Short Attention Span Sunday School: Primary 5 Lesson 44 The Salt Lake Temple is Constructed and Dedicated

PRIMARY 5 LESSON 44: THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE IS CONSTRUCTED AND DEDICATED

CLASSROOM PREP

1/Christmas decor around the room or on a table

2/Article of Faith 13 on the board:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

3/Salt Lake Temple from the library (maybe surrounded by white Christmas lights brought in from home?) or have a free illustration like this printed out:

http://www.allisonkimball.com/my_weblog/2014/08/salt-lake-temple-friday-freebie.html

OPENING ACTIVITY

(refer to the temple picture)

What helps this building stay upright and strong?

Deep in the ground underneath the temple is a strong foundation of stone blocks.

They’re over 8 feet deep!

They’re there so the walls have a firm surface to rest on.

It helps the temple to remain strong and not crack or fall.

You know the song about the Wise Man and the Foolish Man?

• What was the bad foundation made out of? (sand)
• What was the strong foundation made out of? (rock)

So just like the Salt Lake Temple and the Wise Man, we also need to be built on a sure foundation.

Who is that sure foundation for us? (Jesus Christ)

Today we’re going to learn about the building of the Salt Lake Temple!

LESSON

there are many old photos of the Salt Lake Temple construction online that can be downloaded and shown

In 1853, five and a half years after everyone started to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley,

Brigham Young and other leaders held a ceremony to begin construction of the Salt Lake Temple!

Two months later, they held another ceremony to lay the cornerstones of the temple.

Brigham Young told everyone that he saw a vision of the temple every time he looked at the place where it would be built!

What does this remind you of?

Joseph Smith had the same thing happen with the Kirtland Temple!

Brigham Young drew what it should look like for an architect named Truman O. Angell.

It was very detailed!

He wanted to see it last through the Millennium so it needed to be strong!

They began laying the foundation for the temple using a lot of large sandstone blocks.

The foundation was over 8 feet deep!

They worked on it for 5 years.

Then they had to stop building it for awhile because the US Government thought the Church wasn’t following US laws. Brigham Young had them stop work on the temple while it got figured out.

They found out that some parts of the foundation, the stuff they used to stick the big blocks together, had started to crack and weren’t stable anymore!

So they removed that stuff in between and replaced the sandstone with granite!

They were cut really well to fit together so they didn’t need anything extra to stick them together.

Finally they finished the foundation after 14 years!

Then they got to work on the walls.

Do you remember that they had to cut stone from a quarry for the other temples?

They had to do the same for this temple!

The quarry was 20 miles away!

Each big stone block weighed many tons (1 ton = 1,000 lbs) and had to be brought over by wagons and ox teams.

It would take four days for just one block to make it from the quarry to the temple!

Many times the wagons would break down or the blocks would fall off and crack or break!

In 1869, a railroad came to Utah and helped a lot! A track was built between the quarry and the temple site. Steam engine trains were able to bring many blocks to the temple site in one day.

This helped a lot!

Then once the blocks were at the temple site, they were shaped by stonecutters.

Some were carved with symbols such as the sun, moon, and stars.

That would take days or weeks to finish!

Finally 39 years after it was begun, the capstone (round ball on the top of the highest spire) was set in place!

More than 50,000 people watched the capstone go in place!

Wilford Woodruff was the prophet at the time, the fourth president.

Later that day, Angel Moroni was placed on the capstone.

That Angel Moroni is 12.5 feet tall!

And the first to go on a temple!

The next year, the inside was finished by carpenters, plasterers, painters, and other craftsmen.

The ceilings and woodwork were decorated with many carvings.

There were beautiful murals painted on the walls.

In April 1893, the temple was dedicated!

It was a cold and stormy day with heavy wind, rain, and snow...but inside the temple it was peaceful and calm!

President Woodruff knelt and gave a prayer.

Then they gave the Hosanna Shout and sang The Spirit of God.

Many saw angels!

The people felt the presence of God and have great reverence for the temple and its ordinances.

When we see a temple today, it reminds us that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us and want us to live with them again.

FOLLOW-UP DISCUSSION

So we need to do things that build a strong and firm foundation in our life so that we can enter the temple.

Here are the important building blocks for our foundation (list from the manual):

(have building blocks with paper taped on named as per the list below and stack them in a grid of some sort as you talk about each one...)

• Believe in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.
• Follow the prophet and other Church leaders.
• Live the law of chastity.
• Be honest.
• Treat family members with respect and love.
• Attend sacrament meeting and other Church meetings.
• Pay a full tithe.
• Obey the Word of Wisdom.
• Repent of past sins

“TEMPLELAND” ADAPTATION OF CANDYLAND

Take the board to Candyland (or another game!) and adapt it for a game to get from the start (which you could label as home/earth/life on earth/etc.) to the end, which should have a Salt Lake City Temple (or your local temple) taped on.

Add and change things on the board according to what you want to emphasize about the temple.

Squares they land on could indicate a temple song to sing from the Songbook, a choice to make, temptations they may be faced with, cool facts about the Salt Lake Temple or your local temple, etc.

*using painters tape or washi tape will not damage your game board

TESTIMONY & TAKE HOME IDEA

Your choices now will help determine who you are in the future.

Having good goals for your future helps you become the person Heavenly Father wants you to be!

Free printout of the Salt Lake Temple onto cardstock or photo paper for them to keep (there are many sites with free printouts or cute image with words like “I Love to See the Temple” etc.)
You could give it in a little bag with 13 M&Ms or something to remind them of the 13th Article of Faith.