This morning after our Relief Society meeting I went to the gymnasium to help with the live broadcast of the Tijuana Temple dedication. Right now the only place we have the capacity to seat everyone for a live broadcast is in the gymnasium. We have about 300 missionaries here plus a lot of branch presidents and their wives and senior couples who all want to see the dedication.
While the gymnasium is a rather unusual extension of the temple; because the auditorium is being remolded it was the only place we had to fit everyone and still have technology to broadcast. That meant the volleyball net had to get taken down and our Christmas project to make a thousand fleece blankets had to be transferred to another room.
I exercise in the fitness room and in the gym 6 days a week so I saw what the maintenance staff did to prepare the gym. I saw many from the maintenance staff on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning cleaning the gym. They cleaned the floor with a high power water pressure machine. They had all the bleachers pulled out and were wiping them down. It made me wonder if we would be sitting on the bleachers. Then they laid rolls of carpet down on the floor (covering up the cleaning they had just done on the floor). They set up chairs, which they had also cleaned outside earlier in the week with high pressure hoses, wiping them down after water pressuring they clean. They were cleaning the chairs in the cool of the morning (50 degrees) while it was still dark. That was on about Tuesday. We didn't use the bleachers after all. I guess they just wanted them clean as they were part of the gym and it was an extension of the temple.
They closed the accordion sliding doors on each side as we entered the gym to make it more private and put flowers in the entry way where games used to be. They had put away the ping pong and Foosball games that were in the entry. That's two ping pong tables and 4 Foosball game tables.
The missionaries were asked to arrive to the gym 30 to 45 minutes early. After they entered they were asked to be perfectly quiet and just read the scriptures as they would when they go to the temple. We had to check their temple recommends for current dates and signatures. If they forgot their recommend they had to walk back to their casa and get it. If they didn't bring one with them on their mission they had to get a new one from President Tenerio or get a permit ticket saying they were worthy to enter the temple.
The dedication was very special and at the end when we all sang T
he Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning it was hard to control our emotions. Elder Oaks and Elder Ucthdorf were at the Tijuana Temple and spoke. Elder Paul Piper from the First Quorum of Seventy who lives here in Mexico City led us in the Hosanna shout. We, the senior missionaries, had handed out clean new white handkerchiefs to all the missionaries if they didn't already have one.
As we sang the closing song The Spirit of God) and during the first half of the closing prayer an amazing thing happened in the gymnasium. Where it had been calm all morning a dramatic sudden wind began to blow. It blew the heavy black curtains that cover the high vaulted cathedral windows of the gym. The windows go up to the top of the slanted ceiling. This was not just a mild wind but a sudden onset wind that blew up the heavy curtains and let in a lot a light. It blew so hard that it opened the curtains from one end until they were nearly a quarter of the way open (and then amazingly the wind seemed to close the curtains again after a while). It fluttered the very large vent on the wall in front of me that was probably 4 feet by 4 feet square. I could see inside the slates of the square vent. There was a round outside vent inside the square vent that was probably also 4 feet in diameter. The slats would blow and flutter and light up with the incoming sunlight so I could see the round air vent inside the square vent panels. It was amazing to watch the effects of the wind and the light that was being shown in on us. Right after the temple dedication we exited the gym and all walked to the comedor for lunch and there was no wind.
There is no doubt in my mind that this was a might rushing wind like the one that the saints heard when the Kirtland Temple was dedicated. We did not have people speak in tongues or see angels but there was definitely a noise which was a mighty rushing wind which filled the gymnasium to the point that I found it hard to pay attention or listen and not be too consumed with what was going on with the wind and the light that was entering the gym.
When I was taking Hebrew language classes from Diana Webb I learned that the word for spirit or the Spirit of God is "ruach". That is the same word in Hebrew for wind.
From church history comes this account of the Kirtland Temple dedication:
Joseph recalled that during the dedication, "George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished at what was taking place." (History of the Church, 2:428.)
All of this says to me that the Lord accepted our humble gymnasium as an extension of the temple. Those humble maintenance workers had worked and prepared the gym the best they could and the Lord accepted it and allowed us to see his power and to feel his spirit
It will be difficult not to think about it each morning as I go in to exercise. I don't know if it will ever just be a plain old gym again. This CCM has been dedicated to the Lord for sacred purposes and a temple dedication is certainly one of those purposes.
This also tells me how our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ feel about temples. They are why we are here. It is so important to make sacred covenants in the temple. It is vital to our exaltation. If we want to be together with our families for eternity we must be sealed together in temples. This is why the church builds and has built nearly 150 temples. This will be be the work of the Millennium. I thank my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for -- temple work-- to seal families together and perform temple ordinances for people who did not have a chance to make covenants with the Lord on their own while they were alive.
I thank my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for the spiritual manifestations of their presence today. It seems to say to me that our humble worship at a temple dedication is acceptable to God and this as opposed to all the millions of people trying to worship here now in Mexico
I am going to be very bold and contrast our amazing temple dedication in the gymnasium to what is happening in Mexico right now. Yesterday was the culminating day to celebrate the Virgin Mary here at the Catholic Basilica. (The Basilica is not too far from the CCM and the Mexico City Temple. In fact it is probably about half way between the CCM and the temple)
We have been seeing pilgrimages for weeks and hearing the fireworks, guns being fired and cannons going off all night long especially Friday night (all night) Saturday, Saturday night and now still today on Sunday. It is amazing. They do it out of respect and to honor the Virgin, their patron Saint of Mexico. The music and parties went on all day and all night. (to the point that I could not sleep) All of this is to show their respect to the Virgin Mary the mother of Christ.
They are missing the point. They are misdirected in their worship. They are led by false traditions. They seem to be devout but are they really recognizing Jesus Christ as their savior and honoring him.
This is a news article from the internet about what is going on in Mexico right now.
A pilgrim pauses as he crosses on his knees, the main doors of the Basilica of Guadalupe as others carry images of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Saturday December 12, 2015. Pilgrims gathered at the basilica for the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's most popular religious and cultural image
Thousands and thousands of pilgrims crowd Mexico City basilica to honor Virgin of Guadalupe
MEXICO CITY – Men, women and children are flooding into the area around Mexico City's basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the country's patron saint.
Faithful from across Mexico and from other nations have been arriving at the basilica all week for the annual celebration. But the biggest crowd was Saturday, the saint's day of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
City officials estimate more than 5.5 million pilgrims already visited the basilica this week and hordes are still coming.
People young and old, able bodied and not, often walk or roll in wheelchairs many miles (kilometers) to get to the basilica to fulfill a pledge or a penance. Some creep along on their knees.
Thousands camped out on the huge plaza at the basilica complex Friday night to be there for Saturday's Mass.
