This appeared today and I thought some of you might find it interesting.
To get a sense of the impact of President Hinckley on the growth of the Church, consider this. The Sacramento Temple became the 123rd operating temple in the Church, and of these President Hinckley has dedicated 84 of them and rededicated several others (after significant rennovations).
In fact it took 167 years to build the first 50 temples and only 40 months to build the next 50. When President Hinckley first announced that he had set a goal of building 100 temples, many thought it was a reach, but reaching becomes him. The 124th temple will be dedicated next month in Helsinki, Finland. The Church has another 10 temples announced or under construction.
So you would think with all of this experience, he would be an expert at getting the "mud" in the joint of the cornerstone, yet President Hinckley, wearing his all-white temple suit, joked when some of the mortar fell to the ground: "We have a lot of experience", he said, "but we haven't learned much."
The Sacramento temple had four dedication ceremonies sent via satellite to 21 stakes in the temple district. The cornerstone ceremony was held near the beginning of the first dedication ceremony, when President Hinkley, President Thomas Monson, Elder L. Tom Perry and their party exited the temple to cement the last granite block into the building.
President Hinckley, 96, was operated on for cancer in January, but according to his son Elder Richard G. Hinckley, he is doing well. "He is remarkably facile, remarkably connected, and remarkably on top of the issues. He is very much in charge and very much present. It takes a great deal of energy to lead the Church, and he has learned to pace himself", Elder Hinckley acknowledged. "In years past, he might have spoken at as many as 12 dedicatory sessions for a temple. Now he speaks less often and more briefly."
Joseph Smith called the southeast corner of the temple very significant and the place of the greatest light. At the placement of the southeast cornerstone of the original Nauvoo Temple, the Prophet Joseph said, "This principal corner stone in representation of the First Presidency, is now duly laid in honor of the Great God; and may it there remain until the whole fabric is completed; and may the same be accomplished speedily; that the Saints may have a place to worship God and the Son of Man HAVE WHERE TO LAY HIS HEAD."
This will be his great legacy but close behind will be the establishment of the Perpetual Education Fund, which in the next 20 years will touch millions of lives ad bring the Church to great prominence in these 3rd world countries.
IBMAGG
To get a sense of the impact of President Hinckley on the growth of the Church, consider this. The Sacramento Temple became the 123rd operating temple in the Church, and of these President Hinckley has dedicated 84 of them and rededicated several others (after significant rennovations).
In fact it took 167 years to build the first 50 temples and only 40 months to build the next 50. When President Hinckley first announced that he had set a goal of building 100 temples, many thought it was a reach, but reaching becomes him. The 124th temple will be dedicated next month in Helsinki, Finland. The Church has another 10 temples announced or under construction.
So you would think with all of this experience, he would be an expert at getting the "mud" in the joint of the cornerstone, yet President Hinckley, wearing his all-white temple suit, joked when some of the mortar fell to the ground: "We have a lot of experience", he said, "but we haven't learned much."
The Sacramento temple had four dedication ceremonies sent via satellite to 21 stakes in the temple district. The cornerstone ceremony was held near the beginning of the first dedication ceremony, when President Hinkley, President Thomas Monson, Elder L. Tom Perry and their party exited the temple to cement the last granite block into the building.
President Hinckley, 96, was operated on for cancer in January, but according to his son Elder Richard G. Hinckley, he is doing well. "He is remarkably facile, remarkably connected, and remarkably on top of the issues. He is very much in charge and very much present. It takes a great deal of energy to lead the Church, and he has learned to pace himself", Elder Hinckley acknowledged. "In years past, he might have spoken at as many as 12 dedicatory sessions for a temple. Now he speaks less often and more briefly."
Joseph Smith called the southeast corner of the temple very significant and the place of the greatest light. At the placement of the southeast cornerstone of the original Nauvoo Temple, the Prophet Joseph said, "This principal corner stone in representation of the First Presidency, is now duly laid in honor of the Great God; and may it there remain until the whole fabric is completed; and may the same be accomplished speedily; that the Saints may have a place to worship God and the Son of Man HAVE WHERE TO LAY HIS HEAD."
This will be his great legacy but close behind will be the establishment of the Perpetual Education Fund, which in the next 20 years will touch millions of lives ad bring the Church to great prominence in these 3rd world countries.
IBMAGG