Faith-promoting, inspiring experiences of those participating in preparations for the dedication of a temple occur frequently. Following are two accounts of people who donned work clothes and work gloves preparing for the dedication of the new Vernal Utah Temple.
At the "11th hour," so to speak, Len Dillman was up on a ladder Saturday afternoon, Nov. 1, replacing a cracked window. He wanted each window to be perfect for the dedication of the sacred edifice the next morning.He also wanted each window to look just like the original windows of the building when it was dedicated as the Uintah Stake Tabernacle 90 years ago.
Brother Dillman of the East Ridge 4th Ward, Draper Utah Eastridge Stake, is an employee of the company that re-created all the windows for the new temple. "We scrapped the old ones and made these by hand from the measurements and details we got from the old windows."
Doing so didn't come naturally, however, as this type of craft work is rarely done anymore. Brother Dillman explained that his company had an "old Swiss cabinet maker," now living in Salt Lake City, teach him and co-workers how to do such craft work.
However, what made participation especially meaningful for Brother Dillman is that he is a convert and was sealed to his wife, Maryann, and four children in 1992.
"This has started a heritage in our family that we hadn't had before. Now I can tell my children and they can tell their children that Dad or Grandpa rebuilt half of these windows personally.
"Participating on this level will probably never happen in my life again. This was one of those wonderful experiences that will always stay with me. I'll be so proud to bring anybody over and show them I was able to participate in such a wonderful work as God's temple. This was meaningful."
Gene and Lynell Anfinson of the Ashley 1st Ward, Vernal Utah Maeser Stake, returned from serving in the Canada Vancouver Mission in June. It wasn't long before they were serving together again. This time they've spent a lot of time on their knees - planting flowers, that is.
Brother and Sister Anfinson were called several weeks ago to care for the grounds of the newly completed Vernal Temple in anticipation of the open house and dedication. The night before the Nov. 2 dedication of the sacred edifice, the Anfinsons and others were covering flower beds with tarps to protect tender plants from the cold night.
She related a heartwarming story relating to the geraniums adorning the grounds. Owners of a greenhouse outside Vernal that supplied flowers and plants for the temple grounds told her they had planted the geraniums seedlings last December. By May and June, the blooming season for these flowers, there were no blooms. They fertilized and worked with the plants, but still no blooms.
Later that summer, the owners were contacted and asked to supply flowers for the Vernal Temple in the fall in time for the open house and dedication.
The geraniums bloomed in October.
