メリディアン
日本語
帰還宣教師から
From Returned Missionaries
Dwayne N. Andersen-Excerpts from Autobiography
(As Bishop, the first Project Temple)
At the end of 1959, I was a little discouraged because so many members were moving out of our ward. Our ward boundaries had no more space for building homes; so many of our good members were building houses in the Pleasant Hill area, close to Concord. Also I felt that the stake was calling some of our best ward leaders into stake positions. I felt that the ward was decreasing in attendance and participation. About this time, I was having a meeting with our stake president prior to an upcoming ward conference. I expressed the above feelings to the stake president. He responded: “The only thing you can do is to ‘get out and beat the bushes’ and develop some leadership. It is the ward’s responsibility to develop leaders for the stake. Not long after this experience, we had a stake conference, and one of the general authorities told us to start having “senior Aaronic” schools on a ward basis and not on a stake basis. He told us that the stake schools had not had much success.
I returned home and gave much thought and prayer to this problem. I went through the ward list and determined that we had about 15 or more of our senior Aaronic brethren who had taken the stake class; but NONE of them had become Melchizedek priesthood holders. I received inspiration on this subject and called my bishopric together to discuss it. We decided that we would hold a “senior Aaronic school” on the ward level; but we would call it a Temple Project. We invited the Concord 2nd to join with us and asked former Bishop Markham to be the leader of this project. He was to provide the preparation materials for these individuals to receive the priesthood and go to the temple in about six months. We decided that we would concentrate on all those brethren who had already graduated from the stake school.
I wanted to make this project different, so in our interviews with each of these couples, individually, we explained to them the importance of the Melchizedek priesthood and the great blessing the temple experience would have upon themselves and their families for eternity. We informed them that we would provide the information and class instruction necessary for them to prepare themselves to receive the Melchizedek priesthood and take their families to the temple to be sealed together. The project would last about six months. We also told them they could sign up if they would commit to following all the instructions and preparing themselves for the temple. If they did not desire to make that preparation, they were asked NOT to sign up. This commitment proved to be the key to the success of this project. As far as I know, this was the first project where this kind of challenge was made. We had thirteen senior Aaronic couples sign up for the project.
In the first 12 weeks we met weekly and gave them lessons on the various fundamentals of the gospel program. The next two months we held two classes a month to prepare them for advancement in the priesthood and to prepare for the temple experience itself. Periodically I made personal visits to each couple to see if they had questions or to find out how their progress was coming. A spiritual bond began to develop between the group; and they would help each other to prepare. It was a truly spiritual experience to watch this project unfold. Out of the thirteen couples that started, we had 11 couples prepare themselves and go to the temple. When the six months was up, 11 couples had prepared themselves to receive the Melchizedek priesthood. They couldn’t all go at once, to the temple, so part of them went to the Los Angeles Temple in June; and the others went together in September. If you count the couples, and their children, the group was made up of 65 individuals, amounting to 10% of the ward’s population in one temple project. Peggy and I went with each group. It was thrilling to see how excited each family was and how they reacted to this wonderful experience of being together as a family in the temple. This historic project appeared in the “Church News” in Oct. 1960, with a picture of the group and an article: (closing paragraph:)
“The Presiding Bishopric commends Bishop Andersen and his associates for conducting one of the most successful schools for senior members of the Aaronic Priesthood ever reported to this office.”
Glen J. Taylor was my new 2nd counselor. What a strength he was! We took our families a day ahead of time and camped out overnight, before getting to Los Angeles. We also spent time at the beach, so that the children could have a vacation but participate in this spiritual project. There were many faith-promoting experiences that occurred as these fine people were getting themselves ready for the temple. I want to include just one of those: A woman came to me a few weeks before the date for going to the temple and said: “We cannot go because our car needs two tires and we don’t have the money to buy them. I could sense that something else was bothering her; and after calmly talking for a few moments with her, she finally confessed that she had been unfaithful to her husband on one occasion during the World War II years. I then explained the steps of repentance, which included confessing to her husband. She felt it would break his heart; but I was able to convince her that she had broken a vow made with him. Later she brought him to my office, where I left them alone. It was a sweet experience for them both. He forgave her immediately and also confessed some things that he had done wrong. This had a cleansing effect on both of them and opened the way for them to continue with their final preparations for the temple, with the crowning sealing ordinance for an eternal family.
Shortly after the success of this project, I proposed a similar program for the Elders who had not been to the temple. I would like to relate two of the many spiritual happenings concerning this project:
One of the Elder’s wives came to me about a month before they were to go to the temple and said: “I can’t go because I really don’t have a testimony of the gospel”. I knew that she had a testimony. It was just that she really didn’t understand what a testimony was. So I told her: “Now, you are a convert and were breaking the Word of Wisdom before joining the Church. Since you have stopped using those things, how do you feel?” She answered that she felt much better without them. I asked her if she felt that the Word of Wisdom was true, and she answered immediately: “Oh, I surely do.” Then I asked her what she thought about the Book of Mormon. She responded that she KNEW it was the word of God and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I quizzed her about tithing. She told me that before they started paying tithing, they were always in debt, but after paying tithing, they seemed to have extra money each month! She assured me that tithing was a true principle. I expressed to her that she had just been bearing testimony to me of the truthfulness of the gospel. She answered: “Oh, I never thought of it that way. I thought I would have to see a light or hear a voice or see some special sign.” She went away, thrilled, and finished their preparations to enter the temple.
As I came out of the temple following the Elders’ project conclusion, one of the participants stopped me to express his joy and appreciation for this great experience. He related that he was a convert of a few years ago and that before his baptism he had been a Grand Marshall in the local Masonic Lodge. He said that he had experienced most of the things that took place in the temple today. He continued: “But there was a difference today. I felt a POWER, PURPOSE, and MEANING to the temple proceedings; and I also felt that the ordinances performed in the temple today were performed by the proper authority from God.” Out of these two temple projects came many future church leaders! Also, the spirit and participation of the other ward members were greatly increased.
Our church statistics moved from the lowest in the stake to one of the highest. I was also contacted by other bishops in the church; and subsequent to this experience, many other temple projects were held throughout the church for senior members of the Aaronic Priesthood. The spirit of this project helped us to prepare young people for missions and temple marriage. I would like to give credit to the Lord for His inspiration and unwearying help from the inception of these temple projects to their spiritual and gratifying conclusions!