Philly Temple

I just had to jot a note about the excitement over the announcement of the Philly Temple. You see, when Wes first went out on his mission, the numbers for conversions were among the lowest in the states. A new Mission President came in a month later and really got things going. He told the missionaries that there was 6 million people in that city and they could find 500 to baptize. They reached that goal, then set one to double that-- 1,000. They reached that goal, too. They went from one of the lowest baptizing missions to one of the highest. Wes had told us that Pres. & Sis. Fillmore's goal was to have a temple announced in Philly before they left. They worked really hard and were even looking at property for a temple-- one spot was in downtown in an office building to be built in the style of the Manhattan Temple. Wes said that they also had property in Valley Forge. The Fillmore's were released in July of last year. The Fillmore's had no idea this temple was being announced. She told me in an email, "I was so stunned that I screamed and burst into tears and didn’t even hear the location of the 5^th Temple announced."

My heart is just so full because I know that Wes was a part of bringing those people into the gospel that made it possible for this temple to be in their midst. I have watched them work hard in that mission to have the people ready for that temple. Wes said that this will boost missionary work so much now.

I am just so excited that I had to share my joy and appreciation to the Lord for such a wonderful blessing. Hopefully this will lift the people and bring the "slums" out of their life and help them reach for something higher.