ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI - Mormon Temple
Mormon Temples dotting the earth.
The Mormon Temple is a house of learning wherein the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are reviewed and profound truths of the kingdom of God are unfolded. Here, in the Temple, the cares and worries of the world are put aside.
The gifts and blessings that are in the Mormon Temple are offered to all who conform to the requirements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All who accept and live the gospel and keep themselves worthy may partake of them.
All the Temple ordinances are performed by the power of the priesthood. Through this power, ordinances performed on earth are sealed, or bound, in heaven.1
Only in the Mormon Temple can a family be sealed. Marriage in the temple joins a man and woman as husband and wife eternally, if they honor their covenants.
God wants all His children to return and live with him. For those who died without hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, He has provided a way in which all can either accept or reject the ordinances that have and will be done for them in the Mormon Temple. All are taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ whether in this life or the next. Here, those that attend, set aside their own selfishness and serve those who cannot serve themselves, meaning those who have passed on.
In the early days of the Mormon Church when the Church was centered in Missouri, members experienced great spiritual manifestations as well as intense persecution. The members had planned to build temples in Far West and Independence, Missouri. But, with the distrust and persecution from those around them, it made it impossible to do so. Mob activities increased drastically, which prevented them from finishing the temples. And with the extermination order from Governor Boggs, and the arrest of the Prophet Joseph Smith and other leaders, the members of the Mormon Church were forced from their homes at gunpoint in the middle of winter.
Those in the eastern part of Missouri heard of the injustices to the Mormons and offered them refuge for a time. This was where they were able to stay long enough to earn the money needed for the long trek to Utah.
Needless to say, the history of the Mormon Church is strong in Missouri, so when the announcement came for a Mormon Temple to be built there, the members were ecstatic.
With the white granite exterior and the 150-foot spire, which adorns gold-leafed statue of the Angel Moroni, it is a reminder of the solidarity and wholeness that the Mormon Church offers.
President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the St. Louis Missouri Mormon Temple on Jun 1, 1997. Part of the dedicatory prayer in which President Hinckley stated is, "…We are reminded that this temple stands on the soil of the state of Missouri, where the prophet [Joseph Smith] and his associates suffered so much and were finally banished by a cruel and illegal order of extermination…today thy Church basks in the sunlight of good will."
In a city that provided early Latter-day Saints [Mormons] with a haven from raging persecution, it is fitting to have a temple dedicated to the Lord. The St. Louis Missouri Mormon Temple is a tribute to those who endured the hardships of the past and to the community that gave them refuge.2