Kansas City Temple Book

http://www.kansascitytemplebook.net/

(simulated cover)

Or go here to purchase a copy of a beautiful book of more than 150 full-color, glossy pages of stunning professional photographs, including the history of the surrounding area as well as the building and events concerning the Kansas City Temple.

Hurry though, the deadline for orders is June 15, 2012!

Guest Blogger: Another Perspective

Guest Blogger:  Carol Popper (her first blog ever)

Disclaimer #1:   I am not a member of the Mormon Church, but I do manage to spend 95% of my holidays with some.  I have some very good friends that are Mormon.

Disclaimer #2:   My daughter, Valerie (a member of the church) takes most of the photos on this blog and we are very proud of her.

"Today, I got to take a private tour of the Kansas City Temple. 

It was not my first time to a “pre-dedicated” temple (the Anchorage Alaska one was my first) so I sort of knew what to expect.   I knew there would be very nice, elegant and beautiful rooms.   I am not sure what all the rooms were named or even what purpose they have but that was not important to me.

I will tell you that even among the cords, ladders, boxes (full and empty) it was very…. shall I say peaceful?  

It is a very comforting building. 

  

The floors, walls and furnishings are very nice.   Calm, muted shades of cream, greens and beige are everywhere.  

As you come into a room you notice lots of nice things but then your eyes are drawn upward, to the bright beautiful ceilings.  It is almost as if you are looking toward Heaven (hmmm could be a theme?)   The ceilings are white, with lots of delicate gold trim and in the corners of most rooms (Sealing, Brides room, Celestial) very intricate designs.  Needless to say the chandeliers are gorgeous, very bright and shiny with lots of crystals.   

I noticed the cream colored rugs have cut areas that match the intricate designs of the ceiling.  It is very cool.   As I entered the Celestial Room, the archway above the huge doors is all glass and it also matches the rug and ceiling design. Very, very cool.

I was told that the wood for the pulpit in the Chapel is from the “field with the really long name that I can’t say or spell” (I am sorry to my Mormon friends I have never been able to say it… I can drive to it but I can’t say it!)  [Adam Ondi Ahman].

The mural in the Ordinance Room is so much like the landscape here in Missouri with green rolling hills.

The attention to detail is so wonderful from the small lamps in the Bride Room to the curtains behind the Ordinance Room to the carpet details.   If you stand on the landing of the carpeted stairs look at the vines on the stair treads…. they match exactly.  It is like one long vine.

I think my favorite (or maybe second favorite part – next to the ceilings) are the floral arrangements.  I must say that the people that did them are awesome.  The flowers are not real but… they are very life-like.  They are set in clear vases with the acrylic water. I notice that some of the flower ends that would be in the water actually look like the real thing like  roots, vines,  with them in slightly colored water like they are really rooted.  I caught myself wanting to smell them.  They bring a very nice bright spot of color and comfort to a classy space.

I did tell my daughter tonight that I feel all Mormons should be very proud of this temple.   It is truly a beautiful place.   Even though I will probably never enter it after the dedication, I can see why it means so much to all of you.  The grounds are nice and I can see a walk there in the summer just to enjoy the quiet peacefulness that seems to live there.

Good job to all that were involved.  It was worth the wait."

Carol Popper was able to take a tour through the temple last month.  I loved reading about her experience.  If you would like to share yours, let us know.

Fit for the Open House

Only a few days left before the doors of the Kansas City Temple open to the public.

Have you made your reservation?

Have you invited your friends and neighbors?

Have you prepared yourself spiritually, to receive inspiration regarding people you can share the message of eternal families with?

While Temple Chasers have been preparing to attend the Kansas City Temple, hard work has been going on inside and out to prepare for you!

I can't help but think of those early pioneer-members of the Church and how excited they must be as well.

A  Temple fit for an Open House.  A Temple fit to be the House of the Lord.  Are we fit to receive the blessings of the temple?  

We would love to hear about your experiences at the Kansas City Temple Open House.

Have joy.  This is a blessed time to be a Chaser.

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.

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.

Perspective

Each of these photos is taken from a different perspective.  Depending on what your focus is...determines what you actually see clearly.

For me, going to the temple has given me the ability to see things as they truly are and what is most important.  Those things of value are:  My covenants, my eternal family, and the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement. Going to the temple often, is like looking through glasses that are cleaned regularly, keeping my vision and purpose clear.  In contrast, when I don't attend the temple regularly, the film and grime of the outside world cloud my vision, altering my perspective.  

"The eternal perspective we receive in the temple gives us strength to endure the trials of life

An eternal perspective helps us maintain complete fidelity to the covenants we make. President Packer emphasized that “ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into [God’s] presence. To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality.” ²⁶

Ordinances of the temple relate not only to our eternal glory but also to that of our departed ancestors. “For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, … they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.” ²⁷ Service in their behalf provides an opportunity for our continuing temple worship, selflessly rendered as a vicarious work patterned after that of the Lord as He wrought the Atonement to bless all who would ever live.

One day we will surely meet our Maker and stand before Him at the bar of judgment. Scripture teaches us that “the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.” ²⁸ The Lord Himself will determine whether we have been true to the covenants we made with Him in the temple and thus merit the glorious blessings He has promised those who keep their covenants.

This perspective gives us strength to endure the trials of life. President Packer stated, “The ultimate purpose of all we teach is to unite parents and children in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they are happy at home, sealed in an eternal marriage, linked to their generations, and assured of exaltation in the presence of our Heavenly Father.” ²⁹

Each temple stands as a symbol of our membership in the Church, as a sign of our faith in life after death, and as a stepping-stone to eternal glory for us and our family. I pray that each member of the Church will prepare for the marvelous blessings of the temple."

Elder Russell M. Nelson, Prepare for the Blessings of the Temple, Ensign, October 2010

Be prepared and keep your eternal perspective fellow Temple Chasers!  The day is fast approaching when the completed temple will be in your very midst.  And then your ability to attend more often will be realized.  What a blessing.  A crystal clear blessing.

Happy New Year

This will be the year when the Kansas City Temple is dedicated!

Happy 2012 Temple Chasers!