Wednesday, May 5, 2021

The backstory of a temple revelation

When the leader they honor as a prophet of God describes a revelation, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints listen intently.

That leader, President Russell M. Nelson, delivered a video message on Saturday in which he spoke of prayerful thought, study, pleadings, respondings and feeling impressed both to modify the church’s initial plans for the Manti Utah Temple renovation and to build an Ephraim Utah Temple 7 miles away.

Watch what he said here.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles then stood, grasped the tiny wooden pulpit in the Manti Tabernacle in both hands and told the church members in central Utah who were watching the livestreamed broadcast that President Nelson’s announcement was an example of the Biblical saying that God will do nothing without revealing it first to his prophets.

“I want you to know that is exactly what has happened here that we’re participating in today,” he said, calling it “a great announcement for the whole kingdom of God on earth.”

President Nelson’s impression was “the mind and the will and the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ,” said Elder Rasband, who also referred to it as both a prophetic announcement and a divine announcement.

“I’m going to be so bold as to call it a revelation,” Elder Rasband concluded.

Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, said President Nelson had been praying about a number of options presented about the future of the Manti temple.

Elder Rasband had said during the broadcast that he was part of a meeting where President Nelson shared his experience of God responding to his pleadings.

Elder Rasband spoke further about the circumstances of that meeting after Saturday’s broadcast ended, when the apostle remained on the stand in the tabernacle to take questions from reporters.

“President Nelson has described that this was one of his during-the-night promptings of the Spirit,” Elder Rasband said. “He has said before publicly that he goes to bed with a yellow pad next to his bed. I understand that he had this prompting, which turned into a very distinct impression, to move forward in a different way in Manti and to proceed with the Ephraim temple.”

President Nelson wrote the impression down on the yellow pad of paper and then assembled a small group of leaders like Elder Rasband with some church staff, recounted the experience to them and directed them to begin work on the announcement.

That was just a couple of weeks ago, Elder Rasband said.

“It was done very quickly,” he said. “So in my time, and I used to be the director of the Temple Department for President (Gordon B.) Hinckley, this was warp speed. This was moving with all due haste. President (Nelson) had the impression, the prompting, and wanted to act upon it quickly.”

Elder Rasband noted that it is “kind of unique” for temple announcements to be made outside of the church’s general conferences each April and October — the last one was the Payson Utah Temple in January 2010 — but he explained why President Nelson announced the Ephraim Utah Temple on Saturday.

“As he was talking to others, I heard him say, some of you may wonder why I just don’t wait until general conference to announce this,” Elder Rasband said. “And he said, ‘Because I had the revelation now. Why not announce it?’ ... It was just that beautiful spirit of his. ‘Why wait? Why wait?’ So here we are.”

Elder Rasband said that the Manti and Ephraim announcements are a pattern for President Nelson.

“It’s what he does,” Elder Rasband said. “He is close to the Lord. He’s close to the Spirit, and he’s very involving of us all, all of the Twelve and First Presidency. But we know who holds all the keys, and we know who is given the authority to exercise all of the keys, and that’s God’s living prophet.”

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Returned Latter-day Saint missionary was oldest player taken in NFL draft (May 4 — updated; first published April 30)

Salvador Brazil Temple groundbreaking announced, artist’s rendering released (May 4)

President Nelson announces new Ephraim Utah Temple outside general conference, says Minerva Teichert paintings will remain in Manti temple (May 1)

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What I’m Reading ...

The Economist published a remarkable essay last week about what it called “Utah’s functional conservatism” and attributed it to what it described as the adaptable conservatism of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The anonymous essayist said the church endorses a political pragmatism that protects it from extremism. The essay, which unfortunately is behind a paywall, is titled “Why Utah’s conservatism is better: The Mormon right has not followed white evangelicals’ descent into grievance politics.” Here is one excerpt: “(The) church (is) imbued with little of the pessimism evident elsewhere on the religious right. To the contrary, where white evangelicals — the Republicans’ biggest constituency — harbour the wounded sense of entitlement of a group hurtling from cultural primacy to the margins, Mormons exude the confidence of a once reviled but now thriving minority.”

Of course I read this: “Inside the Knicks’ secret attempt to lure Michael Jordan from the Bulls.”

Southern Utah University has joined BYU-Pathway Worldwide in offering a bachelor’s degree for $9,000 or less. It’s great to see these affordable college degrees emerging as options.

This piece shares some good information via text and graphics: Facts you might not know about the Church’s 106 current General Authority Seventies.

Here are some more tidbits about the Manti temple and Ephraim temple announcements.

Behind the Scenes

I took this photo of Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as he spoke to me and other reporters during a media gaggle after the announcements about the Manti and Ephraim temples in the Manti Tabernacle in Manti, Utah, on Saturday, May 1, 2021. (Tad Walch, Deseret News)

President Nelson announced the Manti Temple will be renovated beginning in October 2021, and I thought this plaque by the temple’s front door captured some of its history as a pioneer temple that already was renovated once before. (Tad Walch, Deseret News)