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Show T Cotinmeints Free Press - Wednesday, August 14, 1996 - Page 2 Finding the rainbow in a waning summer Editorial Planning pays off for temple open house It may be too early to celebrate, but from all indications, the dire predic- tions of traffic congestion and gridlock predicted for the Mount Timpanogos Temple Open House are not going to materialize. In fact, as of Tuesday, the American Fork Police Department suspended traffic patrols around the temple site because they found they weren't needed. Instead, traffic appears to be reaching the temple site and leaving in a steady flow that keeps the temple access roads busy but not congested. Lines are not too long. Parking is more than adequate. And area residents are able to go about their business with little disruption to their normal activities. In short, 25,000 people came to visit last Saturday, and most of us hardly noticed. There is plenty of praise to go around. American Fork City is to be congratulated for having the foresight to budget for major road improvements last year so the funds would be available this year. There has been some inconvenience over the past months as the work has been completed, but now we get the benefits as our city's road system is in better shape than it has been for years. The city has also responded to traffic flow changes with alterations in stop signs and other traffic controls. These will take some getting used to, but the community will benefit in the long run. Utah County is to be congratulated for completed the road work along 1100 East in time for the open house even it if was just barely in time. This road work has also been a trial for those who live along 1100 East, which was closed for over a year. Many lives have been disrupted by this particular road project and its accompanying delays. We are all glad it's almost over. Finally, the Temple Open House Committee deserves a lot of recognition for meticulous planning and foresight. Ticket distribution has ensured that temple visitors come in a constant flow, rather than all at once. That has kept lines short and regular. Routes to and from the temple have been well thought out and well marked. This helps route traffic around our communities rather than through them, and establishes driving patterns for the future once the temple is put in use. Parking provisions have proven more than adequate. The temporary parking lot adjacent to the temple site provides easy access without the need for shuttles or buses. A seemingly endless supply of volunteers directs traffic and helps visitors know exactly where to go. It is clear that all of this was considered and designed so that temple visitors might have a positive experience throughout their tour of the Mount Timpanogos Temple, and so far it is all working very well. The open house is only in its fourth day; problems may arise. But from all accounts, the months of planning and preparation are paying off in a big way. Congratulations to all involved. Using the Temple to teach from the scriptures As we all attend the Mt. Timpanogos Temple Open House, I thought it might be s useful to list a few about temples that can be taught from the Bible and LDS scriptures. These scriptural thoughts could be used during family scripture study or Family Home Evening, before or after your visit to the open house. 1 Cor. 6:19-2- 0 Your body is a temple (not a visitor's center, as we tell our teens) and we are bought with an awful price a price that could be paid by only one person. and D&C 27:5-1- 8 Eph. 6:10-1- 8 Consider what the temple has to do with putting on the whole armor of God. Make mini-lesson- note of the cast of characters listed on the Mount of Transfiguration (Act - Matt. 17:1-9immediately following the dedication of the Kirtland Temple (Act II- - D&C 110) and D&C 27 Act III. Of course, D&C 109, the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple, would be good to study just before the dedication. Joseph Smith History 1:33-3- 9 Consider how Moroni's words to Joseph Smith have thus far been fulfilled. Psalms 65:4 May we all appreciate the goodness of the Lord's house. 2 Nephi 5 As the Nephites and Lamanites became separated, count all the ways and all the reasons why the Lord was with the Nephites, especially verse 16. Mosiah 2:1-8- ; 3 Nephi 11:1 and 3 Put together a family role Nephi 19:1-play or damatization to show how Book of Mormon peoples gathered at the temple. 2 Peter 1:1-1- 1 Discuss what the apostle Peter's words have to do with the temple. Look up the word "Temple" in the LDS I- ), 3 Bible Dictionary. Abraham 1:1-- 4 Abraham was a model for why we should prepare to go to the temple. Find how many times mountain tops are used as temples. For example, Exodus Looking over the Obvious By BRETT BEZZANT Matt. 19:2-- 3; 17:1-- 3; 1 Nephi 11:1; and Matt. 14:23. Tell the story of Jesus' Luke 2:40-5- 2 visit to the temple. (I especially like the Joseph Smith Translation footnote about verse 46.) D&C 97:8-1- 6 Review this command to build a temple and its marvelous promise. D&C 128:18-2Rejoice with the Prophet Joseph Smith in the glorious purpose of temples. D&C 84:19-2- 2 Consider the purpose of priesthood ordinances. Of course, you may have many other scriptural thoughts of your own about the temple. I just think our visits to the temple during the open house will be much more meaningful if we relate the symbols of the temple with the doctrinal principles found in the scriptures. We also hope you enjoy the many excellent contributions we've included in our commemorative temple edition included with this issue of the newspaper, one free to each of our subscribers. We regret that we must charge a dollar for additional copies, but we limited advertising to the back and inside covers, so we have to sell thousands of copies just to cover the cost of production and printing. We hope you will recommend it to your visiting family and friends. We will try to make it available at as many convenient locations as possible. Thank you, once again, to every person who has helped to make it possible. 5 Tis the last throes of summer and I for one will be glad when it's over. Other people have complained that the summer has gone by so fast this year, but Dick Boland 1996 Creators Syndicate, Inc. to determining nature should if a couple of freaks of united in holy matri- be mony. Give us a break. Neither of these issues are the business of government. I would hate to think I am sending someone to Washington to waste time on these subjects. As the political conventions approach, let us hope that we hear virtually nothing about abortion and gay rights.-Thcorrect answer to the abortion question is that I am against it except where the media are concerned. Or, how can I be for it if I am here? Surely it is time we moved on to a more worthwhile controversy. How about asking the candidates e The they are just the ones who have had the most fun during the season. I think back to the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and the downing of TWA Flight 800 and I ponder that this summer By RUSS DALY must have been fairly horrendous. Then I look at this year's campaign, and I know that it was really horrendous. The joy that comes from the return of and whoever wins the election will be children to school is almost overshadowed branded by the groups involved. The end of summer also heralds the by the specter of the politicians gearing up for the November election. coming of the Miss America Pageant. Those Some people I've talked with say they of you who have followed this column know would vote for any candidate just to that my wife and I have been involved in remove President Clinton from office; oththe pageant system. We are particularly excited this year to ers say that, despite being staunch to watch Nanette Pearson, "our" Miss Utah, a can't themselves Republican, just bring vote for a candidate like Dole. dear friend who is not just Miss Utah for People have bemoaned the fact the all citizens of the state, but almost like one of our own offspring. We have had the privDole's wife, Liddy, is not the candidate instead of her husband, or that Colin ilege of working with her to prepare for the Powell refused the preliminary nominainterview phase of the competition. She has to be knowledgeable about the tion. I certainly have to agree with those two sentiments. Too bad we couldn't get the election, about current events and about issues that are important to the future of school days. two of them on a third party ticket. Those that are actually leaving home to Wouldn't that make for great headlines our world. Listening to Nanette answer attend school may likely feel it the most as going out of one century into another? questions is incredible. For example, at the Miss Utah Pageant, they not only move on to more difficult eduSpeaking of the end of the century, the no folks a hundred years ago had clue what she was asked what she had learned from cational challenges, but also have to leave as abruptly as the they were talking about when they dubbed her experiences in Berlin, Germany, where the nest, perhaps just the last decade "the gay nineties." They've she had the opportunity to dance with a little birdling that is forced to learn how to probably already turned over in their professional ballet company in the former will not pursue the academic graves thinking about that moniker as it Communist city. but two had course, world might feel a change in status as them Nanette told that describes our things today. they watch younger siblings or friends The alternative lifestyle proponents are made an impression on her. First, that out to make the 1996 campaign an issue their country reveres their artists in a return to school while they face another manner similar to the way we revere our day of work. For some, that may be the centered on their rights. William McKinley was elected on the platforms of protective athletes. Second, she told them that her final realization that they have truly tariffs and a gold standard, not on spousal travels solidified her own "emotional entered adulthood. benefits for same gender couples. investment" in the country; we could feel Although the coming of fall may be Mother Nature's way of slowing down, this our own levels of patriotism well up in ourPerhaps it is prophetic that McKinley's late summerpre-autum- n last words, although he was referring to selves as we could understand her feelings period may be I had thought than a of more rebirth for her an shot native land. anarchist were, assassin, by being We would love to be with her in Atlantic before. The coming quiet hours of the "It is God's way. His will, not ours, be done." I can't predict the outcome of the elecCity this year to cheer her on, but alas, we school day will give me some time for introcannot. You can be sure that we will be spection about my future by looking at my tion, but I can predict that these particular issues will get ugly before they get better, tuned into the television that night. Don't past. Daly Planet s Special temple edition was a labor of love This past week has been one of the most demanding and rewarding of my career as a newspaperman. You'll find out why when you open this paper and pull out our commemorative edition celebrating the open house of the Mount Timpanogos Temple. e This newspaper supplement is like nothing I've ever been involved in before, since almost every one of its pages was created by you, our readers. The stories are yours, the histories are yours, the art work and photography are yours, too. There is poetry and song, all celebrating1 this singular structure which has taken form in our community over the past three years. Two pages feature photos from the LDS Church photos of the temple interior. And three of the photographs including the cover photo are mine. An article by President Gordon B. Hinckley explains the LDS Church's reason for building temples. A few editor's notes are included here and there for explanatory purposes, and some of the articles were lightly edited. But for the most part, you created this magazine and I think it pretty well sums up the feelings of the LDS community in north Utah County about the Mount Timpanogos Temple. And I must confess, it was a joy to put this publication together. I remember reading that when the Latter-da- y Saints were building the Kirtland Temple, church members donated their best china to be broken into tiny pieces and mixed in with the stucco to give the temple a finish that would glisten in the sunlight. These were people who had been moved from place to place, giving up property and possessions all along the way. For many, the china represented their most prized possession. But to them, the promise and reality of a temple, a House of the Lord, was all the encouragement they needed to give it up. Temples can still generate those kinds of emotions that much is plainly evidenced in today's special temple edition. Taxes vs. abortion and gay rights If you are going to run for office in this country at almost any level, the first question asked by the media is "Where do you stand on abortion?" What this has to do with running the city, state or country is beyond me. I suppose if you it means there will be are less voters in the future and if you are against it there will be more. Our elections seem to be centered around issues that spawn controversy and very little else. Of course, this helps take our minds off the important issues. The next question usually pertains to gay rights. How do you feel about gays in the military? How do you feel about gay marriages? How do you feel about gays adopting children? You would think that there were enough gays out there to swing the election. Ever since these people came out of the closet, they have been a thorn in the side of the electoral process. I can't imagine a closet big they must enough to hold them all have been hiding in the Coliseum These are minor issues, and they should be treated as such. The media are to blame for continuing to promote the controversy surrounding them. I would much rather talk about term limits, balanced budgets or drugs, but these items seem to take a back seat when it comes on us answering the phone, except maybe briefly during commercials to discuss the progress of the pageant And above all else, the true joy of the season is embodied in the return of our little ones to the halls of learning. I tease the young people with whom I work about them having to go back to school, but I believe they secretly want to go back. I think they realize that it's not just having to study and do homework, but it's a place to interact with their peers. Their education will be peppered with the Friday night football games, assemblies and dances, and the many other activities that make school more of a complete learning process than just reading, writing and arithmetic. I Granted, it's not an easy process certainly would not want to go back and do but is an interesting it all over again over. once it's experience I wonder what those who graduated three months ago are feeling at this point As they come nearer to the time when they will start their college or university experience, does their apprehension make them recall the relative security of their public clan where they stand on taxing a dead man's assets after he has paid taxes all the while he was gathering them? Every convention deals with taxes. More often than not, we are promised they will be lower. More often than not, that promise never comes true. Every moment spent talking about abortion and gays is time spent not talking about taxes. Taxes are the greatest problem facing the voter, which is the reason we hear so much about abortion and gay rights. Are members of the media so over paid that they don't mind outrageous taxation and prefer to concentrate on issues that attract attention? It seems so. I would like to see a convention where the main theme is taxes and what the candidates are going to do lower them. Let them discuss the flat tax and elimination of double taxation, as in estate taxes. If they would concentrate on taxes, all of the other issues would resolve themselves. Those that aren't resolved, in most cases, will not be the business of government to begin with. Whatever happens this year, don't pay any attention to that d little guy who wants to raise them. Mr. Dole seems to be on the right track. jug-eare- The Editor's Column 3 By MARC HADDOCK rv. ' . Actually, the publication is the brain child of Brett Bezzant, publisher. He wanted to produce a special temple section that would capture the community's feelings about the new temple. And he had the vision to realize that the readers could help us do that. When we put out the call for reader entries, I was frankly worried about getting enough copy to fill the publication Brett had envisioned. And as entries trickled in after the initial call, I started noting assignments we could pass out to our reporters to generate enough material to put in the pages of the special edition. We had a lot of songs, several poems, many photographs and a handful of personal essays, but not enough to fill 36 pages. As the deadline neared, I put out a final plea for entries in my column and the response was greater than I could have imagined. In the end we had more than enough information to fill our special edition. More than that, it was good information. For example, the special edition has five separate histories written by five separate sources. Each is from a different perspective. There is some overlapping of information, but it is complementary rather than redundant. The result is a pretty complete picture of the history of this particular temple site. We didn't plan it this way, it just happened. The entire publication is like that, chock full of information, some building on the other. It was a source of great inspiration to me to be able to be part of the clearing house for these expressions of deep religious sentiment. And while putting it all together in one package over the period of three days was grueling, it was rewarding, too. I've never been involved in anything quite like this. I've never heard of anything quite like it. Even though I put these pages together, I still thrill as I open our special edition and see the care and poured into their entries. J My only regret is that we didn't ge everything in, but we got most of it. A cou- ple of essays and a handful of poems were left out because there just wasn't room. I received many more photographs of the temple than we ever could have published, but I tried to get a representation from most of the photographers who submitted entries. I apologize to anyone who was left out. There are also some imperfections. Any time you are dealing with this many words and photos in this short a time, youll make some mistakes. That is one of the sacrifices you make for timeliness. I apologize for those as well. But the overall package is an extraordinary sampling of sentiment that demonstrates just how strongly this community feels about the new temple. The LDS Church no longer asks its members to donate their best china to be smashed to bits to create a finish on the temple that will sparkle in the sunlight. But after reading what is in this wonderful special section, I have no doubt today's members would do so if asked. The feelings that go with building a temple haven't changed much over the last 160 years. We hope you enjoy this special edition. It was a labor of love as far as the newspaper is concerned. You will probably never see anything quite like it again. Thanks to everyone who made it possible. Letters to the editor Save the Keeley sign.too Editor: I was pleased to read the article about the creation of an historic district in Lehi. Could this be included: The Keeley sign on the wall of the building next to Lehi Bakery is certainly from long ago. As a newcomer to the area I don't know exactly how old it is, but I hope it can be repainted as a remembrance of times past. Jean B. Hill Cedar Valley Former Maverik employees say thanks Editor: As we proudly resign from our positions at the Lehi Maverik, and as our paths will take us in different directions, we would like to thank the many customers who have supported us. Also to our vendors and friends we have made over the many years of service. We will cherish the memories we have made. We have a combined total of 22 honest, hard and dedicated years. As we look back, it is our many customers we will miss the most. Thank you for your support! Diane Boren Manager Milinda McDaniel Assistant Manager Policy on letters to the editor We welcome letters to the editor. All letters should be typewritten and double spaced. Letters must also be signed, and must include the writer's name and telephone number. Please send letter's to Editor, Newtah News Group, P.O. Box 7, American Fork, Utah, 84003 or through email at Newtahaol.com. |