope it keeps up!  I wasn't even planning on this being the solution.  I just did it, not knowing why, but I think it's a lesson on the power of kindness.

 TWO

I just finished reading my second book about polygamy. Each has been a little different.




The first book, Stolen Innocence concerns Warren Jeff's group. This story starts out in the metropolitan SLC area. This story is about manipulation, control, broken families and lies.  You can find it on CD and in hard cover complete with pictures.  This poor girl was forced to marry someone who had been mean to her all growing up.  Her father, mother and brother were often taken away from the family, brought back, changed, you name it.  It's shocking.

The second book, Shattered Dreams, is even more shocking.  This starts out in Murry Utah and Irene, the writer is a 4th generation polygamist.  It starts with her childhood and her mothers misery, leaving after dad goes to prison and her falling in love with a man who is 13 years her senior.  She's only 16 and is torn between marrying him or  her 1/2 sisters husband Verlan.  She picks Verlan and becomes a second wife.  Her life is mostly spent in Mexico, in farm land, in the mountains and by the ocean and for a while in Nicaragua. She lives in extreme poverty, with no electricity, no running toilets, thrift store clothes, and 25 or more people in a very small house.  Irene ends up having a total of 14 children.  The first dies the day of her birth. She struggles her whole marriage with loneliness, jealousy and her husband making promises he never keeps.  She falls in love with another man at one point, but stays in her awful situation. 

Verlan had been a temple endowed Latter-day Saint.  He ends up becoming the president of this church his brother started.  He often works in the states, and tries to find converts as far as Canada. Verlan ends up with a total of 10 wives and 58 children.  These people believed in the Adam-God theory, the "purity" principle, which means only sex for pro-creation, and glory and own worlds in the next life.  Irene can't stand the lack of sex and finally finds a text by Parley P. Pratt (I think) for 5 reasons for sex.  The Doctrine and Covenants is quoted as well as Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball.  Irene lives having to be obedient to requests that go against what her heart is telling her is wrong and there for feels TERRIBLE about herself and so unloved.  All she wanted was love and someone to be there for her.

Once Irene leaves he becomes a Born Again Christian. After reading her story, hearing how she felt and then her experience in this kind of a congregation, I believe that God is giving her a gift to live out the rest of her life, responsibility free.  She paid a great price while being a 2nd wife and this is her break.  In the next life, she will know the truth, except it and be OK.  That is my hope for her anyway.

Why do I read this you ask?   Being single so long and in the single adult program that is 31 to dead, I've often thought if there was polygamy I would be a wife and a mother and there would be no need for the SA program. I would always say I don't need a man 100% of the time, 50% or less would be fine.  Another phrase I'd say is "I'll be wife number 2, there isn't going to be no number 3"  meaning of course, a second wife after a death or a divorce.  I was a 5th wife to Jason!

Of course I would never leave the Church for such a thing.  I KNOW it is wrong, unless commanded by God.  In reading Jacob, I believe polygamy is about children.  Abraham needed to have seed to fulfill the promise.  The Mormon Pioneers needed to have children to grow the church, the gospel.  In Jacob chapter 2 he tells the Nephities that they cannot excuse by using the scriptures (David and Salomon) to have more than one wife. The Lord tells us there, He Ok'd it for Abraham and for this purpose as described in verse 30:

For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up ^aseed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.

The Lord’s law of marriage is monogamy unless he commands otherwise to help establish the House of Israel (see Encyclopedia of Mormonism Vol. 3, pp. 1091-1095).

THREE

You know my little rescue dog Polly, well her name is now Pearl.  I got an email and a picture from the family that adopted her.  The mom even knitted her a little dress.  Here she is all clean and cute. I love her and still want to hug her!  She's such a cute sweet dog, but I'm happy to know she has a good home.  I just hope they don't smoke around her! 

FOUR

This last weekend I went with my sister Cindy, her husband Mike and Amber, their youngest daughter to take her for her second semester at BYU-Idaho.  Ricks used to be my old stomping ground and really the best 2 years of my life.  I had SO much fun there, made great friends that I am still friends with today, and got myself on anti-depressants.  The college then had 4 thousand students.  The hope how is to get 15 thousand students and they are well on their way!  The place has changed so much.  My second year I lived in Harmony House, across from the Spori building.  It's now men's housing and uses our old Vikings mascot in the name.  There are TONS of housing already gone up, and more going up.  More shops, more buildings on campus, more changes.  It's crazy!  They have a conference center called the Idaho-Center, or I-center.  It will hold all 15K students when they get them.  The conference center in SLC hold 21K.  They recently had a fire there (the one in SL) and I couldn't help but think that it would be OK if that burned down, because we have a plan B!

I also went to the temple there.  On the outside it looks like the Twin Falls temple, but it's much bigger and I have to admit I like not having to make an appointment!  The chandelier are amazing, covering the whole mechanism with those crystals  so you see rainbow colors when you look in it. I took some pictures of the temple and the conference center and some of the campus, that will be coming up soon!  Mean while you can go here to see the campus. It's beautiful!

FIVE 

I think recess is the hardest part of the day for me and there are 3 of them, totaling 45 to 60 min of the day.  Greg is usually fine playing by himself so I have a lot of down time unless the kids are coming up to me with problems.  Today I realized that all my thinking is negative.  I think negative about the kids, about Jason, other involved in that mess and even my childhood, and adult years in the past.  My life has been a disappointment to me.  I feel like a failure.  The sad part is, that in my realization (I suppose a step in the direction of healing) I don't know what to think about. Isn't that sad?  I cried about it.  I tried to think about things I could think about, but I really don't know anything that takes up enough of my life or time that would fill those minutes.

It also shows me how terrible this whole ordeal (mainly the marriage and moves) has been for me.  In my pattern changing class the teacher said she had worked with abused women who didn't even know what their favorite color was and other such simple things.  Any ideas of what I should think about?

Future posts about Castleford and BYUI coming soon!

The Twin Falls Temple

I've been to the Twin Falls Idaho Temple twice now. It's so very beautiful. High ceilings, with stained glass in almost every room- including the locker rooms. The patterns of a flower and a square can be found through out, the glass again, the wall paper, the carpet in the celestial room. It's just lovely. The wood is light inside, and the murals in the endowment room is of the canyon and falls ones drives over to get there. The painting is absolutely stunning! Besides the flowers, in the landscaping is the stone from the canyon that can be found in front and in back of the temple.

The flowers surrounding the temple are magnificent. I went crazy taking more pictures of them than the actual temple structure.

Don't you love the flower within the flower? I do! Just one on this one.

This is the back of the temple, perfect for taking pictures. The Chapel is also behind it.

Love the rocks and water- both symbols of the Savior! There are these 'river rocks' around the small fountain are natures benches for sitting and standing on for picture taking.

Wouldn't this make a lovely backdrop for wedding photos? There are 2 of these in the back.

Time for a cute story.

The first time there I was with my mother and sister-in-law Holly. Holly and I were waiting for Mom to get done and there was this very well put together older lady in the cutest outfit. It was a pink skirt with white polka dots, with a pink suit jacket. I told her I loved her outfit five times until she heard me. Once she finally heard it her response to me was "I just love this temple!" I said something about how beautiful it was. She said "I think their getting ready for the melinium, don't you? The temple layout is so well done. The Boise's is crazy with so much back and forth, that this really felt like this one was made to make things go faster. I mentioned speed and then she told me: "I'm 96!" She was still walking on her own, still wearing makeup, still dressing well. I resounded with a "Wow, are you going to make it to 100?" "I wasn't planning on it" , she said. I told her "I think you should." And that was that. It was just the cutest little encounter, all because I complimented her on her dress. It was a wonderful day!

Looking Into Eternity

Tuesday Jason received his Endowments at the Seattle Temple. After it was all over and we were in the Celestial Room the worker that helped Jason wanted to show him the sealing rooms. We went up there and he had us look into the mirrors that look like this:


You can see by looking into one mirror and the mirror in the back that reflect off each other hundreds of times both ways. The symbolism is that we are eternal. We have a past and a future that is eternal.

Well I was bending all around trying to see me as I was holding Jason's hands. All I could see of me was the here and now. Jason I could see going on and on. I got a message from that. We don't really know our future, how long we will live on this earth, what will happen to us why we are here and how and when we will die. We can live a good life and have some idea of how our next life will be. But I could see Jason going on and on. I guess that means that I don't need to worry about myself, but I'm here to be a "help meet" for him to get to where he wants to be and where I would like him to be. I didn't ask Jason if all he could see was me, but if so it would be the same message for him. It's kind of beautiful, isn't it?

The savior said to forget about self and serve others and when you do you find your self. That's the message - help people! I see it every where in the scriptures.

Help meet:
IE a helper suited to, worthy of, or corresponding to him.
Moses 3:18; Abr. 5:14. TG Marriage, Wives.

The temple is the great symbolism of our membership. - Howard W. Hunter

Inside the Salt Lake City Temple

This is a miniature replica of the Salt Lake City Temple. It's exactly how it looks inside and if you've ever been in there, you know how amazing that is, because of all the details! This is such a step forward for the church. Outsiders have always said "it's so secret", we always respond with, "it's sacred". While it's true that the ceremonies are sacred, everyone can now see what it looks like inside! We can put to rest all that God Makers crap about us having sex on the altar while our family looks on when we get married, or worse- murder!

It's beautiful in there!