Valentine’s Day and the history of the Salt Lake Temple

PROVO, Utah — It’s Feb. 14, 1853, in Salt Lake City. The Saints have been in the valley now for nearly six years and have worked hard to establish the city.

It had been nearly six years since President Brigham Young — just four days after arriving in the valley — put his cane in the ground on July 28, 1847, and said, “Here we will build a temple for our God.”

President Young, who was a carpenter, glazier and painter, said to cancel everything on Valentine’s Day in 1853. He said he was going to break ground for the temple and if people wanted to talk to him, they could bring a pick or a shovel, said Susan Easton Black at BYU’s Campus Education Week in 2010.

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