Viewpoint: 134 Temples

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From Aba, Nigeria to Vernal, Utah

As of 2011, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has constructed 134 temples.

With 12 temples under construction and 14 temples in planning, the amount of temples has tripled in just 18 years.

The only thing I’ve tripled in 18 years is my height.

Saints all over the world wait anxiously during the opening session of General Conference in order to hear where new temples will be placed.

Even longtime Utah temple veterans appreciate the sound of one more temple being placed among their midst.

With 13 operating Utah temples an outsider may think we’ve had enough. However, 14 and 15 are on the way — and any BYU student who has waited three hours in the baptismal font knows they’d love a second one in Provo.

This love for temples, however, is not shared in the entire world.

In fact, it’s not even shared in the entire country.

After President Thomas S. Monson announced Arizona’s fifth temple, Phoenix residents began to protest.

First they disliked the color, preferring desert landscape to the LDS standard white.

Once this issue was resolved (the temple will now have an earth-tone exterior) they came up with another and another.

The lighting would not suffice; the height was too much. The complaints were as innumerable as the solutions were unachievable.

The Church didn’t know what to do. It tried to appease its future neighbors, but since the church would not move the location, it could not win.

Church representative Paul Gilbert continued to work with those in opposition to  the building of the Phoenix Temple.

“We want to show the neighbors that we can be a good neighbor,” he said. However, the neighbors would not comply.

It’s sad to think a group of people would be so against the beautifully manicured grounds temples have, the peaceful atmosphere they carry and, most of all, the increased property value that has almost always followed the completion of a temple.

The website ldschurchtemples.com discussed the locals’ extreme forms of protest. They went beyond picketing and petitions (though they did those too) and really tried to make a statement.

“[They protested] by erecting a wall of protest signatures,” the website reported, “inflating a 27-foot gorilla and floating a helium-filled balloon to represent the height of the spire.”

With this much opposition, it’s a wonder The Church didn’t leave — but when the Lord commands you have to act.

I’m glad there’s not this much opposition to the temples in Utah. In fact, sometimes I think we have the opposite problem.

It’s a beautiful world when you don’t know if you have enough time to do baptisms because you only have a three-hour block of free time in your day.

It’s a wonderful world when you can go to the temple at any time of day because you know, worst-case scenario, you’re only 20 minutes from a temple session.

It’s an astonishing world when you know the state of Utah will continue to fill our soon-to-be 15 temples and any others the Lord sees fit to bless us with.

In the words of President Monson:

“Temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service.”

It’s your sacrifice and service that makes the Provo Temple what it is. Don’t ever forget to be grateful for it. It’s not made to be neglected.

Allie McCoy is the opinion editor for The Daily Universe. This viewpoint represents her opinion and not necessarily that of The Daily Universe, BYU, its administration or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


 


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