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Posted on 08/10/2003 4:21:53 PM PDT by TheDon
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San Bernardino County Sun
A look inside new Mormon sanctum sanctorum Public tours available through Sept. 6
Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - REDLANDS - On a hillside with a sweeping view of the San Bernardino Valley, the Redlands Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has begun welcoming visitors. With stained-glass windows, intricate scrollwork running up pillars, and a gold-leafed angel towering 128 feet above ground, the temple will begin offering public tours on Saturday. The open house will run Mondays through Saturdays until Sept. 6. Church officials have received 90,000 reservations for tours, and officials are preparing for 150,000 people to tour the sacred building. On Tuesday, neighbors and construction workers were the first non-Mormons allowed to visit. On Wednesday, media representatives were led through the temple. After a short news conference, each was asked to put on plastic shoe coverings to preserve the carpets. The rooms were impressive an Ordinance Room for teaching, the baptistery, a sealing room for marriage ceremonies, and finally the Celestial Room, a large space with light streaming in and catching a large chandelier in the middle. "Sit quietly,' Elder Duane B. Gerrard instructed. The temple will be dedicated Sept. 14. From that time on, only church members in good standing can enter the temple. Books, Web sites and rumor claim to dissect Latter-day Saints and their beliefs. But the month-long event is an attempt to inform the general public about the church, which has 70,800 members in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. "We want to show that the temple is sacred, not secret,' Gerrard said, a phrase also used by other members of the church. "I know sometimes people get nervous, but the temple is one of the best neighbors,' said Elder Lynn Robbins. "It enhances the neighborhood.' Gerrard said that with members coming and leaving throughout most of the days, the church wants people to understand that the temple is considered a "house of the Lord.' He shared a revelation that one neighbor had Tuesday after sitting quietly in the Celestial Room. "She said she felt something,' he said. "She wanted to learn more. She followed us around the building, asking questions.' Members expressed hope that neighbors would come to appreciate the Mormon faith. "We hope people will gain a greater understanding, a great respect,' said Dale Poulsen, president of the San Bernardino stake, which has about 2,900 members. Today, Sheldon Ewell, a ward mission leader and president of the San Bernardino Clergy Association, will take 42 members of different religions, including Seventh-day Adventists, rabbis and Catholics, on a tour of the temple. Poulsen, who lives in San Bernardino, said, "I'm so happy that it's here in the valley. It strengthens the members, strengthens the families and faith.' Before the temple was built, Latter-day Saints had to go to temples in Los Angeles or San Diego for certain rites and types of religious instruction. Marriages can only be sealed made eternal inside a temple. Members can also baptize their dead ancestors and seal their ancestors' marriages only in a temple. Having the temple in the Inland Empire "is an honor and a blessing both,' said temple President Rodney Nelson, who was appointed earlier this month to head the temple. And of all the blessings that the temple's opening will bring, one is both spiritual and practical, Nelson said. "It'll strengthen members' desire to come,' he said, "because they won't have to fight the traffic.' |
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