Snowflake Temple

Snowflake Temple

By Jenny Komenda

“Like the eagle that selects the highest tree in which to build her nest, so have the Saints come to the highest mountains in which to make their homes.”

Erastus Snow, Discourse to Snowflake Ward, Sept. 1884

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sacred places rarely come from ease. They rise instead from sacrifice, persistence and a faith strong enough to span generations. So it is with the communities in the Silver Creek basin. In the late 1870s, families were called from their homes in southern Utah to an untamed corner of Arizona to build something permanent and holy. Many of them, like William J. Flake and his family, left behind comfort, community and the fruits of years of labor. Their journey was marked by sickness, loss, bitter cold and the constant strain of pioneering. Yet they pressed on, convinced that the Lord had a work for them in this valley. They came with almost nothing, but they came with faith. And faith proved enough.

When William Flake purchased the Silver Creek Ranch, on which the town of Snowflake was to be established, its owner James Stinson warned him that the land held just enough water for a single family. “If you let anyone else in, you will all starve,” he insisted. William simply replied, “When the Mormons come, the water will increase.” And almost immediately, the rains came—so much that Stinson later joked he wished the Saints had stayed away until after he had harvested his crops. That small miracle became a quiet witness that heaven was mindful of this new settlement.

In 1880, when the tiny communities of Snowflake and Taylor were each less than two years old, Wilford Woodruff stood among these same pioneers and prophesied that a temple would someday be built among them. Over the years others, including John Taylor and Joseph F. Smith, would echo the same prophetic promise. For more than a century, the families in the Silver Creek valley held to those words, passing them from parent to child, trusting that the Lord remembers His covenants even when their fulfillment lies far beyond one lifetime.

In 2002, when the Snowflake Arizona Temple was dedicated, President Gordon B. Hinckley gave thanks for those “who laid the foundations of this and other nearby communities. They struggled so desperately for so long against adversities of many kinds. Now their posterity enjoy the sweet fruits of their efforts, and crowning all is this magnificent and beautiful temple. May this house be ever sacred to those who enter it and to all who look upon it. May it truly be the House of the Lord, a place of holiness.” That dedicatory prayer was more than the blessing of a newly opened temple, it was the flowering of a prophecy and the reward of generations who trusted God.

As we contemplate the temple today, its bright walls rising above the high desert, we honor a legacy built on faith. We are invited to remember that God often plants promises long before we see their harvest. May we build our own lives the same way: trusting that the God who sends the rain always keeps His promises.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~