Frankfurt Temple Dedicated

The Frankfurt Germany Temple was dedicated August 28–30 by President Ezra Taft Benson and President Thomas S. Monson, Second Counselor in the First Presidency.

Eleven dedicatory sessions were held in the Frankfurt suburb of Friedrichsdorf, where the temple is located. The sessions were witnessed by some 12,570 members from the countries to be served by the new temple: Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and parts of France.

The Frankfurt temple is the fifth LDS temple in Europe and the forty-first in the Church.

President Benson urged members in the new temple district to “be a covenant-keeping people.

“This temple is a light to all this area,” he said. “May it be a constant reminder that life is eternal and covenants made by us can be everlasting.”

On the morning of August 28, President Benson and President Monson applied mortar to the cornerstone, which was then set in place to officially mark the completion of the new temple. Immediately prior to the cornerstone ceremony, President Benson, President Monson, and Elders Neal A. Maxwell and Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Council of the Twelve addressed a group assembled inside.

“I rejoice as I contemplate the blessings that will come to this area because of this glorious edifice,” President Benson said.

Following the ceremony, President Benson presided and delivered the dedicatory prayer in the first session. He also delivered an address at that session and at the next two sessions held that day.

“The presence of this house, on the soil of this nation, is an answer to the prayers of thy people, and a fulfillment of the words of thy prophets,” President Benson prayed.

Seeking blessings on the work to be done in the temple, President Benson asked the Lord to “touch the hearts of the people in these lands of Europe. Open their minds with a desire and willingness to hear the truths of the everlasting gospel.

“Bless the missionaries who come among them as messengers of truth,” he added. “Bless the homes of thy Saints that peace may dwell therein with love and harmony and worship of thee.”

Addressing those attending the sessions, President Benson said, “May the Lord bless us to understand the significance of our temple covenants, and instill these principles in the lives of many others, especially in our children, so they will live the commandments of the Lord.”

President Monson presided at and addressed succeeding sessions held August 29–30. He said the temple was “beyond the fondest dreams of those here forty years ago.”

He complimented members in the area on their record-keeping and encouraged them to do more family history research. “You are a people who keep precise, beautiful records,” he said. “I feel the dedication of this temple will create new interest in the work for those who have gone beyond. You will have an opportunity to do work for those who did not come marching home at the end of that terrible war.

“Their chains of bondage will fall from them, and they will rejoice for the work being done for them.”

In addition to the First Presidency, General Authorities participating in the dedication included Elders Neal A. Maxwell, Russell M. Nelson, and Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Council of the Twelve; Elders Wm. Grant Bangerter and James M. Paramore of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy; and Elders Theodore M. Burton, Carlos E. Asay, F. Enzio Busche, Hans B. Ringger, and John R. Lasater of the First Quorum of the Seventy.

Prior to the dedication, some seventy thousand people visited the Frankfurt temple during an open house held July 29–August 8.