Cornerstone Ceremony at Nauvoo Temple

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Cornerstone Service Marks Progress in Reconstruction of
Nauvoo Temple
5 November 2000
 
 

       NAUVOO, ILLINOIS - Thousands of Latter-day Saints gathered in this
       Mississippi River community today to participate in an historic service to
       set in place the cornerstones for the reconstruction of the Nauvoo Illinois
       Temple.

       President Gordon B. Hinckley, worldwide leader of The Church of Jesus
       Christ of Latter-day Saints, presided at the event which marked the
       beginning of stonework on the exterior walls of the temple. Today's
       service also commemorated the cornerstone ceremony of the original Nauvoo Temple which took place here 159
       years ago on 6 April 1841.

       Local dignitaries and invited guests, including Nauvoo Mayor Tom Wilson, attended along with a crowd of more than
       4,600 Church members and Nauvoo townspeople.

       In his opening remarks, President Hinckley explained that Joseph Smith, first prophet and president of the Church,
       had given instructions for the order of cornerstone placement: southeast, southwest, northwest, northeast (a
       clockwise rotation). The Prophet Joseph also instructed that the First Presidency of the Church should lay the first
       stone with the other stones placed by those designated by the First Presidency.

       In accordance with those instructions, President Hinckley, representing the First Presidency, officiated at the
       southeast stone. After brief remarks, he mortared-in the stone and offered a prayer, establishing an order of events
       followed in each of the corner ceremonies.

       An hymn sung by a choir of missionaries from the Illinois Nauvoo Mission concluded the placement of the southeast
       stone. All hymns sung in today’s service were selected from those appearing in the Church’s first hymnal compiled
       by Emma Smith, wife of the Prophet Joseph.

       Bishop H. David Burton, Presiding Bishop of the Church, directed the placement of the southwest stone with
       assistance from Aaronic Priesthood leaders of the Nauvoo First Ward: Bishop Merlin L. Reittinger, Teachers Quorum
       President Hans S. Smith and Deacons Quorum President Jared M. Brown. Following remarks by Bishop Burton, all
       assisted with the mortaring and Bishop Reittinger offered the prayer. The missionary choir sang to complete the
       southwest corner ceremony.

       Representing the Melchizedek Priesthood, Nauvoo Stake President Durell M. Nelson officiated at the northwest
       corner, assisted by President Arthur Lee Noe of the Nauvoo First Ward Elders Quorum. President Nelson gave
       remarks, both local priesthood leaders mortared-in the stone and President Noe offered the prayer. The hymn was
       sung by a choir of Church members from the Nauvoo Stake.

       At the northeast corner, President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, presided
       with the assistance of Elder David B. Haight of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Also assisting and representing
       the Quorums of the Seventy were Elder L. Aldin Porter and Elder Donald L. Staheli. President Packer gave remarks,
       all four general authorities participated in mortaring the stone, Elder Porter offered the prayer and the Nauvoo Stake
       choir concluded the northeast ceremony.

       At the original cornerstone services in 1841, the women of the Church presented the Prophet Joseph with an
       American flag. As a remembrance of that occasion, Nauvoo Stake Relief Society President Corey B. Hart presented
       President Hinckley with an 1841 flag. Nauvoo First Ward Relief Society President Kathy J. Porter presented the
       Church leader with a current American flag.

       President Hinckley concluded today’s services noting that the cornerstones of the temple should remind all
       Latter-day Saints of the Savior who was described by the Apostle Paul as "the chief cornerstone."

       Weighing 1400 pounds each, the four cornerstones set in place today came from a limestone quarry in Alabama.
       The stones were cut in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and finished in Salt Lake City. They represent the beginning of a stone
       sculpting project that is believed to be one of the largest in recent history where every effort will be made to replicate
       the appearance of the original Nauvoo Temple.



     The symbolic laying of cornerstones at the Nauvoo Temple has taken place. The event took
place on Sunday, 5 November 2000, at 12:00 p.m. in Nauvoo.

President Hinckley making remarks before the ceremony begins.
       "We want to imitate, insofar as possible, what was done at the original cornerstone laying on April 6, 1841," said
       President Gordon B. Hinckley. This is particularly significant because the Nauvoo Temple will be constructed to appear
       almost as a replica of the original temple built on this same site in the early 1840s.

South east cornerstone after the mortar was set by President Hinckley.

       Participating in the ceremony was General Authorities of the Church; President Gordon B. Hinckley, Presiding Bishop H David Burton, President Boyd K. Packer, Elder David B. Haight, Elder L. Aldin Porter, Elder Donald L Staheli,  as well as local Church leaders and women of the
       Church’s Relief Society. Four large stones were set in place, one at each corner, beginning with the southeast corner of the temple.

The audience prior to the ceremony.
Two choirs, one made up of missionaries from the Nauvoo Mission and the other composed of Church
       members from the temple district, sang hymns chosen from the first hymnal of the Church.

South west corner just before the ceremony.
       The block upon which the temple sits is an active construction site, not yet landscaped as it will be for the dedication
       services which will likely occur sometime in February of 2002.



An Historic and Symbolic Ceremony for Latter-day Saints

     The fire of artillery, discharge of cannon, a brass band and a formal procession formed the prelude of a ceremony on 6
     April 1841 to set the four cornerstones of the Nauvoo Temple a sacred structure for early members of The Church of
     Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

     Now, 159 years later, this ceremony has been repeated on a smaller scale. On 5 November 2000, four large cornerstones
     have again be set for a temple in Nauvoo, Illinois. The Temple will be constructed to appear almost as a replica of
     the original temple built on this same site in the early 1840s. The ceremony took place on 5 November 2000, engendering in
     Latter-day Saints feelings of reverence toward their Church’s history and the doctrines tied to temples.

     "For Latter-day Saints who have their historical roots in Nauvoo, whose ancestors helped build that first Nauvoo temple,
     this ceremony will be a return to the past and a celebration of the importance of temples today," says Glen M.
     Leonard, Director of the Museum of Church History and Art. "We look at Nauvoo as the temple where the fulness of
     priesthood ordinances was first introduced. So, to rebuild that temple is bringing us back to our real beginnings as a
     temple-building people."

     Cornerstone-setting ceremonies have always been a part of Latter-day Saint temples. For temples constructed in the
     19th century, including the Church’s first temple in Kirtland, Ohio, Church leaders set cornerstones at each corner. For
     subsequent temples, they adopted the practice of setting a single fascial cornerstone as part of the temple’s
     dedication once the temple was completed.




Nauvoo Stake Relief Society President Corey B.
 Hart presents an 1841 American flag to
 President Gordon B. Hinckley.


At the southwest corner, Presiding Bishop H.
 David Burton hands the mortaring trowel to
President Jared M. Brown of the Nauvoo First
Ward Deacons Quorum.

         President Gordon B. Hinckley waves as he
         arrives at the Nauvoo Temple reconstrucition site
         for 5 November 2000 cornerstone services.


Nauvoo Stake President Durell M. Nelson
 speaks at the northwest corner.


President Hans S. Smith of the Nauvoo First
Ward Teachers Quorum applies mortar to the
southwest cornerstone of the Nauvoo Temple
with assistance from Elder Donald L. Staheli of
the Seventy while Nauvoo Stake President Durell
M. Nelson, left, and Nauvoo First Ward Bishop
Merlin L. Reittinger, right, look on.


Although he cannot walk or run, President Hans
S. Smith, leader of the Nauvoo First Ward
Teachers Quorum, doesn't let that slow him
down. He enjoys his service in the Aaronic
Priesthood.


President Gordon B. Hinckley and Elder David
B. Haight greet Church members at the
conclusion of the Nauvoo Temple cornerstone
service.


President of the North America Central Area,
Elder Donald L. Staheli mortars the northeast
cornerstone.


President Boyd K. Packer mortars the northeast
cornerstone while Elder David B. Haight and
Elder Donald L. Staheli wait to follow him.

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