Why Were the Saints Directed to Complete the Nauvoo Temple?
In 1842 the Saints were entering a time of persecution that could have given them cause to stop working on a temple that might never be used. In fact, final work was done on the temple after the decision was made to evacuate Nauvoo in 1846. During all of the persecution, the Saints received great blessings and endowments to sustain them in the years of suffering and death that lay ahead. In the pioneer period that followed, some of the temple ordinances were available in the Endowment House. But it would be thirty-one years before a temple of the Lord was dedicated again.
