Payson Temple Cultural Celebration

With Luke and I both being in the youth programs of our ward, we were blessed to be help them get ready for the cultural celebration, and even better, attend it! 

Earlier in the day we drove past the temple.. wow it is breathtaking!

 Pay close attention to the gorgeous sky-- filled with light, fluffy clouds.

 The event was held at BYU in Provo.  Leaving Santaquin, and even drying past Spanish Fork, the sky was clear, but hovering over BYU campus was a huge, angry rain cloud.

We got in our seats early to anxiously wait for the program to begin.  But shortly after we sat down the sky opened and the rain started to fall. And by fall, I mean, DUMP.  I have rarely seen rain so heavy in all my life.  Everyone ran for cover under the covered walkways of the stadium, hoping for the rain to stop.  Quickly we received a notice that the program would be cancelled if the rain did not lift.  We couldn't believe it! Youth all across South Utah county had prepared for months and months (they even cancelled our Stake Pioneer trek so the kids could focus and prepare for the celebration!) How could it get rained out?!

Everywhere we looked we saw small groups huddled together in prayer for the rain to lift.  Between huddling together to warm up the freezing, soggy children, we too offered the same supplications to heaven.  Please oh please stop the rain.

Hidden from our view, 3,000 youth knelt together in prayer on the other side of the stadium walkways to offer a prayer of gratitude for the new Temple and to ask for Heavenly Father to stop the rain.  Their prayer was answered almost immediately.

The rain ceased, the sky cleared up a bit, and the program started. We were blessed to have Elder Nelson and President Eyring in our presence.  The whole show as amazing... and if I do say so my self, the BEST performance was from the Santaquin stake.  They did a dance using branches with blossoms to represent the many orchards surrounding our city.  It was beautiful! And, especially neat because inside the temple are many representations of the local orchards in the stained glass to the upholstery.  It was awesome to have our stake represent something so particular to the Payson temple itself.

The whole program was amazing.... but most amazing of all, the very moment the program ended, the rain started to fall once again.  Throughout the whole show we could see the sky clear above us, but all around the stadium were dark looming clouds.  As we were exiting the stadium, the clouds burst and the rain came tumbling down.  It was a true testament to our youth of how much the Lord hears, answers and cares about our prayers.  We were grateful to be a witness of that miracle.