What a special privilege to participate in this historic event. A prophet of God came to visit the people of Mexico and to rededicate the Holy House of the Lord. This event, the Saturday evening cultural celebration, only lasted 3 hours, but months and months of work and preparation went into the planning and execution of this wonderfully blessed event.
The cultural celebration was massive with thousands of beautiful participants in handcrafted authentic costumes. It took place in the Aztec Stadium, the largest stadium in Mexico. The stadium was filled to near capacity with approximately 70,000 spectators. The event was free, but a ticket was required for entrance. Tickets were available at the churches in the area.
In addition to the actual performers there were about 1500 to 2000 missionaries who made a grand entrance and greeting to the host of admiring saints who absolutely love and adore the missionaries, many of whom are responsible for their family’s membership in the church. This was the finally or conclusion of the evenings display.
It was such a thrill and privilege to be numbered among those missionaries, and for us to actually be the very first missionaries to set foot on the floor of the arena. We stood in the midst of the huge throng of admiring saints and waved our white handkerchiefs, and waved, and waved, and waved, until I thought my arm was going to fall off, and then I kept on waving, and the crowd waved right back at us. We found out afterwards that our friends the Perez family whom we lived next to for the first year, took a video of this special moment for us and they will put it on a CD for us.
Sunday morning, we went to the actual rededication which was broadcast live via closed circuit TV channel to all the Stake Centers. A special ticket was required for this sacred solemn meeting which actually took place in the Celestial room of the temple. Presidents Monson and Eyring were there, dressed in white, along with the president of the temple, and the Area presidency. Those in attendance were Mission presidents, Stake presidents, Bishoprics and their wives. Almost all of the talks were in English and then interpreted in Spanish, so we were able to understand everything. I even understood most all of what was spoken in Spanish only. This is truly a blessing from the Lord. The most miraculous thing was what happened in our chapel where we were watching. There was a technical problem with the TV transmission. We were getting a perfect picture, but no sound. The person who usually does the technical support was not with us, and the brethren who were in charge did not know what was wrong or how to fix it. We watched the meeting commence in complete silence, and the people watching were in shock because they thought they would not be able to hear what was being said. This went on for 15 or 20 minutes of complete silence. At first I was mad, and I felt like I was being denied my first and only opportunity to witness such a sacred event. Mom said, “Be patient and have faith.” Then I began to offer up a sincere prayer that those who had been left in charge would somehow find the solution to the problem and we would be able to view and hear the remainder of the broadcast. I’m sure there were many sincere and humble prayers offered up from that chapel on this day. After a few minutes of a blank screen and no sound the picture came back on with beautiful clear sound, and President Mickelson of the Area Presidency was concluding his remarks. I offered up my gratitude and enjoyed the rest of this very beautiful and sacred meeting. President Eyring’s remarks were truly inspiring, and President Monson as always was magnificent. The one thing that President Monson said that will stay with me forever is. “God gives us flowers in June so that in our December years we will have beautiful memories.”
It was truly an incredible blessing to sit at the feet of a prophet and listen to him dedicate a Holy House of God, and to participate in the sacred Hosanna Shout and wave our white handkerchiefs, in sacred salutations to our Lord and King Jesus Christ.
Love to all Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Marj and Bill Willson
