“There is a guiding hand above all things. Often when things happen, it’s not by accident. One day, when we look back at the seeming coincidences of our lives, we will realize that perhaps they weren’t so coincidental after all.”(By Divine Design, Rasband 2017)
In 1968, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was looking to build a temple of the East side of the United States, and focused the efforts in the Washington DC area. When the decision was made to look for a lot for the temple the Church was adamant about two criteria being met, and both were large obstacles for purchasing land in the Washington DC area. First, The Church had to own the land that the temple would be built on, and second the Church needed permission to build on the land.
There was one piece of land The Church found that matched their specifications. On closer inspection, they found out that this land was the ONLY piece of land that matched the needs of the Church in the entire Washington DC area.
The Church representative said: ”there was literally no other plot anywhere that would do.” The whole projected hinged on whether they could acquire this specific plot of land. Without this plot the idea, of a temple coming to Washington DC, could have been scrapped, there was a great urgency to get this plot of land to work.
With all the fear and worries about whether the Church would be able to obtain the land, there was also a great encouragement of the Church Temple committee, because it also seemed like this specific piece of land was reserved by our Heavenly Father for this project. Miraculously, this piece of land had been vacant for over three centuries, and all the other land around it had been developed. This plot was still in its “wooded state.”
As you can imagine, with all the other land around this area being developed, this piece of land was a highly sought after piece of real estate. There were three people in charge of making the decisions on this piece of land and they had already started making plans to sell to a development group when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints had given the ”go ahead” on this temple project.
The Church assigned a bishop in the Washington area to try to acquire the land. Bishop Robert W. Barker was the person the church had put in charge and he was also a prominent lawyer in the area.
When it came time for Bishop Barker met with the three men in charge of the land, and they informed him that it was "too late", they were already working with a development group, and the land was basically sold.
Around this point of negotiations, Bishop Barker decided to tell the men who he was, who he was representing, and the reason The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was interested in the land. It was a huge chance he was taking, by telling these men about the Church, not knowing what kind of reaction he would receive.
Bishop Barker knew that these three men, in charge of the land, were Jewish. He knew their religion was very important to them, and hoped that by explaining how the land would be used, it would help the men understand why they were to earnest in obtaining the land.
Bishop Barker told the men the land would be used to build a “magnificent temple to the almighty God.” He told them that the ceremonies which are held in the temple are comparable to the ceremonies that they are familiar with in the Jewish religion. Finally, Bishop Barker told the men that the temple “would be beautiful as well as a real credit, both to the city of Washington, and to the entire nation.”
This is when the miracle happened!
After hearing Bishop Barker plea for the land, the three men completely changed their minds. They decided to sell the land to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The land that the Washington DC Temple is built on, really was preserved for the Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In a later interview the three men spoke on how close they were in going with a different buyer. One of the men stated that the land deal would not have happened if Bishop Barker would have come even three days later. They were farther in the process of selling the land to the developer and the title would have been turned over.
The coincidences and miracles really piled up in obtaining this piece of land right outside of Washington D.C. for the Washington D.C. Temple. We know from Elder Rasband 2017 talk By Divine Design that there are no coincidences, that the Lord has a plan and He will help the plan be carried out. Here is a snippet from his talk:
“Through the experience of my own life’s journey, I know that the Lord will move us on that seeming chessboard to do His work. What may appear to be a random chance is, in fact, overseen by a loving Father in Heaven, who can number the hairs of every head. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without our Father’s notice. The Lord is in the small details of our lives, and those incidents and opportunities are to prepare us to lift our families and others as we build the kingdom of God on earth. Remember, as the Lord said to Abraham, “I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.”
More Blog Posts:
Awesome Facts about the Washington D.C. Temple
References:
Book: ”Come to the House of the Lord” by David S. King July 2000
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2017/10/by-divine-design?lang=eng