Regina Saskatchewan Temple
News of the Regina, Saskatchewan temple was announced on August 3, 1998 while President Hinckley was visiting with missionaries and members in Regina. During the visit President Hinckley told the people, “You are good people… You get on your knees and pray to God. That is a wonderful thing, when all is said and done. … Many years ago, generations ago, family prayer was a very common phenomenon in Canada and the United States. There isn’t much of it anymore.”1 It is partly because of the prayers of the 6,700 members in the 252,000 square mile area of Saskatchewan that they now have a temple.
Dedication of the Regina temple made history when for the first time two Mormon temples were dedicated the same day. Because of issues with transportation President Hinckley's dedication of the Halifax Nova Scotia temple was delayed a day. Not wanting members to have to go home and come back President Hinckley decided to go ahead with the dedication of the Nova Scotia temple. Meanwhile President Packer, first counselor to the prophet, was sent to dedicate the Regina Saskatchewan temple.
Prior to the dedication members frantically worked to complete the landscaping and masonry. Because of a trucker's strike the materials had not arrived until a few days before. So crews worked around the clock to finish the light gray granite facing, completing the exterior the night before the dedication.
The day before the LDS (Mormon) temple dedication a mission tri-zone conference was canceled and the 60 missionaries along with about 40 youth and adult members worked together to lay 18,000 square-feet of sod, plant trees, and raise the granite sign, which stated that the building was a Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Lord tempered the weather for those traveling to the dedication, which was held 14 November 1999. Donna McKay, wife of Prince Albert Saskatchewan Branch President Duane McKay, said, "They've been predicting storms for two weeks. You know the Lord's hand is in this. November is well known for freezing rain. We've been very fortunate in traveling to get here." 2
About 2,000 members traveled to attend the dedication. One of these was 88-year old Margaret Johnson, who rode with another member for seven hours to attend the dedication. She like so many others never believed a Mormon temple would be built in Regina. Dan Morse, one of Regina's first converts put it best when he said, "Never, never, never," he said. "The whole province has only a million people. At the groundbreaking, I saw some ground turned over, and still couldn't believe it; not until I was in the celestial room when there was plasterboard up when the temple was being constructed could I believe it." 3
During the dedicatory prayer, President Packer offered the temple to the Lord saying, "Wilt Thou be pleased to accept of this the offering of our hands and our hearts. It has been erected as an expression of love for Thee and for Thy divine Son." He also asked that the Lord pour out rain upon the land, temper the elements, and prosper the Saints as "they serve thee in righteousness." 4
After the dedication, President Packer said, “The Spirit of the Lord was present in great abundance.” 5
(1) “News of the Church,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 105 (2) December 1999, Church News (3) December 1999, Church News (4) "Dedicatory prayer: 'Wilt Thou be pleased to visit it,'" Church News 4 Dec. 1999: 11. (5) News of the Church,” Ensign, Feb. 2000, 74
See also
External links
- Official LDS Regina Saskatchewan Temple page
- Regina Saskatchewan Temple page
- Regina Saskatchewan Temple page
- Mormon Temple Worship - BBC Religion & Ethics
- Mormon Temple Ordinances - ReligionFacts
- Mormon Temples - Lightplanet
- Mormon Temples - Wikipedia
- Temples and Mormon Temples - Answers.com
- Resources about the History and Symbolism of Mormon Temples
- Mormon Temples and Secrecy
- Mormons Open Temple Doors to Share Beliefs - USA Today
- History of Mormon Temples - Lightplanet
