“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. There two main obstacles that had to be overcome to get the process of building the temple moving forward. The Church had to own the land that they had their eye on, and they had to get permission to build on the land.
This certain piece of land, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had their eye on, was super important because this was the ONLY piece of land, in the entire Washington area, that matched the needs of the church for the temple. They said ”there was literally no other plot anywhere that would do.” So, the whole projected hinged on weather they could acquire this plot of land. The whole idea could have been scrapped if they could not get this piece of land to work.
It was also said that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was encouraged about this certain piece of land because it seemed as though it was reserved by our Heavenly Father for this specific project. This piece of land had been vacant for over three centuries, and all the other land around it had been developed. This particular piece of land 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.
Bishop Barker met with the three men in charged of the land and they told him that it was too late. The three men were already working with a development group, and the land was basically sold. 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.
Bishop Barker knew that the three men in charge of the land were Jewish and he told them that the land would be used to build a “magnificent temple to the almighty God.” Bishop Barker told the men that the ceremonies that are held in the temple were comparable to the ceremonies that they are familiar with in the Jewish religion. Bishop Barker, also, 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 and decided to sell the land to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Everything had worked out so perfectly when there was so much that could have gone wrong. It was just meant to be.
In a later interview with the three men one said that the land deal would not have happened if Bishop Barker would have come three days later. They explained that it would have been too late, the title would have been turned over to the land developers.
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