"The Mountain of the Lord" was the title of a new motion picture produced by the Church about the building of the Salt Lake Temple. The title could be an apt summation for many events in the Church in 1993, which include the centennial of the Salt Lake Temple, and temple dedications, groundbreakings and announcements.
It also might pertain to a recommital on the part of Latter-day Saints worldwide to covenants and doctrines of the gospel as they witnessed events unfold pertaining to the establishment of Zion. Here is a chronological rundown of some of those events.Jan. 6: The Tabernacle Choir concluded a 12-day tour to the Holy Land. During the tour it sang in five public concerts in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and one private concert in Jerusalem.
Jan. 6: Four Church service missionaries entered Hanoi, Vietnam, to give humanitarian service, teaching English to doctors and staff at a children's hospital and to teachers, staff and children at a school for young children.
Jan. 8-13: Church members rendered service to those in need in the aftermath of record snowfalls in central and northern Utah and severe flooding in Tijuana, Mexico.
Feb. 7: A BYU 19-stake fireside address by President Howard W. Hunter of the Council of the Twelve was disrupted for about 10 minutes when a man walked up to the podium threatening to detonate a bomb. The man was subdued by security officers and members of the congregation. The "bomb" was a fake.
Feb. 27: Elder Robert E. Sackley of the Second Quorum of the Seventy died while on a Church assignment in Australia.
March 6: Eight new missions were announced: Guatemala Guatemala City Central, Brazil Ribeirao Preto, Brazil Rio de Janeiro North, Peru Chiclayo, Romania Bucharest, Latvia Riga, Russia Samara and Ukraine Donetsk.
March 13: Nine new missions were announced: Brazil Florianopolis, Brazil Recife South, California Carlsbad, California Roseville, Canada Toronto West, Colorado Denver North, Nebraska Omaha, New York New York South and Tennessee Knoxville.
March 17: Elder James E. Faust of the Council of the Twelve dedicated Latvia for the preaching of the gospel.
April 3-4: At the 163rd Annual General Conference, three members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy were called to the First Quorum of the Seventy: Elders F. Melvin Hammond, Kenneth Johnson and Lynn A. Mickelsen. Also, two more leaders were called to the First Quorum of the Seventy: Elders Neil L. Andersen and D. Todd Christofferson. At the conference, it was announced that property is being acquired for a temple in Spain "and at least three other nations."
April 6: The centennial of the Salt Lake Temple was observed with events throughout the year that included a museum exhibit, feature film, Tabernacle Choir special program, a special mural placed in the temple, and parade entries on July 24.
April 7: A location was announced for a planned new temple in Utah County in central Utah. The location is in American Fork.
April 9: Ground was broken for the new Ezra Taft Benson Science Building on the BYU campus.
April 15: Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Council of the Twelve dedicated Mongolia for the preaching of the gospel.
April 23: Elder Dallin H. Oaks dedicated Albania for the preaching of the gospel.
April 25-30: The San Diego California Temple was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley, in the first of 23 dedicatory sessions.
May 2: The Tabernacle Choir performed in the newly renovated Catholic Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. The performance was so popular, more people were turned away than were seated.
May 11: Elder Russell M. Nelson dedicated Belarus for the preaching of the gospel.
May 20: Elder M. Russell Ballard dedicated Lithuania for the preaching of the gospel.
June 12: Three General Authorities were called to the Presidency of the Seventy, effective Aug. 15: Elders Joe J. Christensen, Monte J. Brough and W. Eugene Hansen.
June 26: Elder William R. Bradford of the Seventy broke ground for the Bogota Colombia Temple.
June 27: The former Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City, after extensive renovation and refurbishment, was dedicated and renamed the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, housing office and meeting facilities for the Church; a theater showing the new film "Legacy"; and the FamilySearch Center, a facility to introduce novices to family history.
June 29: The government of Mexico formally registered the LDS Church, granting it all the rights of a religious organization, including the right to own property.
July 18-26: Flooding in the midwestern United States provided extensive opportunity for service to Church members in Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.
August: More than 16 tons of clothing and shoes arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia as part of the Church's humanitarian aid efforts continuing throughout the former Soviet Union.
Aug. 1: A letter from the First Presidency reemphasized "the need for all adult members to focus on our children in an ongoing effort to help them learn to follow the teachings of the Savior." The effort, "Focus on Children," is to help children achieve their divine potential.
Aug. 20-21: The Tabernacle Choir performed concerts at the 1993 Grand Teton Music Festival at Teton Village near Jackson, Wyo.
Aug. 27: Elder James E. Faust of the Council of the Twelve broke ground for a new Brazil Area missionary training center, expected to be the second-largest in the Church.
Aug. 28-Sept. 5: Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Council of the Twelve represented the Church at the 1993 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, Ill.
Sept. 14: Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Council of the Twelve dedicated the Mediterranean island of Cyprus for the preaching of the gospel.
Oct. 2: Three General Authorities were granted emeritus status at the 163rd Semiannual General Conference: Elders Jacob de Jager, Adney Y. Komatsu and H. Burke Peterson.
Oct. 9: Ground was broken by Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson for the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, Utah, to be the Church's 49th temple.
Oct. 13: A new 100,000-square-foot Museum of Art was dedicated at BYU by President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency. It opened with a traveling exhibit on the lost Etruscan civilization, on loan from the Vatican Museums.
Oct. 17: The First Presidency issued a statement reaffirming the Church policy on discipline. The statement was in light of extensive publicity given to six recent Church disciplinary councils in Utah.
Oct. 25: The statue of Brigham Young was moved from its vantage point of nearly 100 years at the intersection of South Temple and Main streets in Salt Lake City to a location 82 feet to the north.
Oct. 30: Ground was broken Oct. 30 by Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson for the St. Louis Missouri Temple, the Church's 50th temple.
Oct. 26 - Nov. 6: More than a dozen separate wildfires charred parts of Southern California, destroying eight LDS homes in the process. Church members joined relief efforts.
Nov. 6: An LDS worship service was held in the Kirtland Temple in connection with an area priesthood leadership training meeting and mission presidents seminar. It was believed to be the first LDS service in the temple in 140 years.
Nov. 8: TempleReady, a long-awaited software making it possible to rapidly clear names from family history research for temple work, was announced in a letter to priesthood leaders from the First Presidency.
Nov. 16: Church leaders hailed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act - passed Oct. 27 by the U.S. Senate, May 11 by the House of Representatives and signed into law by the U.S. President on this date - as "the most historic piece of legislation dealing with religious freedom in our lifetime."
Dec. 4: The First Presidency announced that a temple will be built in the Caribbean at a site in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.