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Laie Hawaii Temple 1978 rededicatory prayer: ‘We thank Thee, our Holy Father, for all of the temples that have been erected in this last dispensation’

Laie Hawaii Temple Credit: Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
The Laie Hawaii Temple. Credit: Kenneth Mays, Deseret News Archives, Deseret News Archives
Laie Hawaii Temple, first constructed in 1919, has been renovated. It was rededicated Nov. 21 by President Thomas S. Monson. Credit: Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News

Following is the complete text of the Laie Hawaii Temple dedicatory prayer offered by President Spencer W. Kimball. The temple was rededicated June 13-15, 1978, in nine sessions.

O God, the Eternal Father, we, Thy servants and handmaidens, thank Thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, Thy Well-beloved Son, with all the power of our being, that we are privileged this day to be present in this beautiful day to dedicate unto Thy most holy name a temple of the living God.

We thank Thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that Thou and Thy Son, Jesus Christ, didst visit the boy Joseph Smith Jr., and that he was instructed by Thee and by Thy Beloved Son.

We thank Thee that Thou didst send Thy servant John the Baptist, and that he did lay his hands upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and ordain them to the Aaronic, or lesser, Priesthood. We thank Thee for sending Thy servants Peter, James and John, apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, who ministered with the Savior in the flesh and after His crucifixion, and that they did ordain Thy servants Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, and bestowed upon them the holy Melchizedek Priesthood, by which authority and apostleship we do dedicate unto Thee, this day, this holy edifice.

We thank Thee for the integrity and the devotion of Thy servants, the prophet and patriarch, Joseph and Hyrum. We thank Thee that they labored all the days of their lives, from the time of the restitution of the gospel of Jesus Christ until the day of their martyrdom and that they sealed their testimony with their blood. We thank Thee for Thy servants Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith, Heber J. Grant, George Albert Smith, David O. McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, and Harold B. Lee, who have led and directed Thy people these many years and who have sent forth representatives to proclaim the everlasting gospel in nearly every land and clime.

We thank Thee for all the faithful members of the First Presidency of the Church, and for the apostles in this last dispensation, and for each and all of the faithful men who have held office as general authorities of the Church.

O God, our Eternal Father, we pray Thee to bless the presidency of Thy Church — Thy servants Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney. May these men, O Father, be guided by the unerring counsels of Thy Spirit and Thy revelations day by day. May they be even as a three-fold cord that cannot be broken. May they see eye to eye in all matters for the upbuilding of the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth.

Our Heavenly Father, please bless the Patriarch to the Church, the First Council of Seventy, the Presiding Bishopric and give to them also the leadership of Thy holy mind and will, and bless them as they move forward to direct the work in all the branches and wards and missions of the Church.

Our Father, bless all the leadership of the Church in every organization thereof. Bless the men and the women who have undertaken the responsibility of teaching and training Thy numerous people who now have reached the four million mark. We would ask Thee, our Father, to watch over the great body of missionaries to the number of twenty-six thousand plus who are in most of the nations of the world.

And now we express our gratitude again with thanksgiving in our hearts for the wonderful, splendid labors performed in the land of Hawaii and other islands by the early leadership of this Church. We thank Thee for their devotion to this people and we thank Thee for raising up Thy servants who gave leadership to the island people in the translation of the records.

And we are duly grateful, our Heavenly Father, that as stated in the Book of Mormon “that the Lamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers and that they might know the promises of the Lord, and that they may believe the gospel and rely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be glorified through faith in His name, and that through their repentance they might be saved.” We are deeply grateful, our Heavenly Father, that some half a million or more of the descendants of Lehi now are respected and loved members of this, Thy kingdom.

We thank Thee, our Holy Father, for all of the temples that have been erected in this last dispensation, and as of this date, we have 22 temples either constructed or on the drawing board, and we ask Thee to bless us in our development of those programs and the completion of those buildings.

We are conscious of the fact that Thy prophet did promise that there would be many hundreds of temples on the earth, and we look forward to that day and thank Thee for the promise.

We thank Thee that Thy servant William W. Cluff and Thy prophet Brigham Young spoke of the day when a temple should be erected in this land.

We are grateful for the thousands, many thousands of people who have had this sealing work and other temple privileges bestowed upon them in this holy edifice, and we ask to speed the work here and greatly increase the services that will be performed.

We now thank Thee, O God, our Eternal Father, for this beautiful building, renovated, cleansed and perfected, and we rededicate to Thee the grounds and the building with all the furnishings and fittings and everything pertaining thereunto, from the foundation to the roof thereof, to Thee, our Father, God, and we pray Thee to sanctify this, the building and the equipment, and we pray that no unclean thing or persons may ever enter the portals of this building.

We are grateful for previous temple presidents and their magnanimous service. May all who come upon these grounds, whether members of the Church or not, feel the sweet and peaceful influence of this blessed, hallowed spot.

And now that ordinance work will again be carried forward here, we beseech Thee, our Father, that Thou wilt open the way dedication of thbefore the members of the Church in these lands as well as other islands, to secure the genealogies of their forefathers so that they may come to this holy house and become saviors unto their ancestors.

Our Father, we remember the people in the Holy Land; cause that they may draw near unto Thee and accept Thy truths and perform Thy holy work.

We are grateful that Thy prophets have sent to Palestine Thy servants to dedicate the land for the return of the Jews.

We pray Thee, our Heavenly Father, that Thy blessings may be upon the kings and the nobles and the rulers of all nations, that their hearts may be inclined toward Thee and that them may open the doors of their nations to us, permitting us to enter therein and preach the gospel and carry to their people the saving truths of Thy holy gospel, to the end that Thy Son’s commitment for His apostles may be realized, that they may take the gospel and its saving principles to the people and that Thy blessings may come to all of the people of the world.

Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee again for this land of liberty in which we dwell and that this is the land choice above all other lands. We pray for all of the presidents of this nation, from George Washington to the present time. Bless their efforts all to the good of Thy people.

We are grateful that Thy Son after His crucifixion did enter into the spirit world, having laid down His life for the sins of the world, and that He did establish then a re-establishment of His true gospel.

We are grateful for all of the ordinances of Thy gospel and the truths that have been revealed to us and express appreciation for all of those through whom these blessings came.

Our holy Father, we thank Thee that Thou didst send Thy Son Jesus Christ to visit Thy servants, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, in the Kirtland Temple and at other times.

We beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thou wilt stay the hand of the destroyer among the natives of this land and give unto them increasing virility and more abundant health, that they may long live upon this land, to further Thy cause.

We especially pray to Thee, O Father in Heaven, to bless the youth of Thy people in Zion and in all the world. Shield and preserve and protect them from the adversary and from wicked and designing men. Keep the youth of Thy people, Father, in the straight and narrow path that leads to Thee. Preserve them from all pitfalls and snares that are laid for their feet, O Father. May our children grow up in the nurture and testimony of the divinity of this work as Thou hast given it unto us, and preserve them in purity and in truth.

O God, our Eternal Father, sanctify the words which we have spoken. Accept of the dedication of this house. We beseech Thee in the name of Thine Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. We have dedicated this house unto Thee by virtue of the priesthood of the living God which we hold, and we most earnestly pray that this sacred building may be a place in which Thou shalt delight to pour out Thy Holy Spirit in great abundance and in which Thy Son may see fit to manifest Himself and to instruct Thy servants, and, with our love and appreciation, we hereby dedicate this building and all that pertains unto it to Thy holy name and in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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