Salt Lake Temple: Most Expensive Temple Ever?

THE next time you enjoy the gothic and symbolic features  of the one and only Salt Lake LDS Temple, consider it’s dollar price to build -- $3,469,118.

That was the price given by Elder George Reynolds, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, back in 1895, to a Philadelphia newspaper, as quoted in the Deseret Weekly News of March 23, 1895.

Factor in the inflation and even in 1916 dollars (the furthest back an on-line government inflation calculator goes), that price equals at least $114 million in 2025 dollars.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hasn’t revealed the actual costs of any temples for many decades now.)

However, in contrast the San Diego Temple, which opened in 1993, was reported by the Los Angeles Times to have cost an estimated $24 million. (That’s $40.6 million in 2017 dollars.)

                                                             San Diego Temple.

And, the original Ogden Temple, that opened in 1972, cost $4.29 million (or some $25 million in today’s dollars.)

Note that the Salt Lake Temple required some 40 years to build – far more than any other temple. Also, some volunteer, unpaid labor was used back then, or the price over four decades likely would have been much more, likely $100 millon plus.

Furthermore, Elder Reynolds in that 1895 article stated that exact costs of the temple were impossible. Still, he said about the Salt Lake Temple’s construction:

“In the early stages the progress was slow and very expensive, for it took four yoke of oxen four days to bring a single stone from the quarry twenty miles distant.”

He said some estimated it cost $100 for every stone cut, moved by oxen to the temple site and then laid in place. He also stressed that metal and other materials were very expensive to obtain, especially until the railroad came along.

  -In conclusion, if you factor in the extra millions and millions of dollars used in the Salt Lake Temple's long-going renovation, it may well have passed the billion dollar mark in total funds used.

                                                        Pencil drawing by Steve Arave

Did the Gadianton Robbers live in the Wasatch Mountains?

                       The High Uintas, with the Wasatch Mountains in the far background.

DID the infamous Gadianton Robbers of the Book of Mormon (Helaman 6:18-29) inhabit western U.S. mountains?
Yes, they did and even the Wasatch Mountains, according to Brigham Young:
"There are scores of evil spirits here -- spirits of the old Gadianton robbers, some of whom inhabited these mountains, and used to go into the south and afflict the Nephites. There are millions of those spirits in these mountains, and they are ready to make us covetous, if they can; they are ready to lead astray every man and woman that wishes to be a Latter-day Saint." (Journal of Discourses, 8:344, from a discourse by President Young on January 20, 1861, in the Tabernacle of Salt Lake City.

-On a trip to southeast Deseret territory by W.D. Huntington and with 11 other men and one Indian in 1854 by a request from Brigham Young, is another Gadianton Robber tale:

This group of explorers found some extensive Indian ruins which the current Native Americans said they didn't build and which were very old. The estimates were the group was about 500 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Here was the men's conclusion:

"We very readily came to a conclusion drawn from  the Book
Of Mormon In second Chapter of  the  book  of
Nephi that the ancient possessors of these strong holds
were robbers of the Gadianton band and we considered this locality as one of their strongholds." (-From the Deseret News Dec. 28, 1854.)

              Navajo Mountain in S.E. Utah.                                   Photo by Ravell Call


-EXTRAPOLATING on these comments is more proof that NORTH AMERICA was where the Nephites and Lamanites primarily lived, NOT Central or South America ....

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Full-Time Missionary Rules and Guidelines from 1946

                                        A page copied from the 1946 Missionary Handbook.

FULL-TIME missionary regulations and guidelines for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were somewhat different in the 1940s than they are today.

For example, back then swimming WAS allowed (just not with the opposite sex); Saturday was pretty much the universal preparation day back then; missionaries often wore hats; no tracting was recommended on Sunday; and sample door approaches didn’t say “Mr. Smith,” or “Mr. Jones,” but rather “Mr. A,” or “Mr. X.”

Membership in YMCA’s and similar organizations for missionaries was not only legal in 1946, it was encouraged, since not only is recreation necessary, but “may be turned to preaching the gospel.”

If there were enough elders in one area, a team for basketball or baseball was suggested to be formed – and to face local competition.

“The Missionary’s Hand Book,” 1946 edition (and first printed in 1937) is 164 pages long. It was published by the Church Radio, Publicity, and Missionary Literature Committee, of which future President Gordon B. Hinckley, was a key member of.

The Hand Book did not mention going without purse or scrip (not having money, food, nor a place to reside and having to live off the generosity of those you meet). That's probably because that practice stopped in about 1941, at the start of World War II. (Yet, into the 1950s, some mission presidents still sent some of their elders to the country for several weeks each summer to get a taste of what living without means and by such great faith really felt like.)

Some of the Hand Book’s advice is certainly relevant today. However, since sister missionaries were very rare in that era, the entire Hand Book only talks about rules and guidelines for elders.

Other interesting excerpts from the Hand Book are:

-“Never call a woman by her first name … Do not touch a woman except to shake hands with her.”

-“Bless, but do not curse.”

-“The missionaries greatest reward from tracting is the humility it never fails to bring.”

-Tracting door-to-door was not to be done on Sunday; and often also NOT on Saturday, if there were other missionary duties.

-“Do not engage in undignified games, sports or pastimes.”

-An occasional good picture show or better still, a fine artistic production, is stimulating.”

-“Remember that you are sent out to preach the first principles of the gospel and to call men to repentance; not to pose as expounders of mysteries …”

-Dress – The Latter-day Saint ministry wears no distinguishing costume, but missionaries should always dress with respect to the the dignity of their work … dark shoes, dark suit, quiet hat …”

-“Sacrament meetings – “…Ushers should always be posted at the door to greet the Saints and welcome strangers.”

-“It is important that missionaries keep up appearances and maintain physical fitness.”

-Notwithstanding a prohibition against swimming with the opposite sex, the 1946 Missionary Handbook also quoted the late President Joseph F. Smith (who died in 1918): "It is not a good thing, neither is it at all wise, for our elders to go out on excursions on dangerous lakes, or streams, or bodies of water, just for fun. They had better stay away. The Lord will protect them in the discharge of their duties."

Thus, missionaries by an early 20th Century admonition, were advised not to run rivers or take any pleasure boating excursions on  any “dangerous” bodies of water.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Lamb and the Lion to lie down together? -- No such specific Scripture exists

                                A popular painting in many LDS Chapels.



"The Spirit of God," a very popular LDS hymn on page 2 of the current Hymn book, states in verse No. 4:

"How blessed the day when the lamb and the lion

Shall lie down together without any ire."

Would it surprise you to know that NO Biblical or modern scriptural passages specifically refer to the lion and the lamb laying down together?

It's true!

The confusion comes not just from "The Spirit of God" hymn, but also because many LDS Chapels contain a popular painting (shown above) depicting a lamb and a lion laying down together peacefully.

This analysis is NOT to doubt that the day will actually come in the millennium when all animals -- and all of God's creations -- will be at peace -- but simply that after hearing a song so often and seeing a painting can alter one's memory of what scriptures specifically state.
Yes, the day will come after Christ's return in the Second Coming, that a lamb and a lion will be able to co-exist peacefully. That is not the issue here.

Isaiah 11:6 (King James Version) mentions a WOLF and a lamb together; and also a leopard and a kid laying down together  -- not a lion.

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)


Isaiah 65:25 has similar wordage.

THUS, it is a wolf and a lamb, not a lion and a lamb that is featured in scripture!

Based on various Internet posts, other Christian Churches seem to have this same misunderstanding and so LDS Church members are not unique in this misconception, as it appears to affect the entire Christian world.

NOTWITHSTANDING, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote in 1834 about the lion and lamb dwelling together:

"In pitching my tent we found three … rattlesnakes, which the brethren were about to kill, but I said, ‘Let them alone—don’t hurt them! How will the serpent ever lose its venom, while the servants of God possess the same disposition, and continue to make war upon it? … when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can play with the serpent in safety.’ The brethren took the serpents carefully on sticks and carried them across the creek. I exhorted the brethren not to kill a serpent, bird, or an animal of any kind during our journey unless it became necessary in order to preserve ourselves from hunger.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 71).

Some official LDS manuals, on LDS.org, like "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith," (year 2011), pages 248-260, also do state a lamb and lion laying down together in lesson material:

"The day is fast hastening on when the restoration of all things shall be fulfilled, which all the holy prophets have prophesied of, even unto the gathering in of the house of Israel. Then shall come to pass that the lion shall lie down with the lamb, etc."

Songs and artwork often take artistic liberties that may run slightly counter to doctrine or scripture.
I'm also sure a large African lion is much more imposing laying down with a little lamb than a wolf is, or even a leopard  -- hence the artwork.

In the 14th Chapter of Judges, Sampson killed a lion with his bare hands, so the creatures did exist in Old Testament lands. But, wolves are the animal specifically mentioned in scripture as laying down with a lamb.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Don't lose your testimony over a church policy you don't care for ....

CHURCH members should never, ever lose their testimony over a policy of the church.
Policies can and do change. Doctrine doesn't change and knowing the difference between the two is a critical element for LDS Church members to learn.
There are always some policies I don't personally care for, but I don't stop going to Church over them, or lose my faith in spite.
The ultimate reality is that a person probably has a thin testimony if disliked church policies over-rule it.
I've had some relatives get sidetracked and stop going to church over policies changes. The most recent were some gay member policies that spurred some of my loved ones to doubt and falter.
In my 50-plus years of experience in the church, policies change often and considerably.
Reading through a 1963 Church General Handbook of Instructions almost 55 years later illustrated to me the changeability of policies in the church. I implore members NOT to stop coming to church over a policy change they question or dislike. To do so is like jumping off a moving train because you don't like a single item on the railroad's luncheon menu.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

The evolution of Stake Conferences

MY recollection of stake conferences in the LDS Church date back to the late 1950s -- and there have been many key changes over the decades.
In my early memories, there were several general sessions of stake conference on Sunday itself. Being young then, "cry rooms" were where I spent some of the those meetings. In the Ogden, Ut. tabernacle, the cry room was in the northwest corner. It was a separate room with a big glass window.
By the 1980s, primary children had their own separate meeting during the general session of stake conference. Hence, the general session was very quiet and almost completed devoid of young children. 
(I kind of miss that element at times. For example, during an Aug. 21, 2016 stake conference general session in my stake, the door behind me might as well have been a revolving door as it kept opening and thudding closed dozens and dozens of times during the two-hour meeting ...)
By the start of 21st Century, there were not any more separate stake conference sessions for primary children and all were in one single meeting.
Since the 1980s, starting times for general session stake conferences were 10 a.m. on Sunday. However, my August 2016 general session was 11 a.m. -- because a leadership meeting was moved from Saturday 4-6 p.m., to Sunday 8-10 a.m. instead.
Also, since the late 1990s, electronic transmissions have bolstered stake conference reception, first with video screens at the far back of the cultural hall, when all the stake was meeting in a single building.
With many more wards in my stake in the 21st Century, broadcasts of stake conference were made to the two other buildings in the stake. Hence, it was like watching a transmission of general conference sessions.  
Also, in 2017, Stake Conference in my stake switched to a 7:30 a.m. Sunday leadership meeting (instead of having it Saturday at 4 p.m.).

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Disneyland hearse was NOT Brigham Young's; But there is a Small Utah connection to Haunted Mansion

                    The famous hearse in front of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.


ANAHEIM, Calif. — "There's always room for one more" is the unofficial slogan for Disneyland's popular Haunted Mansion attraction. That phrase could also apply to the growing population of urban legends, including the incorrect belief that the white, horse-drawn hearse in front of the Haunted Mansion is the same one that carried Brigham Young's body from his funeral to his burial place in 1877.

Glen M. Leonard, director of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Museum of Church History and Art, said historical records are conclusive that the hearse couldn't possibly have been used for Young.

"Historical evidence shows no hearse was used," he said.

However, Leonard agrees that it's possible the hearse may have gone to California from Utah, where it could have been used in Salt Lake City, though probably after President Young's time.

Dozens of Internet sites claim the Haunted Mansion hearse was used for Young. Some Disneyland visitors even report that tour guides occasionally tell guests the hearse carried Young. Other Web sites debate the issue. All it takes is a "haunted mansion and hearse" subject search on the Web to find these sites.

A KUTV-Ch. 2 special report on Feb. 11, 2001 featured the Haunted Mansion hearse and included extensive research on the vehicle's history. However, the report upset Leonard because he felt it perpetuated the mystery about the hearse.

The KUTV report was done with a tongue-in-cheek style and concluded with some uncertainty on the issue when Leonard said there is none.

(Another KUTV report on the hearse aired on May 12, 2016.)

He prefers to view this widespread, incorrect belief as the result of "poor research," rather than an urban myth.

Leonard said Young's will was explicit about his funeral and burial. President Young died in the Lion House on Aug. 29, 1877, and his body was carried on a platform by clerks and employees, as prescribed in the will, to the Tabernacle for the funeral. Afterward, the same pall bearers hand-carried the casket up South Temple, through Eagle Gate and to the small private cemetery at First Avenue.

No wheeled vehicle was used in the transport of the body for the few blocks it needed to be transported.

Disneyland sources also expressed some doubt about the hearse's Brigham Young connection.

"It is documented to the extent that it can be documented," said John McClintock, a regional publicity manager for Disneyland. "It is at least a widespread belief that the hearse carried Brigham Young. . . . However, the proof is hardly indisputable."

Disneyland acquired the hearse from a Malibu collector, Dale Rickards, who had nothing to trace the ancestry of the wagon. Apparently there were once some documents of authenticity, but when the previous owner of the hearse, Robert "Dobie Doc" Cottle of Las Vegas, died, the papers apparently disappeared.

There are also rumors of a Young family from the Salt Lake area owning the hearse before Cottle got it, but no one's been able to verify that either. That possible "Young" connection could be the source of the Brigham Young link.

The Disney Archives had no additional information available on the hearse.

The KUTV report included extensive research on horse-drawn hearses and discovered the hearse could be an 1890s vintage, too recent to have been associated with Brigham Young. And there is some evidence in old Utah historical photographs that the hearse could have actually been used in Utah in the 1890s and thereafter until motorized hearses became available.

That's the only mystery left with the hearse: Did it come from Utah?

To Disneyland, the hearse is a prop, and there is no official sign that connects it to Brigham Young. In fact, the manufacturer's plate on the hearse is missing, so its origin cannot be verified.

McClintock said the Haunted Mansion continues to be one of the park's more popular attractions, and since many Utahns frequent Disneyland, the hearse and a possible Brigham Young connection are discussed frequently.


-Notwithstanding the Brigham Young myth, there is one actual tie to Utah – and Mormons – for the Haunted Mansion.

When actor Kurt Russell narrated an insider’s look at the newly opened Haunted Mansion in 1970 for Disney’s “Wonderful World of Color” TV series, he was accompanied on the tour by none other than the Osmond Brothers from Utah.

There’s a 10-minute YouTube video available of this “World of Color” segment at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEPdN__ZmYo 


-Written by Lynn Arave in the Deseret News on Feb. 23, 2001 and revised and published again on Feb. 24, 2017.


The Web address to the original Deseret News story is:


http://www.deseretnews.com/article/827116/Disney-hearse-has-no-link-to-Brigham-Young.html?pg=all