Last summer, I had the good fortune of befriending Kim Smith and Bryan Davis, the great great grandchildren of Joseph and Emma Smith. Apart from their familial ties, they have written several songs and give numerous firesides about how families—through the restored gospel—can be healed and brought together.
There is an old willow tree which sits directly behind the Nauvoo House where Emma Hale Smith spent her remaining years on this earth. Although Emma Smith remarried three years after Joseph’s death, she carried the sorrow of that great loss in her heart until she died. Kim once had an experience by the willow and felt inspired to write this song.
I have added pictures and HD footage of the willow tree to the song written and performed by Kimberly smith, the great, great granddaughter of Joseph and Emma Smith.
It is our hope that you will not only enjoy this music, but that you will share this video message with everyone you can.
To listen to more music by Kimberly Smith, please visit her website at: LDS Generations.
The San Diego California Temple (HD) – Mormon Temples
Situated in the upscale suburb of La Jolla in San Diego, the striking double towers of the San Diego California Temple soar above I-5 in heavily populated Southern California. Connecting the towers at the center is a supernal star-shaped atrium filled with a healthy, colorful garden. The atrium is accessed from the breathtaking two-story Celestial Room filled with towering art glass, suspended light fixtures, and featuring a grand staircase to an upper-level balcony. The public is invited to tour the manicured temple grounds and a visitors’ center honoring the San Diego Mormon Battalion located 10 miles south of the temple in Old Town San Diego.
The San Diego California Temple was the third temple built in California, following the Los Angeles California Temple (1956) and the Oakland California Temple (1964).
The architects for the San Diego California Temple were William S. Lewis, Jr., design architect; Dennis Hyndman, project architect; and Shelly Hyndman, interior design architect. The Hyndmans, who are Roman Catholic, had not toured the interior of a Latter-day Saint temple until the Las Vegas Nevada Temple open house commenced in 1989.
After suffering a mild heart attack four months earlier, President Ezra Taft Benson made his first trip outside the Salt Lake Valley to break ground for the San Diego California Temple—his first time presiding over a temple groundbreaking.
On Monday, December 23, 1991, the 186th anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith, a gilded statue of the angel Moroni was installed atop the eastern spire of the San Diego California Temple. Shortly after the setting, a traveling flock of seagulls—a bird of symbolic significance to the Church—circled the new statue about three times before continuing on its course.
Over 720,000 visitors attended the widely publicized open house of the San Diego California Temple.
President Benson’s ailing health did not allow him to preside at the dedication of the San Diego California Temple. President Gordon B. Hinckley was assigned to dedicate the temple in 23 sessions where 49,273 persons attended.
The San Diego California Temple was honored as Headliner of the Year for 1993 in the landmark category by the San Diego Press Club.
For its efforts during the open house of the San Diego California Temple to increase public awareness of the Church and the role of the temple, the Church was presented with the Public Relations Society of America’s prestigious Silver Anvil Award in the category of special events and observances by non-profit organizations.
To learn more about Mormons and Temple Worship, please visit: http://www.mormon.org
Finding Peace in a Missouri Mob – The Life of Joseph Smith
A remarkable story from the life of Joseph Smith—the Mormon Prophet—about making peace and befriending your enemies. This story was taken from the biography of Joseph Smith by his mother, Lucy Mack Smith.
The Saint George Utah Temple (HD) – Mormon Temples
The St. George Utah Temple (formerly the St. George Temple) is the first temple completed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the forced exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, within two years of the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. Located in the city of St. George, Utah, it was designed by Truman O. Angell and is more similar in its design to the Nauvoo Temple than to later LDS temples.
The St. George temple is the oldest temple still actively used by the members of the Church. The temple currently has three ordinance rooms and 18 sealing rooms, and a total floor area of 110,000 feet (34,000 m). It was originally designed with two large assembly halls like the earlier Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples. The lower Assembly Hall was partitioned with curtains to provide the ordinance rooms for the Endowment Ceremony. In 1938 the lower Assembly Hall was rebuilt with permanent walls dividing it into four ordinance rooms. The four ordinance rooms were later changed into the present three rooms, at the time the endowment ceremony was changed from a live endowment to one presented on film.
In the 1970s the temple was closed and underwent extensive remodeling. Spencer W. Kimball rededicated it in 1975.
To learn more about Mormons and Temple Worship, please visit: http://www.Mormon.org
