We pray for forgiveness of sins, Heavenly Father; all of us are weak; all of us are mortal; we often do those things we ought not to do, and we neglect some things we should do. Thou knowest our weakness. O Father, be merciful to us. Help us in our resolutions that we may be better day by day.
We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, that there are others here tonight whom we cannot see because of the limitations of our mortality. We thank Thee that we know that they are as real as we are and as much interested in what we are doing tonight as we are. We thank Thee for their presence. We thank Thee for the great men that have lived in this land and presided over these stakes of Zion and over this temple. We bless their memory and pray that we may be variously worthy successors to them.
We thank Thee, O God our Father, for this great land of Canada, this part of a great commonwealth, this dominion, this empire. We thank Thee for our citizenship here, that those of us who have had citizenship and gone elsewhere and been repatriated have, by the generosity of this government, a dual citizenship so that we are still Canadians. For this we are grateful. We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, that in this land there is freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. We thank Thee that we have personal liberty; we have laws under which we live, laws which are administered without fear of favor. We thank Thee for the justice of the courts.
We thank Thee that this great land welcomed the Latter-day Saints who came here 75 years ago. We thank Thee for the work that the Latter-day Saints have done in Canada, and on behalf of the Canadians we thank Thee for the contribution of the Mormon people. We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, as members of the Church for the changing attitudes of the people of this land and of the United States and all over the world toward the Church. We thank Thee that great men have been raised up in various lands to defend Thy people and proclaim the truth.
We thank Thee for the leadership of the Church. We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, for the Prophet Joseph Smith, for his courage and fortitude and faith. We thank Thee for what he did in Nauvoo and elsewhere, and we thank Thee that today we are reconditioning that city and we are re-establishing many of the buildings, acquiring much of the land, preparing for great things to come.
We thank Thee for the spirit of temple building that is among Thy people, how they are anxious to do work for their dead and for the living. We thank Thee for the spirit of sacrifice involved in all temple work. We thank Thee for Brigham Young, who brought the people west, for the men who have succeeded the Prophet and Brigham. We thank Thee for each of their administrations. We thank Thee for David O. McKay. Bless and spare him, we humbly pray. We need his leadership; we pray for his health. He is growing older. Thou hast been mindful of since he came to this earth. We thank Thee for him and pray for him tonight.
We thank Thee for the men and women who are engaged in this temple, the president, his wife, his counselors, their wives, these loyal men and women who are devoting their time in His holy house. Reward them, O Lord, and guide them, and grant, Heavenly Father, that we may all be willing to give of ourselves and all that we have to Thee.
We thank Thee for all of Thy blessings, and our prayer of dedication tonight is largely a prayer of gratitude, for we feel humble as we come to offer Thee these additional appurtenances belonging now to this holy temple, and now by virtue of the holy Melchizedek Priesthood we dedicate to Thee, the Lord, those various rooms, equipment, furnishings, and other appurtenances, we dedicate them all to Thee and pray that Thou will permit them to become a part of this holy house heretofore dedicated by Thy servant, President Heber J. Grant. We dedicate to Thee all that pertains to these parts of this temple we have mentioned, and may they all become holy, sacred, and so regarded by all who may come here, and may people continue to look to this building as the house of God.
And on this great Dominion Day we raise our voices in praise to Thee that we are permitted to have in this free land a house like this and others that will be built where we may perform sacred ordinances for both the living and the dead. Now, Heavenly Father, wilt Thou accept of this offering and let Thy Holy Spirit be with all of us as we leave here tonight.
O Father, bless the people of this land, all of them, and open the hearts of those who have not yet understood us that they may see the truths we have to offer and embrace them and be given the blessings that follow such acceptance. We pray especially for these Latter-day Saints in these various stakes, including Great Falls, Vancouver and the other stakes mentioned here tonight; we pray for these people; we commend them to Thee, O Father. We thank Thee for their loyalty and their love and their service and we leave a blessing with them by virtue of the priesthood. We bless the people here assembled and their associates and their families and their friends; and we pray that they may go out from this building, even as they went forth of the day of Pentecost, with the spirit of conversion, of rededication, of contact with Thee, the Lord.
And so humbly, now we leave these dedicatory services, grateful for the privilege of having come, grateful for the words that have been spoken, for the heartfelt hymns that have been sung with such feeling, and we pray, as we close, that we may sing the concluding number under the inspiration of Thy Spirit and speak from the center of our hearts as we say we know that Thou art God and that Jesus Christ, the Lord, Thy Son, is the Creator and Redeemer of the earth, for which knowledge and for which blessings we now humbly thank Thee, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.