The Celestial Room of the Preston Temple
CHORLEY, England — That the Lord has "smiled with favor upon England, this sceptered isle" there was no doubt as 18,202 Latter-day Saints gathered in the county of Lancashire June 7-10 for the dedication of the Preston England Temple. An often-times emotional President Gordon B. Hinckley presided over and addressed 13 of the 15 sessions held to dedicate the sacred edifice. Because of other commitments in Salt Lake City, he left Preston before the last two dedicatory sessions. Although the temple is in Chorley, it bears the name of Preston, located a few miles to the north, where missionary work began in England in 1837. Preston is sometimes described as the cradle of the Church in the British Isles. The temple district serves members in the north of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and north Wales. President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, participated in the dedicatory events June 8-10, having come to England from a regional conference in Rotterdam, Netherlands. En route to Preston, he made a brief visit in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he held a special meeting in which he offered a prayer of rededication for missionary work in that land. After President Hinckley left for his return trip to Utah, President Monson presided over the remaining sessions. They took turns conducting and offering the dedicatory prayer on the days they both were present. Also addressing various dedicatory sessions were President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve; Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, both of the Quorum of the Twelve; Elder W. Eugene Hansen of the Presidency of the Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department; and Elders Cecil O. Samuelson, Spencer J. Condie and Wm. Rolfe Kerr of the Seventy, who serve as the presidency of the Europe North Area. Each General Authority was accompanied by his wife: Sisters Marjorie Hinckley, Frances Monson, Donna Packer, Barbara Ballard, Patricia Holland, Jeanine Hansen, Sharon Samuelson, Dorothea Condie, and Janeil Kerr. President Hinckley, who will observe his 88th birthday on June 23, often shed tears as he reminisced about his long-time associations with members in the British Isles. In an interview with the Church News as well as in his addresses he spoke frequently of the days he "walked the soil of Lancashire as a missionary." He expressed delight in seeing seated in the celestial room during the first dedicatory session Gertrude Corless of the Preston Ward, who was a young child when he was a missionary here. "She is the only member I'm aware of left alive who lived here when I was a missionary," President Hinckley said. "I'll be 88 in two weeks. All my companions are dead. I feel like the last leaf on the tree in a windstorm." President Hinckley spoke of the hold that England has on his heart: "I feel as if I've come home. This is an emotional day. . . . It has been a treasured experience for me to come back to this area of Lancashire where I served as a missionary 65 years ago." He summed up his thoughts as "a thousand memories." He mentioned "painful and wonderful days" as he labored as a missionary in an area of the world where "the Church was a weak outpost" and when the membership here was small and meeting places inadequate. "The Great Depression affected this part of England very substantially. There was a great deal of poverty here. Now, to return and see not only the temple and its accompanying facilities but also the strength of the Church has been a wonderfully encouraging thing. In all this part of England there are strong stakes with excellent leadership and large congregations. There are excellent buildings and every facility that we could wish for. "The Church has reached a maturity here that is satisfying. This is all in marked contrast to what I knew when I was here as a missionary. In those days, the number of missionaries was low, down to as few as 65 for all the British Isles. Today we have more than 1,600 in the British Isles. It's the same Church, but a different picture." President Hinckley expressed gratitude for the "courage, conviction and testimony" of the members in the new temple's district that have helped the Church grow. "When I was here, there were about 10 people in the Preston Branch. We met in a rented room. Now, to see these stakes of Zion scattered from Plymouth to Lerwick, Shetland Islands in 45 stakes in the United Kingdom — it's marvelous; it's a miracle. Unless you have been through what I have been through you can't believe it. I never dreamed there would come a time when there would be 45 stakes, two houses of Lord, family history research centers, all these things. God has had His hand on this place through the centuries, I believe, and more recently, in terms of His cause and kingdom. "I'm just so happy that I've lived to see the day when truth has prevailed in Preston," he said in reference to a banner bearing the words "Truth Shall Prevail" that the missionaries of 1837 saw upon their arrival in Preston. "A bit of my heart is here. I'll never get over it. There's a bit of England in me. My people lived here a long time ago." England, he said, has a quality all its own. "It's somewhat different from other parts of the world. It includes vast cities, small towns and little villages. The countryside is magnificent. They've achieved something here that's not commonly found elsewhere in preserving the old while utilizing the new. "How grateful I am for my experiences in this part of the world. How grateful I am that I came here as a missionary. I had the idea that England was just one vast city with no countryside. Then I came to this part, over the Pennines [mountains]. Then came into my mind the beautiful countryside, the flowers, shrubs, trees that make this such a wonderful place to be." President Hinckley shared his impressions of the new temple: "It is very impressive. The steeple with the figure of Moroni on top is very impressive. The temple has an English feel to it that is reminiscent to the old churches built in this land many years ago. The site on which it stands is beautiful. With the surrounding buildings it becomes a complex of tremendous value to the Church. "We have here so many functions that will be carried forward in this place, including not only the temple but also a stake center, a missionary training center of substantial capacity, housing for a family history facility and a distribution center. This will be a great central point of Church activity. "The landscaping is beautiful. It includes pools of water and lawns and beautiful walls. The whole thing is tied together in a magnificent way. The architectural work here is in many respects without equal. The interior is finished in cherry wood. There are no nail heads that appear anywhere. It is a very impressive piece of workmanship." Members attending the dedication echoed many of President Hinckley's emotions and thoughts. The weather tended to keep everyone off balance — it was warm with sunshine one minute, cold and raining the next, and a stiff wind tended to sweep across the 15-acre complex. Nevertheless, according to usher Bryan Loynes, the members happily stood shivering in long lines awaiting their turn to enter the temple for their assigned sessions. "They've all had smiles on their faces," he said, noting that the temperature on a couple of the mornings was somewhere around 50 degrees F, but the wind chill made it seem much colder. "A lot of the people have come on long bus rides, some in excess of nine hours. They've had a brief rest and then have been directed to the lines. Everyone has been very pleasant." Patsy Dorsey of the Leeds Stake sang in the 40-member choir that performed outside the temple for the laying of the edifice's symbolic cornerstone marking its completion. After she emerged from having attended a dedicatory session, she said, "This has been a very emotional experience for me. I've been a member of the Church 20 years in October. Being here today is the icing on the cake. I was amazed at how strong the Spirit was. Each time President Hinckley was in tears I was in tears. I felt very privileged to be in the temple for this special occasion. I'm grateful for what's been done here." Rob Anker, who assisted with ushering duties on the grounds, said of the members exiting the temple: "I don't think there was a dry eye among them. Everyone seemed touched by the Spirit. I've heard so many people say what a wonderful thing it was to hear President Hinckley." While many attended the dedication expecting or hoping to see the Church leader, one youth expressed surprise. Getting off the bus chartered by the Leeds Ward, Aaron Fiorentini, 11, heard someone say that President Hinckley was in the temple. "You mean he's here? I'm going to see the prophet?" he asked. When told that he most likely would see President Hinckley only on a closed-circuit television set in one of the temple's many rooms, Aaron seemed no less excited. "Never mind that; I'll be in the same building with President Hinckley!" Some members were able to participate in "finishing" the temple. After he had applied mortar to seal the cornerstone, President Hinckley invited others standing at the site to take their turn with the trowel. Dora Glassford, a member of the Church from Slovenia, came to England to visit her son in Leeds with the express purpose of attending the temple's open house and dedication. She brought another son, David Bozyak, 9, to the dedication. After she and David had applied mortar to the stone, she said, "I was baptized in October 1995 in Ljublijana. I prayed that I could come to the temple and see the prophet. My prayers were answered. This has been a wonderful experience. When I put the mortar on the wall, I felt like I had helped build the temple." Perhaps the most expressive summation of the dedicatory experience came from David M. Rae of the Paisley Scotland Stake who said, "Our hearts are brim full of gratitude."
The Celestial Room of the Preston Temple
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