RICHLAND, Wash. — Nostalgia often accompanies Larry Houck on his visits to the newly-dedicated Columbia River Washington Temple.
Brother Houck knew this area of Richland decades ago when the land now supporting the temple was thick with jack rabbits and blanketed with soil so limy it would run "just like water."
But time has transformed Richland and the other communities that neighbor the Columbia River in southeast Washington. Irrigation has allowed farming to blossom into an economic staple. And local nuclear energy projects have drawn some of the nation's brightest in the years following World War II. (It's been said Richland has more Ph.Ds per capita than any U.S. city.)
Faith, for many, has kept pace with industry.
The spiritual blessings gleaned from the dramatic growth of the Church in this region in the past half-century culminated with the Nov. 18 dedication of the Columbia River Washington Temple. The new edifice is the Church's 107th temple in operation and the third in Washington.
Thousands of Washington and Oregon Church members filed into the temple or area meetinghouses to listen to the dedicatory prayer offered by President Gordon B. Hinckley. He and other Church leaders — including Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Seventy — praised many within the new temple district for their devotion to temple work, then challenged all to use the new temple to its full capacity.
"This is a process that continues to grow," said Brother Houck, a high priests group leader in the Crestview Ward of the Richland Washington Stake.
The Columbia River Washington Temple now serves more than 34,000 members living in Washington stakes in Richland, Moses Lake, Yakima, Pasco, Kennewick, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Selah, Othello and Ephrata, along with a stake in Hermiston, Ore.
It's a place where beauty and peace co-exist. The unique structure is rich with craftsmanship — including art-glass windows from Germany, a stone entry way, cherry woodwork and an exterior fountain that seems to signal the happy work happening inside.
Calling the new temple a blessing may be an understatement, say many. Members in the area have proven to be a temple-going people. But even the most devout Tri-City members may not have imagined a temple in their community when the Church was so small here just over a half-century ago.
"The Church started out here with about the same number you can count on both hands," said Bud Clement, who moved to Washington from Utah in 1946. By 1950, the area's first stake was organized in Richland. The growth continued. Wards became stakes and many from those swelling units became faithful temple-goers — regularly attending the temples in Seattle and, more recently, Spokane.
Last year's announcement that a temple would be built in southeast Washington was a joyous surprise for many.
"When [President Hinckley] announced the Church was building a temple in the Tri-Cities area we just about fell off our seats," said Brother Clement's wife, Joy.
Now the temple has been dedicated and is operating. The work, say local members, is just beginning.
"The temple is a great thing — we've got a lot to do," said Jim Sloan of nearby Pendleton, Ore. "We know that the temple is here and we're going to have to take care of it."
The Columbia River Washington Temple is emblematic of the area's devoted past — and an instrument being used to spread the gospel's good news. Matt Roberts, a 17-year-old priest in the Ridgeview Ward of the Kennewick stake, said he and his fellow young people have been given the challenge to provide much of the work demanded from the new edifice.
"It's been a great experience to be able to talk to my friends about the temple," Matt said. "I'm going to be giving the missionaries some referrals for many of my friends. I brought them to the temple open house, so they've been asking a lot of questions about the temple."
Indeed, the temple has already proven to be the Tri-Cities most savvy missionary. Tens of thousands of area residents attended in the recent open house. Many have asked to learn more about the Church and its temples. Several have been baptized. They were touched by what they saw and felt during their tour inside the white granite building.
Elder Todd Lyman, a full-time missionary in the Washington Spokane Mission, said he and other missionaries are enlisting the combined power of the temple and the testimonies of the area members to bring people to Christ. Many members brought their friends to the temple and could play pivotal roles in teaching them the gospel.
"We feel the real harvest is about to begin," said Elder Lyman, adding the mission has prepared a special temple discussion to teach investigators.
Elder Lyman's companion, Elder Josh Johnson, said missionaries will be using the temple as a third "companion" in the teaching efforts.
Rich Cahoon helped with security during the Nov. 18 dedicatory sessions. His was a serious task, yet Brother Cahoon could not help but smile. The dedication of the Columbia River Washington Temple meant a temple was now just a 25-minute drive from his Hermiston home — significantly less than the road trip to his former "home" temple in Portland. He plans on using his new-found time wisely.
"We're going to just double our time in the temple," Brother Cahoon said.
