"FORTRESS OF FAITH"

I just returned from the Fort Collins Colorado Temple dedication.  It was an uplifting finale to the announcement of this temple's location by President Monson in April 2011 General Conference.  President Dieter F. Uchtdorf presided and was accompanied by Elder Dale G. Renlund, and Elder Ulysses Soares and Elder C. Scott Grow of the Seventy.  Plus last week the bishop called Louis and me into his office briefly and gave us tickets to attend the dedication in the temple itself during the    3 pm session.  That made it even more special to be in the temple itself!

Yesterday was an absolutely pristine Autumn day in the Mountain West featuring deep blue skies, whiffs of white clouds, and, thanks to a longer than usual Fall season, a landscape up and down the Front Range of green grass and gold trees interspersed with the occasional purple and red trees and orange bushes used only as yard accents here in Colorado.  The fields have been plowed and are brown, but their patchwork squares  still made an attractive October quilt nestled up against the occasional stand of trees or cultivated yards and open space.  And how did I know that?  After I arrived home yesterday morning from Hartford, Connecticut (where incidentally there will be another temple dedication in the next few days) Louis and I went down to the Denver Temple and to the Distribution Center.

Oh, and did I mention the weather was unseasonably warm as it was in the mid-eighties, so the evening Cultural Celebration in Hughes Stadium at Colorado State University wasn't too chilly at 7 pm when the "Fortress of Faith" began.  Our own soon to be 13 years old Orion was part of this wonderful program paying tribute to the history of the temple district which is mainly in Northern Colorado.

I liked that in his talk, Elder Renlund first spoke about the hymn a small choir from the temple district had just finished singing.  Number 141 in our Church's hymnal is one of my favorites--Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee.  It was written a thousand years ago by Bernard of Clairvaux.  Five hundred years later Martin Luther declared that Bernard of Clairvaux was one of his inspirations.  These men were both deeply religious, paving the way in their teachings for clarification of the true gospel of Jesus Christ, which had become corrupted through the centuries following the removal of the priesthood authority from the earth.

Then Elder Renlund told a little about the beginning history of Fort Collins, first an outpost near La Porte, then because of flooding the fort was moved to where Old Town is now near the Cache La Poudre River on Willow Street.  Interestingly, 800 miles almost directly to the east just a few years before the beginning of Fort Collins, there on another river--the Mississippi--Joseph Smith preached from revelation what neither Bernard of Clairvaux nor Martin Luther knew.  That was the principle of baptism for the dead.  Death was the last great obstacle for those who had gone before.  Whatever would become of them if they had not yet heard the gospel of Jesus Christ?  That those who lived before COULD enjoy the blessings of the gospel and inclusion in Christ's family and eternal ties to their own families--it is significant that the Fort Collins Temple will be a place for that sealing to take place.

President Uchtdorf talked about this dedication day being a day of celebration and a new beginning.  The temple indeed is a "Fortress of Faith" yet not like other forts--closed in--but open for all who embrace the gospel. 

•      Those who believed walked before God with all their hearts.  There is no more sublime definition of pure and true discipleship.  That should be our standard, too.
•      The temple recommend questions tell us whether we are always before God in our own walk through life.  Our recommend is a symbol of our faithfulness and determination to keep the commandments.  Live by the principles outlined in the pamphlet "For the Strength of Youth" and we will be temple ready at all times.
•       The center of the gospel is taking a covenant to take on the name of Christ.  When we do that we will be able to resist the trend of the times to judge others.  Forgive others. Love them.  Follow Christ in reaching out to those we may want to judge or if we feel they have judged us.   
•      President U. told about moving to Arizona with their family.  After attending church, his wife came home and told him she had a problem.  "When they asked me how I was, I told them."  Apparently, the ward members were rushing about trying to be of help to her after she told them.  President Uchtdorf laughed and told her when they asked how she was, just to say, "Fine!"  He said its a cultural thing.  Love those who are different.
•      Be enthusiastic and positive about the future.  DON'T BE AFRAID!  We can be humbly bold with a natural confidence which will help us progress as individuals and families with faith, hope, and courage.

     President Uchtdorf said he knows all the preparation made for the culmination of a temple building and dedication is hard work.  He and his wife have been in charge of all of the many details that go into putting on a temple open house and dedication.  They were called to do that for the Frankfurt Temple about the same time the Denver Temple was going through a like process.  "This is the Lord's work.  Church work.  Family history work. Temple work.  Missionary work.  It's ALL work!"  He laughed, "It ain't easy.  It's hard work!  Now you can go back to living your normal lives."

And the last thing he said was that this was not only a day of joy and recommitment, but it was also a day of reflection.  To go home and write in our journal or our online notebook or however else we record things our impressions of this beautiful day and the spiritual uplift  that has come with it.    A temple dedication is a time to join hands with those who have also participated in a temple dedication.  In all of the world there really are NOT that many of us. So this is a special blessing.

I wish I could capture the true essence of the remarks of these two priesthood men.  I felt the spirit.  And I was happy to have a second opportunity in Colorado to attend a temple dedication.  Heaven knows in 1986 I was pleased as could be that I was able to go to that one.  It was a special privilege then.  Never had the foggiest idea there would be another temple in Colorado to whose dedication I was able to go.

President Uchtdorf acknowledged that there were probably some there today who had gone to the one in Denver thirty years ago.  "But don't worry, " he said.  "There won't be another one in Colorado for a long time so you can rest." 

Rest?  Now the work starts...though I am so happy it will only be twenty minutes and lots less traffic away!

Between Louis and me we took about 10 shots of President Uchtdorf as he walked to his car.  But his face was always in the shade of a tree or shaded by someone's head.  Boo Hoo! Upper center with a tree behind.

And here is Ragamuffin me.  Yesterday was no  wind.  Today was a GALE!  Everyone's hair and clothes were being blown all around.  Those beautiful Fall leaves aren't going to be on the trees for long.