Geriatric Observations: Temple, Part One

The Billings Montana temple was announced on August 30, 1996. To say that I was overjoyed is an understatement. A few days later I received a call from my stake president telling me that as Stake Relief Society President I was appointed to the "Temple Committee." I had no idea what that meant but it sounded like a great opportunity. Every Sunday evening the committee would gather in the high council room of our stake center to report on our assignments. Report to...? Usually it was by phone to the main temple committee in Salt Lake. The phone would be on speaker, and we would take turns reporting and answering questions. Originally the temple committee focused on obtaining annexation and building permits, but after the groundbreaking it became more focused on the open house and dedication.
Before the groundbreaking could take place the land had to be annexed to the city so that utilities could be connected. There was a lot of opposition from people living near the temple as well as from various churches, and the City Council turned down the annexation request.
Then a miracle happened.
One of the sisters on the temple committee organized all the youth in both stakes and sent them out to gather signatures requesting that the City Council reconsider. In one weekend, they gathered 10,000 signatures and the council agreed to reconsider. The subsequent meeting had to be moved from council chambers to a large theater to accomodate all who wanted to attend. One councilman objected to the cafeteria, because he didn't want "a restaurant" on church property. Someone else felt that the distribution center was simply a clothing store and that part of Billings wasn't a commercial area. It was frustrating. People objected to the lights in the parking lot (okay, they can be shut off after 10:30pm), to the color of the stone and on and on. The man who objected to the stone color thought a white temple wouldn't go with the surrounding area, and he lived in a blue house! One young woman got up and replied, "I've lived here for years and 9 months of each year white IS the color of the surrounding area!" The annexation passed and some people were angry. The nearest neighbors planted a row of poplar trees to block their view of the temple - but their son played church basketball with his friends and took the missionary discussions. Mr Blue House went to the Family History center to work on his genealogy and was so touched by how kindly he was treated that he sent flowers to the FH center. Hearts were softened and missionaries didn't even have to introduce themselves at doors - they would be invited in to discuss the temple and temple work and the church.
The groundbreaking was held March 28, 1998. Security was tight because there were so many concerns, plus the temple committee had promised the nearby subdivision that we would make sure no one attending the groundbreaking parked on their streets. A group from northern Wyoming announced their plans to picket and disrupt the groundbreaking.
That didn't happen.
God has a direct line to Mother Nature and that morning we were hit with an incredible snowstorm, so bad that the group from Wyoming couldn't even make the trip.