A Time of Miracles

The building of temples has always been accompanied by miracles. Some have been large miracles seen by many, while others, maybe even most others, are small and seemingly imperceptible. Our Youth Temple Celebration is no different. Yesterday we held the first practices for both the choir and dance performances. I believe it was a day of miracles.

The first miracle occurred when Brother Richard Parkinson, our Choir Director, contacted us regarding the need to make copies of the sheet music that the kids would be using to practice. Brother Parkinson had a budget of $100 to make the needed copies. The number of copies totaled more than 2,400 pages. When he went to Office Max to make the copies the projected cost was nearly $200. Brother Parkinson explained that he only had $100. The clerk thought for a moment and then replied, “Okay, we can do it for that”. All of our youth had music in hand last night and participated in a great practice. Small miracle, big impact.

The second miracle unfolded as our youth gathered for a brief devotional to begin practice. They sang “I Love to See the Temple”. They then recited the theme scripture from Isaiah, Come Up To The Mountain Of The Lord. As night fell, many of us became aware that all of the lights were on at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Although we have enjoyed a few nights, in the past several weeks, of the lights being on, we have not seen it lit up completely like we did last night. The words of Elder David A. Bednar describe this miracle most appropriately, “Some may count this experience as simply a nice coincidence, but I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them.” (David A. Bednar, “The Tender Mercies of the Lord,” Ensign, May 2005, 99)

We believe that someone new the youth was celebrating and preparing to "Come Up To The Mountain." We believe Heavenly Father knew we were there and sent us a gift. The choir and dance participants, were challenged as they exited the building to look up towards the Temple, pause for just a moment and think of the words to the song we sang at the beginning of our rehearsal, “I Love to See the Temple, I’m Going There Someday”. It was a wonderful evening that through song, dance, and a few small miracles, helped us all "Come Up To the Mountain" just a little farther.