Guatemala City Guatemala Temple: Now the yearnings of our hearts for the higher blessings of the gospel may be realized
Guatemala City Guatemala Temple: Now the yearnings of our hearts for the higher blessings of the gospel may be realized
Following is the complete text of the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple dedicatory prayer offered by President Gordon B. Hinckley. The temple was dedicated December 14-16, 1984.
Hallowed be Thy holy name, our Father. Thou art the great Elohim to whom we lift our voices in thanksgiving and prayer on this day when we dedicate Thy house.
Thou hast honored us in directing, through Thy prophet, that a sacred temple should be built in this land. Now the yearnings of our hearts for the higher blessings of the gospel may be realized. We think not only of ourselves, but of our forebears through whom has come our inheritance. Under the keys of the Holy Priesthood restored by Thy power, we may now receive our washings and our anointings, our endowments and our sealings through the ordinances which thou hast revealed in this dispensation.
Thou hast sent Thy prophet Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, that the purposes of the Earth may be fulfilled, and that those who have passed beyond the veil of death may partake of the blessings of Thine everlasting gospel and move forward on the way of eternal life.
Thou kind and gracious Father, our hearts swell with gratitude for Thy remembrance of the sons and daughters of Lehi, the many generations of our fathers and mothers who suffered so greatly and who walked for so long in darkness. Thou hast heard their cries and seen their tears. Now there will be opened to them the gates of salvation and eternal life.
Dear Father, have mercy upon us of this generation. Fortify us in our faith. Strengthen us against weakness. Give us power to resist the wiles of the adversary. May love for Thee and Thy Son grow in our hearts, and may it be expressed in our love one for another as Thy covenant sons and daughters.
We thank Thee, O God, for lifting the scales of darkness which for generations clouded the vision of the descendants of Lehi. We thank Thee for the wondrous light of the gospel, restored in this dispensation through the instrumentality of Thy servant Joseph Smith, whom Thou didst ordain a prophet to the nations. We thank Thee for the glorious vision given him in the opening of this dispensation. We thank Thee for the restored record of our ancestors, the record of Lehi, Nephi and Jacob, of Alma and Mosiah, of Benjamin and Mormon and Moroni. We thank Thee for this voice which has come from the dust to bear witness of the divinity of Thy Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank Thee for listening ears and believing hearts, that Thou hast touched us by the power of Thy spirit to recognize divine truth when it was brought to us by Thine ordained servants.
And now, acting in the authority of the everlasting priesthood, and as Thy servants duly commissioned, we dedicate to Thee and Thy Beloved Son this, the Guatemala City Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We dedicate the ground on which it stands, with the beauty of Thy creations growing thereon. We dedicate the structure from the foundation to the figure of Moroni which crowns the tallest steeple. We dedicate the baptismal font, the endowment rooms, the beautiful celestial room, which represents Thine abode, the sealing rooms with their sacred altars, together with all related facilities. We dedicate the ancillary buildings that they may contribute to the purposes of this temple. While so doing, we dedicate ourselves to the sacred work to be performed herein.
Please accept this house as the gift of Thy children. We have built it according to Thy will, that Thou, our Father, and Thy Son, our resurrected Lord, might have a place to manifest Thyself to Thy people. We consecrate it with love. Let Thy mighty blessings rest upon it and Thy Holy Spirit sanctify it.
Wilt Thou bless the grounds and the exterior that they may be beautiful to all who look upon Thy house. May those who are worthy to enter it come with thanksgiving in their hearts, and in a spirit of dedication and love for Thee and Thine eternal pattern of salvation. May faith grow in their hearts. May they be sanctified in their minds, and may visions of Thy glorious, eternal plan unfold before them. May families rejoice as they are bound together under the authority of the Holy Priesthood for all eternity with an everlasting covenant.
Protect this Thy house from hands or voices that would defile it. Preserve it from the tremblings of the earth and the storms of nature.
Bless our land, O Father, this nation of Guatemala where stands Thy holy house. May those who govern do so in righteousness. Bless them as they act to preserve the liberties and enhance the prosperity of the people. May there be peace in the land. May it be preserved from revolution and war. May there be freedom and equity under the law. May there be education and opportunity for all. May the forces of oppression and darkness be stayed by Thy power, and may the light of truth shine over this Republic. So bless, Father, its neighbor nations that they may be preserved in independence and freedom.
Prosper Thy faithful sons and daughters as they serve Thee in righteousness and walk in obedience to Thy commandments. Preserve them from hunger and privation, and may the generations of their posterity walk with faith before Thee.
We lift our voices in faith to ask Thy blessing upon Thy prophet, President Spencer W. Kimball, that Thou wilt increase his days and give him strength according to Thy divine will. Bless all associated with him and all who carry responsibility wherever Thy work may be established.
Father, we thank Thee for the redeeming sacrifice of Thy Son. We love Him for what He did for us and for all mankind. We bless His holy name. We come unto Thee through Him who gave His life as a ransom for each of us.
Accept our thanks. Hear our prayer. Bless us with a spirit of dedication to Thee and to Thy great work, we humbly ask as Thy thankful sons and daughters, for whose blessing Thou hast revealed Thy glorious plan of everlasting life, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.