Description

Holy Places

Around the world, in countries great and small, manifestations from heaven—miracles, they are often called, are celebrated and enshrined. When angels have been reported, visions, visitations, and other spiritual phenomenon have been verified, those places have often become holy sites of pilgrimage, and centers of worship and devotion. 

And almost always, the place where it happened is memorialized by the construction of magnificent and ornate houses of worship. In Mexico City, Cartago, Costa Rica; Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Lourdes, France; Fatima, Portugal, Mount Sinai, Knock, Ireland; Mount Athos, Greece, and Mount Nebo in Jordan. And there are many more. 

There are also places enshrined as holy that are not Christian. Places such as Mecca, Medina, the Dome of the Rock, Varanasi in India, Bodh Gaya in India; The Western Wall, Jerusalem; Mount Fuji, Japan; Uluru, Australia and again—many more. 

It is as though the world hungers for the power of miracles and their proof that heaven is still with us. Hence, the faithful come from all over the world to worship and connect with heaven on ground endowed with meaning by the sacred events of the past. And that, often, while curious tourists, uninformed, come to gawk, take a picture, and wonder what all the fuss is about.  

Considering how hungry-humanity has reacted to such spiritual events in the past, imagine for just a moment, if there was a place where a cloud of witnesses, certified a rushing mighty wind as on the day of Pentecost, the transfiguring glory of God illuminating, the appearance of angels—such as the Apostle Peter, Elijah, and Moses; the gates of heaven and the throne of Almighty God revealed. Imagine how they would react if they knew that Jesus Christ himself had stood within those walls—right there– and brought a message to this modern world. 

Welcome to the Kirtland Temple. Little does the world understand the awesome significance of this place. When the Savior proclaimed on April 3, 1836, “The fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands,” perhaps that promise in its full millennial measure is yet to be fulfilled.  As the eyes of humanity are opened to the glorious light of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, the profound significance and importance of this holy historic place will be greater than has ever been known.