sapporo temple!

we woke up this morning and found out that it was announced at general conference by President Monson that they are planning to build a temple in sapporo! i wish i could have been watching so i could have been surprised like everyone else, but this obviously thrilled us and it was so fun to go to church today to see how everyone reacted. they do the meeting order backwards in my parents ward, so when they announced it in relief society 1/2 the sisters (who haven't heard yet) let out a little cheer and you could tell the energy in the room changed. it was also fast sunday today so many of the testimonies bore were about how grateful they were that the Lord is blessing them with a temple, and about all the hard work that was put into being qualified to get a temple. 

i sort of copied my sister, jordan, with this post. i knew i wanted to write about this since it is great news for the members here, but i am going to take a part she included in her post with these excerpts from my dad's weekly emails he sends out to us all. thanks jor : )

June 17, 2009- On Tuesday, Elder Evans and Elder Stevenson came to Sapporo. I picked them up at the airport and we drove around Sapporo looking at potential temple sites. I then took Elder Evans back to the airport and spent the rest of the day with Elder Stevenson. We had a dinner and a meeting with all of the Stake Presidents and discussed detailed plans on what would be required to move forward with a recommendation to the Temple Committee to put a temple in Sapporo. After we spoke, he looked at each of us and said that he feels strongly that each one of us have been called to serve at this specific time to assist with getting a temple built in Sapporo.

Sept. 30, 2009-We had a goal to get 1000 current temple recommend holders by General Conference. Last week, between the three Stakes and two Districts, we reached 1011. That is enough for the temple department to submit a recommendation to the First Presidency to consider a temple in Hokkaido. That would be a great blessing to the members here who have to fly to Tokyo to attend the temple. Elder Stevenson mentioned to me and the Stake Presidents that he believes the reason all of us have been called to serve in Hokkaido at this specific time is to prepare the land for a Temple. We would love to see the announcement while we are serving.

i am so grateful my parents could be here at this time. no one was expecting to hear this news so soon after submitting this location for a new temple. and its pretty amazing. even though the chances of the temple being completed before they leave is slim, it is still exciting that the work is moving forward in this area and that my parents, the missionaries, and especially all the ward members worked hard for this to happen. i'm feeling very grateful.