On December 16th, 2010, we along with some of our neighbors were out delivering secret Santa presents to families in another part of Provo. (5 years is a good statute of limitations for admitting something like this, right?) As we drove down University Avenue, we saw a few large vans by Center Street with people unloading equipment into the Provo Tabernacle, presumably for a concert.
The next morning, the tabernacle was engulfed in flames.
It was unbelievable. I had gone there a few times for concerts and stake conferences, and now it was gone. The fire was so huge that we went to a wedding reception in Mendon, went to a wedding in Manti, and drove back to Provo on the Center Street exit that night, and we could still see the lapping flames through what used to be the windows. The whole city was in mourning.
This story has a happy ending. It began when President Monson announced that the tabernacle would be rebuilt as a temple. My heart has been happy seeing the pictures of the exterior and interior, and I imagine President Kimball is at peace in heaven knowing that there is a beautiful temple in Provo now. (I do love the old Provo temple, but it had to grow on me.)
But even before the story had the happy ending, even before we knew what would become of the building, there were little miracles here and there to comfort us.
One of them was from an email forward. I generally roll my eyes at anything that gets forwarded (or sounds like an email forward on Facebook), but this one was different. Someone in my aunt's extended family was a firefighter who helped clean up the tabernacle, and he and the other firefighters came across this picture.
Much as I've wanted to dismiss this under the "see someone holy in a knot of wood or potato chip" category (because, you know, anything that smells faith-promoting must surely be hokey), the fact is it's stuck with me for more than 5 years now.
I don't really know how the part depicting the Savior avoided getting charred along with the rest of it. I have my guesses of course (admittedly, none of them fall in the "coincidence" category), but I don't really know. And, in the long run, we don't place our faith in pictures.
But I really, really like the message that this picture speaks to me. It seems to say, "Natural disasters happen. People, even bad ones, have their agency and do horrible, horrible things. Everything is not awesome. Everything is not all right.
"But the story isn't over. And I will be with you til the end."
And that, to me, is the theme of the gospel. It's why we have the gift of the Holy Ghost -- to always have Him near. It's why we are commanded to love each other and nourish each other -- to be His hands. It's even a theme of the temple -- when we have been cast out of His presence (or His tabernacle, in this case), we can still have a reminder of Him with us always, covering and protecting us from the fiery darts of the adversary.
And if we turn to Christ, there will always eventually be a happy ending.
The next morning, the tabernacle was engulfed in flames.
It was unbelievable. I had gone there a few times for concerts and stake conferences, and now it was gone. The fire was so huge that we went to a wedding reception in Mendon, went to a wedding in Manti, and drove back to Provo on the Center Street exit that night, and we could still see the lapping flames through what used to be the windows. The whole city was in mourning.
This story has a happy ending. It began when President Monson announced that the tabernacle would be rebuilt as a temple. My heart has been happy seeing the pictures of the exterior and interior, and I imagine President Kimball is at peace in heaven knowing that there is a beautiful temple in Provo now. (I do love the old Provo temple, but it had to grow on me.)
But even before the story had the happy ending, even before we knew what would become of the building, there were little miracles here and there to comfort us.
One of them was from an email forward. I generally roll my eyes at anything that gets forwarded (or sounds like an email forward on Facebook), but this one was different. Someone in my aunt's extended family was a firefighter who helped clean up the tabernacle, and he and the other firefighters came across this picture.
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I don't really know how the part depicting the Savior avoided getting charred along with the rest of it. I have my guesses of course (admittedly, none of them fall in the "coincidence" category), but I don't really know. And, in the long run, we don't place our faith in pictures.
But I really, really like the message that this picture speaks to me. It seems to say, "Natural disasters happen. People, even bad ones, have their agency and do horrible, horrible things. Everything is not awesome. Everything is not all right.
"But the story isn't over. And I will be with you til the end."
And that, to me, is the theme of the gospel. It's why we have the gift of the Holy Ghost -- to always have Him near. It's why we are commanded to love each other and nourish each other -- to be His hands. It's even a theme of the temple -- when we have been cast out of His presence (or His tabernacle, in this case), we can still have a reminder of Him with us always, covering and protecting us from the fiery darts of the adversary.
And if we turn to Christ, there will always eventually be a happy ending.
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