VERNAL, Utah — When Sandra Stewart was growing up in Vernal, she probably never dreamed she would be married in the old red-brick building just off the main thoroughfare through this relatively isolated eastern Utah community. The Uintah Stake Tabernacle had been dedicated in 1907 by President Joseph F. Smith, but had fallen out of use during most of her life.
But on Saturday, May 8, she became Alan Howell's wife in a ceremony in that building, sealed for time and all eternity in what is now the Vernal Utah Temple.
The Howells are among nearly 40,000 Church members in 14 stakes from Utah, Wyoming and Colorado who enjoy the blessings of the Church's first temple to be built from an existing building. After it was restored for its new function, it was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley on Nov. 2, 1997, 90 years after its dedication as a tabernacle.
Sandra's hometown temple was a nice gathering place for Alan's family living in the Denver, Colo., area and for other relatives who traveled from Arizona, Idaho, Texas and Utah's Wasatch Front.
The Howells and their party had the grounds of the temple to themselves for visiting and taking photos after the ceremony. They moved around the building of century-old red brick topped by two towers, a statue of Angel Moroni standing on the east tower.
Because of employment, Sister Howell's family moved to Pocatello, Idaho, when she was still at Uintah High School in Vernal, according to her father, Lee. She stayed behind to finish school and to care for her grandfather for many years. She is employed at Vernal's hospital. It was a happy homecoming for her father and mother, Chris, to see their daughter's temple marriage. Brother Howell's mother, Joyce, whose husband passed away a few years earlier, was also bright and cheerful amidst the green lawns and colorful tulips under a sunny blue sky on the temple grounds.
Brother Howell's sister, Barbara, found the trip from her home in Southern California to the temple in Vernal particularly meaningful. After the meetinghouse of her Hollywood Ward was damaged by the Northridge earthquake of 1994, it was scheduled to be demolished. A striking stained-glass window in the building was removed and put in storage. That window, Barbara pointed out, is now in place on the front wall of the temple.
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