By Laura Johnson
The Manhattan Temple open house will bring 1,000 political leaders, ambassadors and businessmen from across the world to view the new Latter-day Saint house of worship in a VIP tour this week.
Latter-day saint volunteers in the area are preparing for the open house by training to be guides, cleaning the building and inviting non-member friends to attend.
Ralph and Sharon Larsen, public affairs missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said they have not had a free moment these past few weeks with getting everything ready.
Ralph Larsen said currently the biggest concern is completing the temple on time. A construction project in the middle of a big city has been challenging, but tours will continue whether or not the construction is finished.
Ralph Larsen said he is happy to have a temple that is so easily accessible through public transportation, such as subway, bus, taxi and train.
There is already an elaborate volunteer system of members helping to get the temple ready.
Isis Nieto, from the Emerson 1st Ward in the New Jersey Stake, is a volunteer for the open house along with many other Latter-day Saints in her area. Volunteers have several training sessions to prepare them to give tours of the temple and to welcome visitors.
'We are really excited this is happening,' Nieto said. 'Our prophet promised us the last time he was here that we''d have a temple by the end of the year and that''s exactly what''s happened. I''m looking forward to seeing how many people come to the open house and get to learn more about the gospel.'
Julia Poulsen, a former BYU student now attending culinary school in New York, is also looking forward to the open house.
'Many of the non-members I''ve talked to are confused as to what the church is all about,' Poulsen said. 'I''m just excited that everyone wondering about the church will be able to see the temple and hopefully get a better idea of what we believe.'
Poulsen described stake conference in the new building on April 25 as an amazing experience. She said it was good because all the talks were about temples. Poulsen also said her stake leaders are devoted to getting the temple ready by going over almost every night to help clean. Poulsen stayed after stake conference with other stake members to help clean the building until 10 p.m.
In describing the layout of the temple, Larsen said the first floor has the baptismal font and the second floor is the clothing and Public Affairs office. The third and fourth floors are the stake center, with a full-size basketball court and a typical stake center baptismal font. The fifth and six floors are also for temple ordinances. The building is also completely insulated so any outside noise is blocked out.
'You can''t even hear the cars honking outside,' Larsen said, 'which is very rare in New York.'
This week is the VIP open house of the temple and May 8, 2004 to June 5, 2004 is the general open house. Open house hours are Monday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Ticket reservations can be made at 718-672-0326. The temple dedication will be June 13, 2004.