More on Elder Andersen's Visit

Our priesthood leadership meeting was incredible. I spoke for 20 minutes (I was nervous), Elder Keyes from the Seventy and then Elder Anderson took up the remainder. He opened it up for questions and at the end of the meeting there was a question asked that was very tender for Elder Anderson to answer. It was like the entire chapel was filled with the Holy Ghost.

At one point in the meeting, when Elder Anderson was answering, I felt it must have been very close to the meeting in Church history that talks about the dedication of the Kirtland temple. On the day the Kirtland Temple was dedicated, the Lord blessed his Saints for their sacrifices in building the temple. Everyone present felt a holy, joyful feeling. Many people saw angels or heard angels singing, and others saw visions, prophesied, or spoke in tongues. Several people saw a heavenly messenger, whom Joseph Smith said was the Apostle Peter, in the temple. He was clothed in a long cloak and sandals and sat near the Prophet’s father.

That evening a priesthood meeting was held. Over four hundred men attended. In the dedicatory prayer earlier that day, Joseph Smith had asked that the temple “be filled, as with a rushing mighty wind” (D&C 109:37) to show that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were pleased with the temple.

“A noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished at what was taking place. This continued until the meeting closed at eleven p.m.”

As I left the meeting I wondered if this is just some of what the early saints felt in Kirtland.