CHAPTER XI SEVEN YEARS IN THE ARIZONA TEMPLE VERY OFTEN in my mind I recall the five years following our release from stake work and preceding our call to the Temple. I call that period "The Five Year Interlude." During those years we lived more leisurely than at any period before. We took more time for reading and thinking and for the following out of our own plans. It was the first time in our lives that public duties had not been pressing. It was a trying time. My salvation was in the work I did on the new farm on the bench. These periods of adjustment between jobs sometimes break the spirit of a man. Physical work is the safety-valve that is best for me. We rented out apartments in the big home, now lonely for our scattered children for whom it was built. During three of those winters we left the renters in the home to Levi's care while we visited our children, Pearl, Luella and David and their families in Salt Lake City. This gave us the cherished opportunity of working in the
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*A memory by Pearl: The next morning after the foregoing letter was written to father, I happened to be returning home from calling on a patient, when Apostle George Albert Smith came along 13th East in his car and stopped and asked me to get in out of the storm and he would take me home. He said he was glad to see me because be had something wonderful to tell me, something that made him very happy. Then he told me of father's and mother's call and said it was an honor they shared equally and had earned together, and that had mother not been a woman of faith and wisdom, and even bad she been an untidy housekeeper, she could not have been qualified to serve as Matron in the House of the Lord. If she had not qualified in the eyes of the leaders, father probably would not have been called to fill the position. He added, "often in these calls, in our Church, the wife becomes the deciding factor." I have always been thankful for that little visit with Brother George Albert, whom we love so dearly.
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was completed and ready for dedication on April 3, 1836. Later, the prophet was directed to start the building of the Nauvoo Temple in Illinois as soon as the saints had established themselves there. The same pattern was followed when, under the leadership of Brigham Young, the pioneers arrived in Salt Lake Valley in the year 1847. One of the first official actions taken on the part of Brigham Young was to designate the place where a Temple was to be constructed. This great concept of Temple building, for the purpose of performing sacred ordinances therein, had its beginning in a most singular way on September 21, 1823, when the Angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith, then a 17 year-old boy, in answer to his prayers. Among other instructions, Moroni said to him: Behold, I will reveal unto you the priesthood by the hand of Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and be shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made by the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall be turned to their fathers. If it were not so the whole earth would be utterly wasted at His coming. (D&C 2:1-3.) Who was the Prophet Elijah that had been designated by the Lord to do this important work before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord? He was a major prophet of the Old Testament, who at the time he came to the close of his earthly ministry, ascended to Heaven in a chariot of fire without passing through the portals of death. He was the same Elijah who appeared with Moses to the Saviour, and to Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration.
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hundreds of thousands of people, some of whom were living, but most of whom were in the spirit world waiting anxiously to receive these earthly ordinances so necessary for their salvation and exaltation in our Father's Kingdom.* The record of my work as President of the Arizona Temple would not be complete without a further reference and tribute to my efficient counselors. James W. Lesueur was the eldest son of John T. Lesueur, my great friend and counselor in the St. Johns Stake Presidency. For many years prior to the dedication of the Arizona Temple, James had been President of the Maricopa Stake of Zion, which then embraced all of Maricopa County. He had been a most zealous leader of his people, and did much to lay the foundation for the splendid growth of the Mormon Church that has since taken place in the great Salt River Valley. He, perhaps, did more than any other man in Arizona to organize the effort and collect the means that made possible the building of the Temple at Mesa. Furthermore, he was a trained genealogist and did much to educate the saints along these lines. Frank V. Anderson likewise was a man of great zeal and ability. A humble, scholarly man, he helped to give a good balance to our Presidency, and his services as Counselor and as the first Temple Recorder stand as a monument to his name. At the time of my release this loyal friend penned a tribute to me, which I take the liberty of quoting in part:
*Other scriptural references that pertain to Temple work: John 5:25 and 5:28-29; I Peter 3:18-20 and 4:6; I Cor. 15:29 and 15:19-20; Isa. 61:1; Mal. 4:5-6, and John 3:5.
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was a safe man, a tried man, in whom unlimited confidence might be imposed and without reservation. Nothing irked this active pioneer as did holidays and those periods when the Temple was necessarily closed. It was evident that his whole life bad been one unremitting effort of active usefulness. He was never above bard work, even manual labor, and rather than be idle at any time was to be found OD the Temple premises in old boots and clothing with a shovel. The "business end" thereof found few if any equals, even at his advanced years. His reminiscences arc legion, and for hours Brother Udall can relate and entertain with intimate details and glowing touches of early settlement life, adventures with Indians, desperadoes, horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and saints. It is to be wondered that lie ever found time to be peacefully inclined, or to have reared such a remarkable family . . . The rough usages of his time and place served as abrasives to grind and polish and bring to light the rich coloring, fine grain and spirit of the wood and fibre of this man . . . President Udall's love of adventure and action is still upon him, though be is crowding ninety years into an amazing background of eventful life. He still loves to travel, be it comfortable or otherwise, preferring his "Ford" into which he piles an inconceivable array of bags and baggage, and, with Sister Udall beside him and a good driver in front, he tackles any distance or any grade. He melts to kindness and responds beautifully to any words of praise. He has oceans of courage and admits no "Waterloo" on any field, or in defending that which he holds
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sainted woman, but unfortunately she is unknown to us. We are grateful for acquaintance with the wife, Sister Eliza Luella Stewart Udall, whose gentle dignity, serenity and tender administrations, can never be forgotten, and which are so abundantly concentrated and consecrated to the lives of her husband and family. The virtues of this sweet mother will be visited upon the beads of children, not unto the third or fourth generation, but throughout all generations. The deserved blessings and release which came honorably to President and Sister Udall in November 1934, from their close friends, the First Presidency, were like a distilling dew and a benediction for service so long and faithfully performed. Their graceful acceptance of retirement is an example to all of us of that day when the Lord shall say "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" if we shall have done equally well. A great banquet and program were prepared and so many were the friends, admirers and well-wishers of this worthy and sainted couple that it was necessarily held at the Franklin School building, to accommodate officiators, workers, friends, and dear ones called together. The esteem and appreciation of those gathered seems fittingly crystallized into a beautiful expression penned by Sister Bertha A. Kleinman, especially for the occasion. (Signed)
F. V. ANDERSON
[ Note:
The
poem referred to will appear at the end of this chapter. ]
The First Presidency were very thoughtful in having their formal letter of release (dated November 22, 1934) delivered to me in person by Elder Charles A. Callis, of the Council of the Twelve. I quote three excerpts from this letter: In view of your long and faithful service in the Church, and our earnest desire that you be relieved of duties that may
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In the interim, Temple affairs were put in order for the new administration and I was delighted to learn that President Grant, in person, would effect my release and install my successor. The transfer to President Jones, as my successor, was effected as planned. A full account thereof, taken from one of the local Church publications, follows:
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page 226
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THE PARTING OF THE WAYS (Tribute of Appreciation to President and Sister David K. Udall)
And some in the things we say, Some speak in our handclasp firm and strong, And some in a huge bouquet.
With their rainbow color scheme, Some say it in feasting and banqueting, And some in a toasted theme;
In springtime or in fall, Were showered upon our guests today, They could not say it all.
Could swell one rhapsody, They could not intone our love and praise, And the depths of our loyalty.
Could be abridged in one, They could not tell where our love begins, Nor when our love is done.
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page 228
tears, The blessedness of memory, untarnished with regret, No bitterness in our farewells, no heartaches to forget,
sun,
spun;
thru,
with you.
and gale
on the trail.
your hair,
where.
that blest content
nobly spent.
of all your days,
Ways." By:
Bertha A. Kleinman
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Published by Arizona Silhouettes
Tucson, Arizona
1959