April 20, 2001--

LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley will travel to Nebraska this weekend to dedicate the Winter Quarter's Temple--- the name referring to a location along the Mormon Pioneer Trail.

Religion Specialist Carole Mikita has a preview.

It's another of the historic temples, like the ones in Boston, Palmyra and Nauvoo, which mark important periods in time during the founding and growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The name Winter Quarters is synonymous with the pioneer movement. It was the place to which they traveled, after being driven from their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois.

And now, more than 150 years later, the Church of Jesus Christ has built a temple. President Hinckley says it stands as a reminder of their sacrifice.

Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley: "THE WINTER QUARTERS TEMPLE PROPERTY ADJOINS THE BURIAL GROUND OF MANY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THIS CAUSE, WHICH THEY REGARDED AS MORE PRECIOUS THAN LIVE ITSELF. (edit) THE SUFFERING THEY ENDURED, THE SACRIFICES THEY MADE, BECAME THE COST OF WHAT THEY BELIEVED."

The cemetery contains the graves of hundreds - men, women and children-- who died during the harsh conditions of that winter, trying to make their way west, trying to escape persecution.

In 1997, President Hinckley bid modern-day trek participants farewell from the Winter Quarters site during a sunrise service.

President Hinckley has often advised church members to remember the past because, he says, it will give them strength to face the future, in a church dramatically larger than Brigham Young's pioneers could have imagined.

Pres. Hinckley: "WHEN YOU CONTRAST WHAT THEY HAD 150 YEARS AGO, AND THE PROBLEMS WITH WHICH THEY WERE CONFRONTED, WITH WHAT WE HAVE TODAY, YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT THIS IS THE GREATEST SEASON IN THE HISTORY OF THIS CHURCH."

Carole and photographer Alan Neves will be traveling to Nebraska this weekend. Watch for their live reports on Eyewitness News both Saturday and Sunday.

Dedication Services

The Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple will be dedicated in four sessions Sunday, April 22, 2001, and open for ordinance work on Monday, April 23.

In a letter to Church leaders in the United States and Canada, the First Presidency announced that one session of the dedicatory services of the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple will be broadcast to stake centers in the United States and Canada. The session will be broadcast Sunday, April 22, 2001, at 5 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.

Special dedication recommends from bishops or branch presidents will be required and available to all baptized, temple worthy members desiring to attend. (Source: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)