I was born in Monterrey, N.L. Mexico and lived in Mexico for the first six years of my life. My parents moved us to the Mesa, Arizona when I was about to begin the first grade. We settled in a very small home on seven acres in a small farming community, known as Lehi, located about three or four miles north of Mesa in the river bottoms of the Salt River valley. In my early childhood of living in the U.S. several things happened that influenced my feelings and attitude toward the temple, the House of the Lord. I can identify four specific happenings:
Mesa Arizona Temple
Baptism in the temple
First, on the 5th of November 1949, a Saturday, I was baptized in the Mesa Arizona temple baptismal font with a good many other eight-year-olds. That was then the practice in the Mesa-Phoenix area. There were only two stakes in those days where today there are about sixty. I suspect that practiced was ceased sometime in the 1950s.
Proxy baptism card
Second, primary children, after their own baptism, could serve as proxies for temple baptisms. I have a whole collection of the small cards the temple would give us each time we served as proxies for baptisms for the dead. Each card gives the date and the number of proxy baptisms performed. Here is one from January 19, 1952, showing I was proxy for twelve baptisms. I was ten years of age. Many years ago the Church began requiring youth to be at least twelve years of age to be proxies in baptisms for the dead.
Witnessing others sacrifice to attend the temple
Third, I have very clear memories of going to Mesa with my parents to greet the buses full of Mexican saints who had traveled for days on cramped un-air-conditioned buses to come to the temple in Mesa to receive their temple blessings. In their youth, both my parents had served missions in Mexico so they had many friends and acquaintances that would come on those buses. Today, as I ponder the kinds of sacrifices that those people made to come to the temple, I am amazed and humbled by their faith, dedication, and their fervent devotion to come to the temple. Many could tell of selling furniture or even their homes in order to have the funds for the entire family to come to the temple.
Temple callings
The fourth thing I remember was when I was about nine years of age, our family had an experience that greatly impacted my understanding and feelings regarding the importance of the temple. My parents were called as temple workers to serve in the occasional Spanish sessions of the Mesa Temple. There were no "temple films" in those days and all the workers in the sessions had to speak the language of the session. My parents were both born and raised in Mexico and were fluent in both English and Spanish. That calling to serve in the temple created a serious problem for my parents.
There were four young children in the family, I being the oldest, and there was no money in the family budget to pay a babysitter. My parents had always believed that you never turn down a calling from the Lord, so they felt considerable anguish over this calling that would take them away from their four small children in the evenings. In prayer they pleaded with the Lord for guidance in this matter. About this time a neighbor came to them with a dog, a large male tri-colored collie, and offered them the dog. The neighbor explained that the dog was a very intelligent dog which had received extensive obedience training and had competed in dog show obedience trials.
The dog was a registered pedigreed tri-color collie. His official name was "Lucky Lad". We just called him Lucky. He was getting a bit old, but he loved children, and the neighbor thought our family would be a perfect environment for the dog to live out his "golden years." My parents saw this as an answer to their prayers regarding the temple calling and the budget shortfall for baby sitters.
So from that time forth, when my parents went to the temple in the evening, the four children of the Pratt family were left in care of a very intelligent tri-colored collie and a 9-year-old boy of questionable intelligence. I can tell you that dog was a very effective baby sitter. I remember an occasion when I got in an argument or fight with my next younger sister, in a flash old Lucky was between us and pushing me away. Lucky knew he was in charge. If ever anyone came to the door when Lucky was in charge, he was the one who decided whether they could be allowed into the home.
All of the Pratt children survived that experience. But most significantly we began to understand the extreme importance of the temple in our parents' lives and consequently in our own. Each of the Pratt children eventually married in the Mesa Arizona Temple.
As I reached twelve years of age, we moved to a town quite distant from the temple and frequent temple visits were not possible for the parents or the children. In preparation for my mission, at nineteen years of age, I received my endowments in the Mesa Temple. I didn't really understand much about the ordinances and blessings I received that day. It wasn't until after my mission that I began to appreciate the profound spiritual strength that one can derive from the temple.
My life as a missionary was orderly, organized, and focused. But as a recently returned missionary, I found my life much less orderly, less organized and less focused: university studies, work, personal finances, Church callings-girls!-I didn't have to worry about that in the mission field. But I found that if I could just get to the temple things were better. I could go with my mind and spirit in turmoil and after two hours in the temple the turmoil had been replaced with a calm spirit of peace. I was renewed. I was focused. My goals were clear and I could proceed with confidence that I was doing the right things.
While studying at the University of Arizona in Tucson, I met this extremely attractive young lady who happened to be a very faithful Presbyterian.
I taught her the gospel, baptized her, and we were married on June 26, 1969, and sealed in the Mesa Temple. (That is the drastically shortened version of a wonderful and much longer story, but you'll have to get the juicy details some other time. Suffice it to say it took three years from first day to marriage.) At the time of our marriage, I had just finished my first year of law school at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
Our very humble home was located about twenty minutes from the temple. Together, my wonderful bride and I decided we would go to the temple at least once a week while we lived near a temple. We had no idea where we would live after law school or whether we would be near a temple. Remember, there were no temples east of the Rocky Mountains in those days. We decided to go on Thursday evenings.
At first, Thursday evenings seemed the most complicated day of the week. Everything would go wrong to keep us from going to the temple. We learned, however, that if we persisted in our determination to go every Thursday, things began to go more smoothly. We both noticed that fact and commented on it. It was apparent the adversary didn't want us to go to the temple and he threw up all kinds of impediments, but if we were diligent in our goal he would eventually give up on us.
Next we learned the same thing I had earlier learned as a returned missionary, the temple is a place of peace. In our determination to be faithful to our goals we would occasionally go to the temple when we neither one felt very much like going. Maybe we had some disagreement or something that had left some tension in the air. That sort of thing probably happens to all young newlyweds trying to blend two lives into one. On those occasions we would drive the twenty minutes to the temple without a word between us. After the temple session, we could neither one remember what the tension was about or even that there had been any tension.
In the language of Isaiah, we had just spent two hours on "the mountain of the Lord, in the house of the God of Jacob."[1] The temple is, as it says over the door, the House of the Lord. His Spirit is there. It is a place of peace, of revelation, of drawing near to God. It is a place where one can feel the guidance of the Spirit and find answers to prayers. We can testify of the profound truth of President Monson's statement in April Conference 2011:
The world can be a challenging and difficult place in which to live. We are often surrounded by that which would drag us down. As you and I go to the holy houses of God, as we remember the covenants we make within, we will be more able to bear every trial and to overcome each temptation. In this sacred sanctuary we will find peace; we will be renewed and fortified.
Those two years of going to the temple every week were precious to us because during much of our lives we have lived many thousands of miles from the nearest temple. For 34 years we have lived outside the United States and much of it far from the nearest temple. Whenever we have lived near a temple we have made it a practice to go every week. In the thirteen months since my release from the First Quorum of Seventy, we have been temple ordinance workers, and I have served as a sealer in the Las Vegas Temple. It has been a joy.
Some of the most exciting and satisfying work in my career as South American Legal Counsel for the Church has been with building of temples. The first such case was the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple. When the temple was announced our stake in Montevideo, Uruguay, received an assessment to be paid in cash for the building of the temple.
The assessment was far beyond the financial capabilities of the members. But we all worked together to raise the money. Members contributed their family heirlooms, jewelry, wedding bands, and antiques to do their part. In addition, I had the privilege of being involved in the acquisition of property for the temple, in drafting the construction contract, in attending the groundbreaking and assuring the compliance of the contractor with the terms of the contract.
Sao Paulo Temple
The Sao Paulo temple was the very first structure in South America to bear the words "Holiness to the Lord" and "House of the Lord" over the entrance; in Portuguese, of course. As a matter of fact it was the very first temple built "South of the Border." That temple was dedicated 34 years ago today, on October 30, 1978, by President Spencer W. Kimball. Karen and I had the blessing of attending all ten sessions of the temple dedication. I was invited to translate for the final session, which was in Spanish.
To the saints of South America, this was a previously unimaginable miracle. To that dedication members came from Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Many traveled for thousands of miles. The gospel had been preached in Argentina and Brazil for a half century, and generations had passed away without the blessings of the temple. Now it was within reach for them. Can you catch a glimpse of the excitement of those members? They had heard of the temple, they had seen pictures of temples, but temples were impossibly far away. When I was a missionary in Argentina fifty years ago, there may have been a dozen couples in the entire country sealed in the temple. The nearest temple was Mesa, Arizona-too far, too expensive, out of reach.
For five full years, Sao Paulo Brazil was the only temple on the entire continent. In that five-year interim all the saints of South America who could afford it traveled to Sao Paulo for the temple. It was still a great distance, but the temple was in reach. It was more affordable for many. But for many more it was still an impossible dream, still too far, too expensive. Then came another miracle: The dedication of a temple in Santiago, Chile.
Santiago Chile Temple
The Santiago Chile Temple was the very first Spanish-speaking temple of the Church. President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was then a counselor to President Spencer W. Kimball, dedicated that temple on 15 September 1983. (I should add here that the Church's second Spanish-speaking temple, the Mexico City Temple, was dedicated only 3 months later on 2 December 1983, also by President Gordon B. Hinckley.) Again, Karen and I had the blessing of attending most of the ten dedicatory sessions in Santiago. The saints of Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia were overjoyed. The temple was now much, much closer. But still, for many of them it was still incredibly distant and unattainably expensive. For the saints of Lima, Peru, it was still 2,500 kilometers. That's much closer for them than the Sao Paulo Temple, which was 3,500 kilometers distant.
Let me tell you about the saints of the Punta Arenas Chile Stake. Punta Arenas is located on the Straits of Magellan near the very southern tip of South America. It is 2,200 km from the Santiago Chile Temple. That's like living in Los Angeles and traveling to the temple in Kansas City, Missouri. In spite of the distance, every summer the stake sends at least one, and sometimes two, buses to the temple. It takes them three days to get to Santiago. They cross the Argentina/Chile border twice. They spend three days in the temple and make the three day trip back. They are grateful the temple is not further away.
The Lima Peru Temple
Another major shift in the accessibility of temple blessings occurred with the dedication of the Lima Peru Temple on 10 January 1986, by President Gordon B. Hinckley. What a marvelous miracle. Karen and I and our four oldest children were able to attendant the temple dedication. Our teenagers could now do temple baptisms! At the time of the dedication there were elven stakes in Lima and many more in the rest of the country. Temple blessings were now within the reach of so many more faithful members of the Church. It was still a huge distance for the saints of Bolivia and Ecuador, but even so the trip was less formidable than before.
Buenos Aires Argentina Temple
One week later, as part of that major shift in accessibility of temple blessings, the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple was dedicated 17 January 1986, by President Thomas S. Monson. The righteous saints of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay now had a temple much more within their economic reach. That temple has now been remodeled, expanded and rededicated.
Bogota Colombia Temple
On 24 April 1999, the Bogota Colombia Temple was dedicated by President Hinckley. Prior to its dedication the Colombian and Venezuelan saints were equidistant from the Lima Peru Temple and the Orlando Florida Temple; that is if they could afford the airfare. Until then many traveled by bus to the Lima Peru temple, usually a four-day trip for the Colombian saints and even further for the Venezuelans.
You will note a thirteen-year gap in South American temple dedications. For me, much of that time was spent in blood, sweat and tears over the legal problems that always tend to appear in purchasing temple properties.
Guayaquil Ecuador Temple
Let me tell you a bit about the Guayaquil Temple. At the end of October 1991, President Hinckley came to a regional conference in Quito, Ecuador. Prior to the trip he expressed a desire to locate a property for the Guayaquil temple. He expressed sincere regret that in spite of being announced almost ten years earlier in April General Conference 1982, the temple was not yet built. The Area Real Estate office in Quito was charged with finding 5 or 6 properties for potential temple sites. I was charged with doing a preliminary title investigation to make certain the properties were of reasonably clear title. Together we narrowed it down to 6 well-located properties with reasonably clear titles that would be suitable temple sites.
On the day President Hinckley went to Guayaquil to view the properties, I was not invited. Philippe Kradolfer, our Director of Temporal Affairs, later related the following story: President Hinckley didn't like any of the properties; he said they were "too flat." At the last piece of property President Hinckley asked what lay beyond a line of trees that bordered the property. Brother Kradolfer told him it was "swampland." (Now, if you know anything about Guayaquil, half the city is built on reclaimed swampland, and actually beyond the trees was a tidal waterway known in Guayaquil as an estero.) At this point President Hinckley started giving directions to the driver of the vehicle, telling him where to turn and when. They somehow got to the other side of the estero and came to a rough unpaved road leading up a steep slope. The road leads to the top of a hill which overlooks a huge section of the city of Guayaquil. President Hinckley walked around the hill in silence and then walking back to the car, he said, "This feels like a temple site. See if it can be purchased!"
President Hinckley left directly from Guayaquil to return to the U.S. When Brother Kradolfer and the others returned to Quito, they were all very emotional in telling the story of having observed a prophet of God locate a temple site under inspiration from heaven. I had no doubt that the prophet had been guided by the Lord in finding that property. But when they described the property, I knew exactly which property it was. I groaned because I had already looked at the title and had rejected the property because its legal situation was a terrible mess, it would take years to clear it up.
But what do you do when a prophet says, "this feels like a temple property?" Obviously you charge full speed ahead and do your best and pray for heaven's help. The property was identified on about November 1, 1991. The temple was dedicated in 1999, almost 8 years later. Most of that delay was due to the legal entanglements involved in purchasing the property, including subdivision approval, obtaining religious use, and building permit.
The process was complicated by the fact that the Guayaquil city government for some twenty years previous had been in control of the Bucaram family, Ecuadorians of Lebanese descent. Guayaquil was a mess. The government was extremely corrupt. The city was filthy and public services were a disaster. In 1994, the people rebelled and a new political movement elected as mayor a former president of the country, Leon Febres Cordero. He was known as an honest man who didn't tolerate any nonsense. He completely shut down the city hall for a month and hired a city manager, an experienced youthful Harvard-educated businessman to put order in the chaos that had been city government. During that month he had people working night and day to clean it up and put in all new office systems.
Little by little the new city government put order in the city and its services. Eventually, we were able to obtain all the approvals necessary to build the temple. The temple was dedicated on 1 August 1999. I have been back to Guayaquil many times since the dedication of the temple and Guayaquil is truly a different city. The traffic is more orderly, the city is cleaner, the parks are well maintained, and people are even more polite. The transformation from the city I knew in the 80s to what it is today is actually unbelievable. I have commented on that transformation to Guayaquil members of the Church. The universal response has been: it's the temple. The presence of the temple has changed the city. I cannot ever argue with that. Like those faithful saints of Guayaquil, I truly believe that the Lord was involved in improving their beautiful city. In the following years many more temples were built in South America. Let me quickly review them with you.
Cochabamba Bolivia Temple
The city of Cochabamba is located in a beautiful valley of the Andes at about 8,000 feet above sea level. I had the privilege of helping with locating the property, purchasing it, and participating in the groundbreaking. This temple was dedicated on April 30, 2000.
Caracas Venezuela Temple
This temple was dedicated on 20 August 2000. Until then, many Venezuelan saints had traveled to the Orlando Florida Temple for their temple blessings. With that dedication they were overjoyed to have a temple "in their own backyard" so to speak.
Recife Brazil Temple
Brazil was the first country of South America to have multiple temples. The Recife Brazil Temple was the first of those, being dedicated on 15 December 2000. Recife is a major city in Brazil's huge northeast section.
Porto Alegre Brazil Temple
Brazil's third temple was the Porto Alegre Temple located in Brazil's southern-most state. It was dedicated two days after the Recife Temple, on 17 December 2000.
Montevideo Uruguay Temple
The Montevideo Uruguay Temple was dedicated on 18 March 2001. It is built on the same block where Karen and I lived as we began our South American adventure.
Campinas Brazil Temple
The Campinas Brazil Temple was Brazil's fourth temple. It was dedicated on 17 May 2002. Our daughter, Lisa, served in the Brazil Campinas mission, so this temple has special meaning for her.
Asuncion Paraguay Temple
Two days later the Asuncion Paraguay Temple was dedicated on 19 May 2002. With the dedication of the Asuncion Temple finally every country of South American had its own temple.
Curitiba Brazil Temple
Brazil's fifth temple, the Curitiba Brazil Temple was dedicated on 1 June 2008. Four those five temples are located in southern Brazil where the largest concentration of members lives.
Manaus Brazil Temple
The Manaus Brazil Temple was dedicated a little over 4 months ago on 10 June 2012, and is truly a miracle for the saints of Manaus. The city of Manaus is in the heart of the Amazon basin, literally a thousand miles from nowhere. While I was Area President of the South America North Area the saints of Manaus would travel three days by bus to come to the temple in Caracas, Venezuela, Now they have their own temple.
Now I have reviewed with you the 15 existing dedicated temples of South America. But the story doesn't end there.
Cordoba Argentina Temple
Exactly two years ago today the groundbreaking of the Cordoba Argentina Temple was held on 30 October 2010. This is Argentina's second temple. With the imaging technology the architects have today, they can show us a pretty accurate picture of what the finished temple will look like.
Trujillo Peru Temple
Last year, on 14 September 2011, the groundbreaking of the Trujillo Peru Temple was held, Peru's second temple.
Temples announced for South American
Four more temples have been announced for South America, but have not yet had their groundbreaking ceremony. Each of them was announced in an October General Conference: Concepcion Chile and Fortaleza Brazil were announced in 2009. Concepcion is Chile's second temple, and Fortaleza is Brazil's seventh. Barranquilla Colombia Temple was announced in 2011, Colombia's second temple. Arequipa Peru Temple was announced less than a month ago in General Conference. Arequipa will be Peru's third temple.I remember too clearly my days as a missionary in Argentina, when there were no temples and no stakes in all of South America.
Now, fifty years later, to have twenty-one temples dedicated or announced is a miracle. There is no other word for it: a miracle. And because I have been involved in the process of building so many of them, I can testify of many miracles I have seen in the building of each one of the these gorgeous temples.
These miracles have also been brought about by the tremendous sacrifices of the saints who have often traveled for thousands of miles to enjoy the blessings of the temple. The Lord has honored those sacrifices and now made the temple blessings available to so many with so much less sacrifice. I am reminded of President Monson's words in 2011 April Conference:
Some degree of sacrifice has ever been associated with temple building and with temple attendance. Countless are those who have labored and struggled in order to obtain for themselves and for their families the blessings which are found in the temples of God.
Why are so many willing to give so much in order to receive the blessings of the temple? Those who understand the eternal blessings, which come from the temple, know that no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings. There are never too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to overcome, or too much discomfort to endure. They understand that the saving ordinances received in the temple that permit us to someday return to our Heavenly Father in an eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on high are worth every sacrifice and every effort.
Today most of us do not have to suffer great hardships in order to attend the temple. Eighty-five percent of the membership of the Church now live within 200 miles (320 km) of a temple, and for a great many of us, that distance is much shorter.[2]
Then he added these words:
Until you have entered the house of the Lord and have received all the blessings which await you there, you have not obtained everything the Church has to offer. The all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are those blessings which we receive in the temples of God.
Temple attendance brings great blessings, some blessings for eternity, some for this mortal life. The two types are interconnected. As you go to the temple frequently, your understanding of the eternal blessings becomes more profound, and your appreciation of the mortal life blessings increases.
Rexburg Idaho Temple
I urge you to make the temple a regular part of your life. Too often young people have the vision of getting married in the temple, and lack the vision of making the temple part of their life. Do not make that mistake. Get your own "crowning blessings" and then make it part of your life to go frequently to make those "crowning blessings" available to others beyond the veil, and in that process enjoy the "mortal life" blessings of peace, harmony, focus, spiritual strength, and revelation.
Notes
[1] Isaiah 2:3
[2] Thomas S. Monson, General Conference, April 2011