Dedicatory Prayer

Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple, 4 November 2007

O God our Eternal Father, we meet today in this Thy holy house to rededicate it. It was first dedicated on August 9, 1983. Now it has recently undergone very extensive renovation. In many respects it has been rebuilt.

We have visited these friendly islands on many occasions and enjoyed their beauty and the hospitality and kindness of their people.

We thank Thee for the growth of Thy work here, for the many wonderful and devoted Latter-day Saints who comprise the membership of Thy Church, for their faithfulness, their leadership, and their love for Thee and for Thy Beloved Son.

We thank Thee for the many missionaries who have labored here through the years, and who have brought to pass the wonderful work that has been accomplished here.

Now, acting under the direction of Thy servant, President Gordon B. Hinckley, and in the authority of the holy priesthood, we rededicate and reconsecrate this, the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Wilt Thou accept it as the offering of Thy people. Smile upon it. May no unclean hands defile it. Bless the ground on which it stands, with the flowers and shrubbery thereon. Bless the walls and the roof, with the figure of Moroni crowning the tallest steeple. Sanctify it. May it be holy unto all who pass this way. May they recognize it as the house of the Lord.

We pray for all who enter the doors of this sacred structure, that they may receive their washings and anointings and become clean, and that they may receive the sacred endowment and the blessings of the eternal sealing covenants.

Dear Father, we invoke Thy blessings upon President Hinckley, who is unable to be with us, upon his counselors, upon the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Seventy, the Presiding Bishopric, and all who hold position and responsibility in Thy Church and kingdom.

Now, in conclusion, we express unto Thee our love for Thee and for Thy Beloved Son. We praise Thee and worship Thee and plead with Thee to extend Thy blessings to us always, at all times and in all circumstances, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.