New Temples Announced for Kansas City & Pennsylvania

This past weekend the semi-annual conference for my Church. The first session started Saturday morning at 11 AM (CT).

Saturday morning, I overslept a little. Our youngest had been up several times the night before and I have been battling a nasty head cold. I meant to get up by 7:30 AM to run errands and get home on time to get dinner in the crock pot before the first session started. Instead, I woke up at 9 AM, and barely got back from the store at 10:55 AM. It took me another 45 minutes to get the groceries put away and dinner into the crock pot. I wasn't too upset because we using our DVR to record all the sessions and I knew I could go back and watch what I had missed.

Just before I got home, my husband received a call from work, with something urgent that had to be taken care of. He got the kids settled for conference, then ended up working all through the first session. I joined them just before noon.

Right after the morning session ended, my phone started ringing. My hubby, who had just finished working, answered it - hoping it wasn't going to be from work! It wasn't. It was my awesome friend, Amy. My hubby handed me the phone saying, "Amy says she could hear screaming all the way from Kansas this morning."

Uh oh. I knew right then I had missed something important while putting away the groceries.

I put the phone to my ear and said, "What did I miss? What am I supposed to be screaming about?"

Amy just could not believe I hadn't heard. So she went on to tell me that during the Saturday morning session, five new temples were announced - including one for the Greater Kansas City area, and another for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

I remember saying, "Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? Are you sure?" I couldn't tell you how many times I repeated that as I logged onto my computer and headed out to LDS.org. And there in the Newsroom was the announcement.

A temple for Kansas City.

A temple for Philadelphia.

I just could not stop crying. What an incredible blessing from Heavenly Father. During my visit to Utah, Amy and I had talked about how there were two things I truly missed since moving to Kansas. 1 - my wonderful friends, and 2 - having the blessings of a temple nearby.

And now, the members of the church in this area are going to be blessed with an incredible temple.

My hubby and I gathered the kids together to re-watch President Monson's announcement. I told the kids President Monson was going to tell us where new temples were going to be built and that I wanted them to listen closely so they could tell me the locations. My youngest son sat on my lap, and my oldest daughter sat next to me, while my oldest son and youngest daughter sat on the floor. Tears welled in my eyes as I listened to the announcement, and joy filled my heart as I watched my oldest daughter's face fill with excitement.

"Wow!" she said, "Kansas City's getting a temple!"

We paused the broadcast and talked about the importance of temples, about how Mommy & Daddy were married there, and how our family would be together forever because of that blessing.

My four year old son said to my seven year old daughter, "Now we can go there and get married to be together forever, too!"

My daughter replied, "No, Rob. You're supposed to get married to someone else, not your brother or sister, silly!" :)

I also talked with them about what a huge blessing it will be for our Church members in Pennsylvania, too. That's where I grew up and, like here in Kansas City, we drove 4 to 4 1/2 hours to get to the Washington DC temple. We would leave super early in the morning, and return very late at night, just for the opportunity to serve in the temple for two or three hours.

And then, my four year old said, "We need to pray to Heavenly Father to thank Him for the temples."

And so we all folded our arms, and our little four year old gave a short, but truly sincere prayer full of faith and gratitude.

He said, "Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the temple in Kansas and in Pennsylvania, and that I can give my Mommy a hug."

It was one of those sweet, tender moments a mother treasures forever.

It will probably be about three years before these two temples are completed, but oh, how excited and grateful I am for each of them! As more information becomes available, I'll share it on my blog.

Would you like to comment?

Julie Wright said...

That is awesome! I am so happy you'll be getting a temple and so awed by your cute kids and their excitement and gratitude.

Tristi Pinkston said...

I think it's cool that both temples that were meaningful to you were announced at the same time! You're being blessed!

Erin said...

I had heard the Kansas City one and was so excited for you. My mom told me about the Philly one also. (I was in Chicago this weekend so I didn't hear conference). What a blessing these twotemples will be. Now when the Kansas temple is done Trevor and I can go to it and drop our kids off at your house. : )

Heather Justesen said...

Danyelle, I;m so excited for you, that'll be so great. And your son's prayer is so sweet!

Danyelle Ferguson said...

Wow, Julie, Tristi, Erin, & Heather! You're so awesome - getting out here & commenting so quickly! Thank you for all your comments. I am so very excited. I can't wait to hear where the temple will be located. There's part of me that's hoping it will be on the Kansas side, but another part of me that says it will be on the Missouri side, as that's Zion. It will be interesting to see where it's placed.

And Erin, when the KC temple is built, you're totally welcome to bring the kids and drop them off while you go to the temple. Until then, you're always welcome to bring the whole family and visit! Actually, I think it's our turn to drive to Oklahoma. :)

Unknown said...

Very exciting, Danyelle. I was completely blown away by the announcement of the Rome temple too. It's a great time we live in, isn't it!

I love that your child though to pray and thank Heavenly Father. I should have done that myself, and tonight Alvin, Sete and I will kneel and thank our Heavenly Father for these wonderful temples.

Have a great day,
Candace

Candace

Danyelle Ferguson said...

Candace - I just love the faith little kids have. That's why I love teaching the Sunbeams so much!

It took me a bit to think about the Rome temple, and its significance. I wonder how the Pope feels about sharing Rome? I asked my hubby that question & he replied that although Catholics are the dominant religion in Rome, it isn't the only religion represented there, and that there is a good relationship between the Mormons and the Catholics. :)

Rebecca Talley said...

My son was shocked about the Rome temple since he just returned home from his mission to Italy.

I totally thought of you, Danyelle, when he announced the Kansas temple. I remember feeling the same way when the Albuquerque and then the Monticello temples were announced, which meant a 7 hour drive was cut to a 2 hour drive.

What a blessing it is to have temples!

Danyelle Ferguson said...

Thanks, Rebecca. For us, it's cutting our trip from 4 hours to St. Louis, to less than an hour (possibly only 15 minutes depending on the location!)

I've been following some of the newspaper comment threads. It's been interesting to read others "speculations" about where the temple will be.

But what's most interesting is that there hasn't been any bashing. Just lots of good comments from both those who are LDS and non-LDS. I've been really surprised. Any time I read threads from the Utah papers, there seems to be so much controversy. It's nice to see some good support. I hope it stays that way.

The Thomas Six said...

I thought about you when I found out about the Penn one. funny thing it didn't even occur to me about the Kansas one! Dopey me.

It is a wonderful time to be alive and a wonderful responsibility we have to bring for great work. I love our Father in Heaven and I too am grateful for temples. I went for the first time in ten years about a month ago. It was a wonderful experience to be there again and feel the love our Father has for each of us.

Thank you for sharing your testimony.

Danyelle Ferguson said...

Robin - I know exactly what you mean. You guys lived pretty far from a temple before you moved back to Utah. I'm so glad you can get there again!