All That Was Promised

Title: All That Was Promised: The St. George Temple and the Unfolding of the Restoration

Author: Blaine M. Yorgason, Richard A Schmutz & Douglas D. Alder

Pages: 374

Genre: Mormon History

Grade: B+

Synopsis: As Brigham Young was growing older and the Salt Lake Temple was still so far from completion, he set out to fulfill the charge given to him by Joseph Smith, which was to bring the temple ceremonies to the people again.  Brigham Young had always had a passion for Utah's Dixie and the stalwart Saints that he called to make that land their home.  He was inspired to have the third temple of the latter-days built in the recently settled town of St. George.  Great sacrifices were required from the residents of St. George and the surrounding areas, but they diligently worked to build the last pioneer temple of these latter days.

My Review: I trace many of my family roots to the communities around St. George, so I've always had a bit of an affinity for the area.  This book was very well done and well researched and told the story of building the temple in an area with a small population and no railroad access for hundreds of miles (making this temple the last pioneer temple according to many LDS Historians).  My biggest complaint was that while the bulk of the book is written in a chronological fashion, every once in a while there were parts that seemed to skip around.

Recommended By: This book was mentioned during a fast and testimony meeting in La Verkin a few years ago.  It made it on my list, and I'm glad that it did.

From the Book: "(p. 323, describing the raids attempting to locate prominent LDS polygamists by the federal government) Stories of hiding out and near captures abound, including a humorous account of President Wilford Woodruff escaping capture because he was weeding a garden at the Squire home near downtown St. George wearing an oversized "Old Mother Hubbard" dress and bonnet sewn for him by young Sister Emma Squire. She wrote: "Soon after our marriage the president of the Church, Wilford Woodruff, came to live with us. It was the time of the raid, when the Government took the property away from the Mormon people...and they were hunting all the men that had plural wives and putting them in jail. ... We had some neighbors that knew we had someone staying with us, and they were very anxious to [discover] who it was. ... [So] I made [President Woodruff] a Mother Hubbard dress and sun bonnet and...dress[ed] him up ... and disguise[d] him so he could come [and go]. ... We called him Grandma Allen so the people wouldn't know."