From: Gay Longhurst. We dedicated our temple in 4 sessions - one Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., and the other three on Sunday - 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. It was a wonderful experience, as you can well imagine! I don't know the official count of members who attended the 4 sessions, but I know that there were people here from many states in the Southwestern US and Northern Mexico. President Hinckley and his wife, and daughter, Virginia H. Pierce, and President Packer and his wife were the visiting authorities. President Packer and President Hinckley addressed each dedicatory session, with President Hinckley reading the dedicatory prayer in English, and President Packer reading it in Spanish in each session. We also heard from the temple presidency and their wives in different sessions. The music was wonderful, the spirit was overwhelming. There were many red eyes at the end of the sessions. It is just such a miracle to us to have a temple in our small, remote area. It is such a beautiful beacon on a hill.

There were over 1,800 (I think the official count was 1.839) outside the temple at the cornerstone ceremony on Saturday afternoon. President Hinckley and his wife and daughter, President Packer and his wife, and the temple presidency with their wives all came out of the temple to officially install the cornerstone on. They couldn't be heard very well, but everyone enjoyed the music of the almost 100 voice choir, and visiting with friends and neighbors and relatives and strangers.

After almost 1 week of operation, the temple workers are getting trained, and the people are getting used to the idea of a temple here. We haven't really had any out-of-town excursions yet, but we certainly will until the Cd. Juarez and Hermosillo temples get finished. This week has been one of training and preparing and settling in.

We're still overwhelmed at the blessing of having a temple in our area. The Lord is so good, we are definitely lead by a Prophet of the Lord, and these are wonderful days to be alive!!