GEMS-Teachings: Temple Work for the Founding Fathers

Gems from the Teachings of Church Leaders
Temple Work for the Founding Fathers
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“President Wilford Woodruff spoke of [the Founding Fathers’ visit to the St. George Temple] in these words:

“‘Before I left St. George, the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, “You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God.”

” ‘These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights. . . .

” ‘I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McAllister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men’ (Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham [1946], 160-61).

“These noble spirits came there with divine permission–evidence that this work of salvation goes forward on both sides of the veil.”

Gospel topics: temples, temple work, patriotism

( Ezra Taft Benson, “The Constitution–A Glorious Standard,” Ensign, Sept. 1987, 8)