For the Strength of Youth

I was contacted by a lovely young woman today, sharing her blog posts about the Kansas City Temple.  What a joy it was to witness her experiences through her enthusiastic eyes...and lens.  Her name is Kyra Webster, she is from the Kansas City Missouri Stake and she is a Temple Chaser.

Please take a moment to check out her darling blog and get the perspective from a teenager of this historical occasion.
Open House posts:

http://thisismyrealife.blogspot.com/2012/04/15-hours-at-temple-and-counting.html

http://thisismyrealife.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-love-to-see-temple.html

Youth Cultural Celebration Posts:

http://thisismyrealife.blogspot.com/2012/03/kc-temple-celebration-part-1.html

http://thisismyrealife.blogspot.com/2012/04/kc-celebration-part-2.html

http://thisismyrealife.blogspot.com/2012/05/temple-celebration-choir-orchestra.html
(Included on this post is a video of her rehearsal, singing with the orchestra)

(photo by Kyra Webster)

Build a Temple

"I build a Temple Mama!"

Need a fun activity for your next Family Home Evening?
Build Temples.
Prepare your children for the Temple Open House by having them build temples out of blocks.

This little Temple Chaser showed us the way....

On My Way

I will soon be on my way to Kansas City for the Temple Open House.

I can hardly believe it's almost time.

For several years now, Kansas City has been chasing the temple.

Are you ready?  Here's a great article by Elder Nelson to help.

Have you invited your friends to attend the Open House?

Can you believe this is what the Temple lot looked like two years ago?

A year ago?

Monday will be the anniversary of Moroni being placed on the temple.

I Love to See The Temple....I'm going there some day....in the very near future!

More Open House Information

Go here.

Open House Reservations

Open house reservations will be made available to the general public starting Monday, March 12, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. (mountain time) online at lds.org/reservations or by contacting the reservation call center at 1-866-537-8457 or 801-570-0080. The call center will be open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. (mountain time).

Appointments for Living Ordinances

Appointments for living ordinances can be made beginning Monday, April 2, 2012. (The phone number for the Kansas City Missouri Temple will be provided at a later date.)

Proxy Work

All proxy work such as endowments, sealings, and so forth will be by appointment only. Appointments can be made beginning Monday, April 16, 2012.

Lenexa Stake Preparing for the Temple

These are the Kansas City Temple District Stakes:
1.  Warrensburg Missouri
2.  Springfield Missouri
3.  Springfield Missouri South
4.  Joplin Missouri
5.  Independence Missouri
6.  Liberty Missouri
7.  Kansas City Missouri
8.  Platte City Missouri
9.  Olathe Kansas
10.  Lenexa Kansas
11.  Topeka Kansas
12.  Salina Kansas

In an effort to prepare the members of the Lenexa Stake for the upcoming temple open house and dedication, they have issued this list of things to do:

1.  Read the Book of Mormon everyday.
•Search, ponder, and pray 30 minutes a day.
•Finish by December 31, 2012

2.  Attend the Temple Open House
•Open House:  April 7 to April 21, 8am - 4pm Mondays, 8 am - 8pm Tuesday-Saturday.
•Members attending by themselves are encouraged to attend during weekdays, if possible.

3.  Prayerfully determine who the Lord wants you to invite to the Open House.
•You or your friends can make reservations on-line or by phone beginning March 12.
•Invitations will also be provided to pass out in March.


4.  All youth participate in the Cultural Celebration.
•Youth will perform (instrument, word, song, dance) at the Cultural Celebration on Saturday, May 5, 6 pm at the Municipal Auditorium.
•For youth (ages 12-18, must be at least by May 5) and their families.
•Everyone is invited to view the live broadcast at the Lenexa Kansas Stake Center.
•Youth and youth leader (including bishoprics) are invited to a Temple District Youth Fireside webcast at the Lenexa Kansas Stake Center, Sunday, February 26, 6-7 pm to provide a vision for and encourage youth to participate in the celebration.
•Rehearsals will be on select Mutual nights (TBD) during March and April, and on May 5th.

5.  Prayerfully ponder, "What can I do to be closer to the Savior?"
•Then, follow the promptings of the Spirit to worthily prepare for the opening of the Temple.

6.  Qualify for a Temple Recommend and attend the Temple Dedication.
•The Temple Dedication will be Sunday, May 6.  You can attend one of the three sessions:  9 am, noon, or 3pm.  All sessions will be broadcast live to the Lenexa Kansas Stake Center.
•Must be at least 8 years old and baptized/confirmed by May 6, 2012.
•A Temple Dedication Recommend is required to attend.

7.  After the Temple Dedication, record your feelings in a journal.

8.  Talk to your Bishop if you'd like to serve in the Temple.

"Make whatever sacrifices are necessary to attend the temple and to have the spirit of the temple in your hearts and homes." ~ President Thomas. S. Monson

~From the Lenexa Kansas Stake President, Bruce Priday

Chasing the counsel given by this stake would be advantageous to all members of this temple district!  Keep Chasing!

Enter Here...

Soon enough my friends....soon enough.

Loved this photo by Val.

The Power of the Temple

An experience shared by fellow Temple Chaser, Jerrie Foreman

"My daughter-in-law (Laura) was not a member (of the Church).  She didn't really have much to do with the Church at all since her baby had been born. She was invited to come to Church one day and did. They talked about the new temple at church that day.  So she came over and said that she wanted to see it.  So we took a family trip (only 35 minutes!) to the temple when it was built.  She stood on the edges of the grounds.  She turned and looked at my husband and said,
"this is what I want in my life, this feeling."
She started asking questions on the way home and 2 weeks later was baptized.  She was baptized a year ago May 24.  She and my son are starting their temple prep class this week.  She already has a list of the temples she wants to visit.
I love the KC Temple, not just for the blessings it will bring to the area but for the blessings it has brought to my family."

Laura on her baptism day with the missionaries who taught her.  She was baptized by Jerrie's son, Bill.

As soon as possible, Laura took a temple trip with her ward to do baptisms for the dead.  She was so excited to walk in the first time.

Laura takes her daughter, Lexi out to the temple and takes pictures on a regular basis.

Jerrie

This is why I love Temple chasing.  Thank you for sharing this story Jerrie.

The Work

Seeing these pictures of progress being made on the construction of the temple reminds me of the 'work' involved with temple attendance.

Who is this work for?
"We wonder about our progenitors--grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, etc.  What do they think of you and me?  We are their offspring.  We have the responsibility to do their temple work, and the beautiful temples of the Lord stand day after day, yet we do not fill them always.  We have a grave responsibility that we cannot avoid, and may stand in jeopardy if we fail to do this important work." ~ President Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, Jan.1977, italics added

Why work?
"Temple work...gives a wonderful opportunity for keeping alive our spiritual knowledge and strength. ...The mighty perspective of eternity is unraveled before us in the holy temples; we see time from its infinite beginning to its endless end; and the drama of eternal life is unfolded before us.  Then I see more clearly my place amidst the things of the universe, my place among the purposes of God; I am better able to place myself where I belong, and I am better able to value and to weigh, to separate and to organize the common, ordinary duties of my life, so that the little things shall not oppress me or take away my vision of the greater things that God has given us." ~ John A. Widstoe, Conference Report, April 1922, italics added

"No work is more of a protection to this Church than temple work and the genealogical research that supports it.  No work is more spiritually refining.  No work we do gives us more power.  No work requires a higher standard of righteousness." ~ Elder Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, June 1992, italics added

And a promise...
John A. Widtsoe wrote:  "I believe that the busy person on the farm, in the shop, in the office, or in the household, who has his worries and troubles, can solve his problems better and more quickly in the house of the Lord than anywhere else.  If he will...[do] the temple work for himself and for his dead, he will confer a mighty blessing upon those who have gone before, and...a blessing will come to him, for at the most unexpected moments, in or out of the temple will come to him, as a revelation, the solution of the problems that vex his life.  That is the gift that comes to those who enter the temple properly."
"Temple Worship," The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, April 1921, pp. 63-64, italics added

"What a glorious thing it is for us to have the privilege of going to the temple for our own blessings.  Then after going to the temple for our own blessings, what a glorious privilege to do the work for those who have gone on before us.  This aspect of temple work is an unselfish work.  Yet whenever we do temple work for other people, there is a blessing that comes back to us.  Thus it should be no surprise to use that the Lord does desire that his people be a temple-motivated people.  I repeat what I have said before:  It would please the Lord for every adult member to be worthy of--and to carry--a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it.  The things that we must do and not do to be worthy of a temple recommend are the very things that ensure we will be happy as individuals and as families.

Let us truly be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people.  We should hasten to the temple as frequently , yet prudently, as our personal circumstances allow.  We should go not only for our kindred dead but also for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety that are within those hallowed and consecrated walls.  As we attend the temple, we learn more richly and deeply the purpose of life and the significance of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Let us make the temple, with temple worship and temple covenants and temple marriage, our ultimate earthly goal and the supreme mortal experience."~ President Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Feb. 1995, italics added

"But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come."~D&C 59:23

Carry on with the 'work' Temple Chasers.

Getting through the fog

Sometimes the fog of the world makes it difficult for us to know where to go and what to do.  We can be assured that our Heavenly Father has given us a living prophet who will navigate and show us the way.

Elder M. Russell Ballard, shared harrowing fog experience in the August, 1977 Friend, while flying in a small single-engine airplane, that illustrated to him of the importance of following our Heavenly "air traffic controller." He taught, "If we will listen very carefully to everything that the prophet tells us, and if we will follow his instructions, then, just like those in the airplane who were able to find the runway, we can find our way back safely to our Heavenly Father."

"Other, "instruments" our Heavenly Father uses to help us throughout our lives and sometimes through dense for are the Holy Ghost, our stake presidents, bishops, home teachers, and our parents.  If we listen and learn to follow the counsel we receive, we will have "safe landings" throughout our lives.  And more importantly, when our lives here are over, we will arrive back home to live with our Heavenly Father again."

The temple is also a light and guide in our lives.  Our attendance and being worthy to attend is very much like having a celestial compass to help us navigate through a dark and clouded world.

A celestial compass is opening near you.  Very soon.  Are you ready to receive light and knowledge to guide you and assist you on your journey through the mists?  Get ready.

Now Serving; The Temple

It was a cold, dreary morning last Saturday, the 21st, when several wards of volunteers met at the temple to give the service of collecting and removing debris.

Despite wind chills well below 25º F, these brave souls scoured over 50 acres of temple property to pick up trash, remnants of construction and other old objects to give the grounds a clean-face lift.

Ages 14 and older were invited to participate but so many couldn't come due to the extreme cold weather.

Photographed are all the 35+ folks who served and their names were recorded for their efforts.

Of course, there were snacks, impromptu sword fights with sticks and a lot of love and warmth going around.

These photos contain the first shots taken by Valerie Anderson without having to be behind a security fence.

Bless these good souls for their service to the Temple.  I bet Moroni loved the company and appreciates the clean view.
Now Serving; A Temple Near You!

"X" Marks the Spot

Go here to view the article about the Kansas City Temple Open House in the Kansas City Star.

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/19/3382694/new-mormon-temple-in-kansas-city.html

And it will all happen here very soon!

Renewal awaits

"As you and I go to the holy houses of God, as we remember the covenants we make within, we will be more able to bear every trial and to overcome each temptation.  In this sacred sanctuary we will find peace we will be renewed and fortified."
President Thomas S. Monson, General Conference, April 2011

Visitors from Dixie

Roy Stephens and his wife Carol recently visited the Kansas City Temple on New Year's Day. They were visiting the Midwest over the holidays.

This lovely couple resides in my ward here in St. George...The Bloomington 7th Ward.  Bro. Stephens is a member of the Bishopric.

They were impressed with the similarity of this temple to the St. George Temple, in size and shape.

Thank you for sharing your photos with us!  I love the connection between my homes.