Revelation during the Fort Collins Temple Dedication

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Some readers may know that the Fort Collins temple was dedicated over the weekend.  You can read about it here.

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To sum up the details:  President Uchtdorf was in town with Elder Renlund and several other Church officials.  On Saturday there was a massive cultural celebration in Hughes Stadium, where the CSU football team plays.  More than 20,000 people were there.  On Sunday, President Uchtdorf placed mortar around the cornerstone and presided over three dedicatory sessions.

During the dedicatory sessions, many chapels were consecrated as extensions of the temple so all baptized members could watch the dedication.  We gathered in our local chapel with two of our baptized children.

All of the events were surrounded by a peaceful feeling of the sacred.  I kept on thinking back to past temple dedications — especially the Kirtland temple dedication in 1836 — and how temple dedications are accompanied by the Spirit and very often personal revelation.

And the exciting part for our family was that my wife and I had some personal revelations of our own.

My wife had a dream that she was present at the Tabernacle during Moses’ time.  The ordinances were intended to remind people of the commandments. Many people felt guilt because they fell short of what God expected. Then she was transported to the modern temple.  She was expecting to feel the same guilt.  Instead, she felt overwhelming love and acceptance.

My wife felt like God was sending her the message that her actions were acceptable to the Lord.  The Lord was telling her she is on the right track in her life.  The Lord loves her and wants her in His temple.   A loving God opens his arms to her.

As I watched the cultural celebration, I felt the Spirit descend on me.  I was ready to tell the Lord I was sorry for falling so short of His expectations.  It was as if he put his hand on my shoulder and said, “stop.”  Instead, He told me He loved me and was happy with my life.  He wanted me to feel pleased with the changes in my life that had brought me to temple worthiness.  He wanted me to know He loved me and was happy I was going to His temple.  I was accepted.  I was loved.  Tears of joy ran down my face as I pondered the fact that the Lord knows me and loves me.

My wife and I both had similar revelations, but they happened separately. They were personal revelations for each of us, but the revelations showed that we are united in purpose.  Isn’t that one of the results of an eternal marriage:  two individuals united in purpose?

Today I felt at peace as I read D&C 110:5-6:

Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice.  Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice who have, with their might, built this house to my name.

Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna, to God and the Lamb!

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About Geoff B.

Geoff B graduated from Stanford University (class of 1985) and worked in journalism for several years until about 1992, when he took up his second career in telecommunications sales. He has held many callings in the Church, but his favorite calling is father and husband. Geoff is active in martial arts and loves hiking and skiing. Geoff has five children and lives in Colorado.

18 thoughts on “Revelation during the Fort Collins Temple Dedication”

  1. Great message.

    I think that sometimes we tend to limit the magnitude of God’s love for us in our own minds because of some combination of our “natural man” rationality and our own limits in how much we developed our love for our fellow man. I think that it is a struggle for all of us to some extent and I appreciate the reminder that God’s love for us is eternal.

  2. Thank you for sharing these sacred moments. The understanding that we can receive personal revelation that can guide our lives is one of the gifts of the restoration.

  4. Thank you for sharing this story and your and your wife’s experience. What I like about this post is that it shows 1) how the Lord is aware of our needs/thoughts/feelings and 2) He knows the best way communicate his love and answers to our questions.

  6. I often lurk, rarely comment, and while I often appreciate your posts and comments, also often disagree with your views .

    But this… this is just wonderful. This is Mormonism, and Christianity, and most of all, a beautiful, personal witness.

    I really appreciated it; hope you don’t mind my de-lurking to say so.

  10. Fort Collins holds a special place in my heart. I visited there years ago on a “Book-of-Mormon-ing” trip, and had many spiritual experiences, and met a very special person who taught me important lessons.

  11. Temple construction is tightly linked to church growth.

    Church growth is tightly linked to the Book of Mormon.

    Therefore, temples are closely linked to the Book of Mormon.

  12. I lived there the first 9 years of my life and have many fond memories of Fort Collins. It was there that I became a lifetime Broncos fan and my father was an Institute of Religion teacher at CSU. Never dreamed the city would have a temple and I’m glad they have one, because they deserve it.

  13. To use the imagery in Alma 32, God planted the seed of His love via His word in scripture.

    But that word fell on the rocky soil because even mothers (and fathers and teachers) who aren’t Jewish like to use guilt as motivation.

    But the prophets of God watered the word of love at General Conference, and in the full light of a temple dedication the seed of God’s professed love bore fruit in your hearts.

    Thank you for sharing the sweet realization that you are loved.

  15. thanks you for your sweet message .It was one with which I concur. since you brought up the Kirkland Temple dedication I was wondering if you were aware of any overt manifestations of God’s acceptance of this temple as there was at Kirkland? Thanks.

  16. The dedication was beautiful, and thank you for sharing your experience. I live in Fort Collins, only about 5 minutes from the temple, and it still hasn’t sunk in that we actually have a temple here even though I’ve been there many times already. So, so amazing. We have lived in this area for nearly 40 years (yikes!) and one of the unexpected bonuses is running into friends from past wards and stakes that we haven’t seen for years–but it is so sweet to see them at the temple! What an amazing blessing to have this sacred building in our midst–still can’t hardly believe it. Fort Collins was in the Manti temple district when we moved here!

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