CALGARY, Alberta — Ground was broken May 15 for the third temple in Alberta — and
the seventh in Canada — on a prominent hill overlooking the vast landscape
of
Calgary.
__IMAGE1__With the distant, snow-capped Rocky Mountains as a backdrop
to the west, the groundbreaking was presided over by Elder Donald L.
Hallstrom
of the Presidency of the Seventy. Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy
and
executive director of the Temple Department conducted the ceremony on
the
temple site adjacent to the Calgary Alberta West Stake center. Sister
Diane
Hallstrom and Sister Vicki Walker accompanied their husbands. Elder
Richard K.
Melchin, Area Seventy from Calgary, joined the other authorities in the
event
he has personally labored diligently to bring about.
Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose home residence
is within a couple miles of the temple site, sent a personal letter that
was
delivered at the groundbreaking by special envoy Lee Richardson, a
member of
Parliament from Calgary. The prime minister described the Calgary temple
as "an
inspiring landmark and a fitting tribute to the Mormon community's long
and
proud history in the province and in Canada."
The Calgary Alberta Temple was announced by President Thomas
S. Monson on Oct. 4, 2008. It is situated roughly midway between the
Cardston
and Edmonton temples in Alberta.
Under a bright blue sky, a congregation of about 1,600
gathered at the site for the groundbreaking, including civic leaders and
provincial and federal government representatives, cabinet ministers and
others. Proceedings were also broadcast via Internet to other Calgary
stake
centers so about 1,600 more could view the groundbreaking, Elder Melchin
said.
Elder Hallstrom described the temple as the most sacred of
all places on the earth. The purpose of the temple, he said, is to
"connect
men (and women) on earth with God in heaven through promises to God and
faithfulness in our lives." He invited members to think not just of
dedicating temples but, more importantly, to dedicate themselves to the
covenants of the temple.
In his remarks, Elder Walker cited Mosiah 2:6 and expressed
a desire that members might pitch their "personal" tents with the
doors thereof always toward the temple.
See the rest of this story on ldschurchnews.com.
This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official
publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is
produced
weekly by the Deseret News.