LANGLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA — President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the Vancouver British Columbia Temple on a cold, drizzly morning May 2.
Crowds from across British Columbia gathered for the cornerstone ceremony of the new temple, the Church's 131st operating temple worldwide and the 7th in Canada.
As part of the ceremony, President Monson placed mortar in the cornerstone, then asked President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, first counselor in the First Presidency; Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Twelve; Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy; and Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy and director of the Church's Temple Department, to do the same.
Finally, President Monson called on children to participate in the cornerstone ceremony.
“You look like a good boy,” President Monson told Ashton Bates, 9. He added, “You are going on a mission. Have your mother remember that.”
Next Ashton's sister, Natalia Bates, 6, and other children added mortar.
“I shook hands with the President Monson,” said Grace DeFeo, 9, after she was called upon. “I felt a great spirit when I put the cement in.”
The 28,165 square foot temple is located on 11 acres in Langley, British Columbia. The temple will serve 22,000 Latter-day Saints in 91 congregations through British Columbia and northern Washington state.
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