Kansas City Temple President Called

Go here for the official announcement and bio.

John White Hardy, 70, Rock Canyon Ward, Provo Utah Edgemont Stake, called as president of the new Kansas City Missouri Temple. President Hardy's wife, Nancy Hatch Savage Hardy, will serve as temple matron. He serves as a ward mission leader and as an ordinance worker in the Provo Utah Temple. He previously served as president of the Canada Toronto Mission, and as a stake president's counselor, bishop, and in a Missionary Training Center branch presidency. A professor emeritus of accounting atBrigham Young University and former chief financial officer of U.S. Synthetic Corporation, he was born in Pocatello, Idaho, to Wallace Laird and Erma White Hardy.
Sister Hardy serves as a temple preparation teacher. She previously served with her husband as he presided over the Canada Toronto Mission. She has also served as a Young Women General Board member, stake and ward Relief Society president, and ward Young Women president. She was born in National City, California, to Henry Carlyle and Marjorie Hatch Savage.

Weeds

Dear Moroni,

I'm writing on behalf of our friend, the photographer, Val.  You may not know that she is really missing her friend and fellow Temple Chaser, Tom.

I'm sure you have noticed the lovely weeds that are in bloom right now all around you.  These buds and flowers have brought color and light to Val's world lately.

Even though weeds are considered a nuisance to most, these blossoms have demonstrated the blessed assurance of re-birth, new growth and life that continues .

I consider myself a weed.  Imperfect, with my thorns and unsightly leaves. But with some Sun...or the Son and basking in His light, I blossom and grow too, to something more beautiful.

Our friend Val sure appreciates her sojourns to the Temple and the opportunity to photograph you.  She feels real peace when she is there.

I hope you are enjoying the display of nature's color around you.

I ask that you keep an eye on our friend for me.  Keep shining as her beacon of hope.  Please continue to make her feel welcome as you do all your guests.

We know a loving Heavenly Father sends us these gentle reminders that our friends and family who pass away are with Him...blooming and continually growing.  And we are thankful for those reminders.  But sometimes it's still hard missing them here on earth.  Thank goodness we know we will see them again.

Thank you for who you are and what you stand for, Moroni.  And thank you for watching over our Valerie.

Your friend,

Cheryl

Hard Hat tour of the Stake Meetinghouse

Valerie was invited on a hard-hat tour of the Stake Meetinghouse being constructed next to the Temple with a Troop of Boy Scouts.  Photo taking was limited but she did get some unique pictures and facts.

The building is 20,000 square feet.

5 architects are assigned to this "prototype" building.

There is an outdoor reception atrium in the center of the building.

You can see the Temple from the large windows in the chapel, facing the north.

Construction is behind schedule and they are working quickly to complete the meetinghouse to be used as overflow and staging for the Temple open house.

They got to wear "cool" hard hats.

My three favorite features....the spire, the atrium, and those vintage-looking-temple-view windows.

Be the Link

I participated in the Bloomington Stake Trek last week as a Ma.

For those of you who are not acquainted with what a Trek is....here's some enlightenment.

Because it is such a huge endeavor, Treks are usually only held once every 4 years or so. In this case, it meant planning food, route, accommodations, provisions, health care, and logistics for over 300 people.  Quite an endeavor.

A Stake, or congregation of several or more wards together, will plan and execute a pioneer trail reenactment.  Youth ages 14-18 and adult leaders will push or pull handcarts, with provisions along a pre-determined trail for several days.  The youth will be divided into "families" of 5-10, depending on the number participating.  And a Ma and Pa will be assigned to each family.  I was a Ma.  We dress and act the part.  We wear pioneer clothing and sleep under the stars. Rain or shine, snow or heat...we live like a pioneer.

As the early pioneers became low on funds to make their exodus to Utah and couldn't afford wagons and teams of oxen, they invented handcarts that could be manually pushed or pulled with limited weight capabilities.  It was a physically arduous trip, as one could imagine.  Only, truthfully we really can't imagine nor comprehend it.  We trekked 4 days...they trekked 4 months. Many starved, froze and lost their lives.

The youth are encouraged to "Trek" in memory of the pioneer ancestors who sacrificed much to bring about their religious freedoms, as well as to teach them that they are pioneers in the world today....blazing their own trails through life.  These Treks also teach them that they too, as the pioneers of old...can do hard things and how to apply that in their life today.

One of the questions we were asked to think about as we embarked on the steep mountainous terrain, 20 mile trail was, "What link will you be?"

As we are linked to our past heritage and legacy left for us, what legacy or pioneer heritage will we leave behind?

These pioneers built a foundation for us and we continue building upon that foundation.  That makes us pioneers in our own day and age.

When I see the progress of the Kansas City Temple construction, I am reminded of the reason for building these Holy Houses to the Lord.  Therein lies our ability to link generations.  That is how we become a link to those who came before and those who will come after.  We become the link in a chain that goes on forever.

"Our inborn yearnings for family connections are fulfilled when we are linked to our ancestors through sacred ordinances of the temple."

"Those links, welded through sacred ordinances, lead to the exaltation of our families."

~Elder Russell M. Nelson

Families can be forever.  We are blessed to have temples built so close so that we can be the links in our eternal families.

I am forever grateful for those pioneers, some of whom were my own ancestors, who became the link that made it possible for me to love, appreciate and worship in my religion today.  I want to leave that kind of legacy for those who come after me.

What link will you be?

The Silver Lining

Fellow Temple Chaser, Tom Allison, returned to live with his Father in Heaven on Monday, June 6th.  Valerie went to the temple that evening and witnessed a beautiful sunset and unique "silver lining" aglow on the temple. She has been there for countless sunsets and has always managed to capture stunning lighting, however, this instance was special.

The temple IS the silver lining.  It is the place of refuge.  It is the big picture. It houses the eternal life saving ordinances that bring us back to our Father...forever.

Thank you Tom, for the reminder.

Weathering the Storms

While storms have ravaged the Midwest this last week, even the skies over the Kansas City Temple were tinged at times with ominous clouds.

Members of the Church in Joplin, MO are recovering from the loss of loved ones, their homes and their Stake Meetinghouse.

I appreciated this passage from Michael Otterson's post from the "On Faith",Washington Post National Blog, entitled, "Where is God (and the Mormon church) in a natural disaster?":

"What exactly does Mormon welfare and humanitarian response look like? First and foremost, it’s preparing for hard times before they hit. Mormon families generally follow a storage plan for food and essential commodities in their own homes so they are not dependent on others. Countless families have used those stores to cushion times of financial hardship without having to look to government or other help.

In infrastructure terms, Mormon humanitarian aid is warehouses and trucks, tents and chain saws, hygiene kits and canned food, generators and sleeping bags, flashlights and bottled water. The warehouses, which we call bishops’ storehouses, dot the country. Their more normal focus is on helping church members who are suffering from temporary food and commodity needs, but in a disaster they take on a much broader role, often serving as staging areas for relief efforts. Even before a hurricane makes landfall, trucks are loaded with relief aid at these regional depots and head to the expected disaster areas, where their contents will be needed and used by victims, Mormon or not.

The human side of the equation is the scores of Mormon work crews who typically converge on a disaster area from neighboring states to clean up, remove debris, repair homes and provide comfort. They are well coordinated with other relief services. They are self-motivated and self-managed, arriving with their own self-sustaining supplies in tow. Mormons who are not normally inclined to break their Sabbath day conventions by mowing their own lawns or visiting a supermarket on the Sabbath feel no hesitation in wielding a chainsaw to clear fallen branches from a hurricane victim’s damaged roof, Sunday or not. Service is every bit as much a part of their religious identity as sitting in a pew."

You can find more of this article here.

Our prayers and support go out to those who are suffering and weathering the effects of catastrophic devastation from these storms.

Press On

These images brought to you by Val capture the temple in all its glory, standing true and faithful amidst the storms as well as in days of sun and prosperity.

And I've taken some verses from the song, "Though Deepening Trials", from the LDS Hymnbook, pg. 122 to accompany photos illustrating this.

Though Deep'ning trials throng your way,

Press on, press on, ye Saints of God!

Ere long the resurrection day

Will spread its life and truth abroad.

Will spread its life and truth abroad.

Life up your hearts in praise to God;

Let your rejoicings never cease.

Though tribulations rage abroad,

Christ says, "In me ye shall have peace."

Christ says, "In me ye shall have peace."

This work is moving on apace,

And great events are rolling forth;

The kingdom of the latter-days,

The "little stone," must fill the earth.

The "little stone," must fill the earth.

All glory to his holy name

Who sends his faithful servants forth

To prove the nations, to proclaim

Salvation's tidings through the earth.

Salvation's tidings through the earth.

Temples are truly an Ensign to the nations, beacons of truth, light and testimony.  

And the Kansas City Temple, this "little stone" among stones is extraordinary...in my opinion.  

From Beginning...to Now

Valerie put together a video of photos that she and I have taken up to this point in the construction process of the Kansas City Temple.



Enjoy.

al.pen.glow

Definition of ALPENGLOW
: a reddish glow seen near sunset or sunrise on the summits of mountains.
(Merriam-Webster)

Does the Alpenglow on the Mountain of the Lord count?

This Alpenglow moment brought to you by Valerie Anderson, live from the Kansas City Temple this week.

"He Spoke to Me in the Temple"

This is a beautiful post about a woman who has had her own sacred experience in the temple that she would like to share.  She wishes to remain anonymous.

"The date was Saturday, February 14, 2009 - the day that mankind has designated to express our love.  I like to think that the Lord chose this day to reach out and express to me His love.  But more likely, it was probably me that had a softened mindset on this day and allowed myself to feel of His love.  Either way, the actual calendar date was about the furthest thing from my mind.  At that point in my life I was measuring time in one of two ways:  the number of days since my miscarriage (315), or even worse, the number of days since my husband and I had felt inspired to start our family (444).

The location was the endowment room of the Winter Quarter's Temple.  In each of the preceding months I had dedicated my monthly temple attendance to a time of prayer and pleading that the Lord would bless my bowels, that they would be fruitful.  It was almost as though I naively believed that I could choose the blessings I received for my temple attendance.  But something, I'm still not sure what, made this temple visit different.  My thoughts weren't consumed with thoughts of infertility.  I was genuinely allowing myself to enjoy the spirit of the temple.

Seemingly out of nowhere a voice came to me.  It was a male voice, spoken in actual words, phrased in a complete and coherent sentence.  He called me by name and said, "__________, it is going to be a while, but it is going to be alright."

I was immediately overcome with a literal feeling of warmth.  I realized that I had spent so much time pleading for a pregnancy that I never took the time to listen to what the Lord had to tell me.  This was my answer.  It obviously wasn't the answer I was seeking, but it was my answer nevertheless.  Those simple 14 words assured me that the Lord had heard my prayers, He understood my pains and my desires, He had a specific plan for me, His plan had a timeline, and His plan would bring me much joy and happiness.  This feeling of comfort and faith empowered me with the strength I needed to face a life where friends and family and coworkers all seemed to be having babies, and I seemed to be getting left out.

It has now been over two years since February 14, 2009, and the strength I originally gleaned from His words is starting to wear thin.  Yet I cannot deny that He did in fact speak to me.  So whenever I find myself looking only at the Lord's promise that "it is going to be awhile", I remind myself that the Lord spoke an even greater promise to me that day.  He promised that, "it is going to be alright.""

Thank you for sharing your sweet experience with us.

The blessings of the temple await us all.