New England was the birthplace of many of the stalwart men and women who would become the first converts and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith Jr. was born in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, andhis ancestry on his mothers side traces back to Connecticut, and eventually back to Scotland, among the first to arrive in Massachusetts. Joseph's ancestry on his father's side traces back to Topsfield, Massachusetts. Joseph's grandfather fought in the American Revolution. Other future prophets and presidents of the church born in New England include Brigham Young, born in Whittingham, Vermont, and Willford Woodruff, born in Farmington, Connecticut. Many of the first converts and apostles were also from the New England area. The majority of the first quorum of twelve apostles in this dispensation were born in the area.

It was the Mayor of Boston Josiah Quincy, who still revered in the Boston Area as one of the great political figures in Boston history, who penned these historic lines in regards to the Prophet Joseph Smith:

It is by no means improbable that some future textbook, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this: What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. And the reply, absurd as it doubtless seems to most men now living, may be an obvious commonplace to their descendants. History deals in surprises and paradoxes quite as startling as this. the man who established a religion in this age of free debate, who was and is to-day accepted by hundreds and thousands as a direct emissary from the Most High,-such a rare human being is not to be disposed of by pelting his memory with unsavory epithets. (Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past, Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1883. p. 376.)

Due to persecution, the Saints were driven west, towards a Promised Land. Because of that migration, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints was not found in the New England Area, and the Eastern States mission was closed.

The church continued to grow in the West, as more an more converts migrated west. One Utah native, Cyrus Dallin of Springville Utah, moved east as a boy to study art. He then the spent the majority of the rest of his life living in Arlington, just outside of Boston. As the Salt Lake City Temple neared its completion, he was called upon to sculpt the Angel Moroni that would sit atop the temple. It is interest to note that the same sculpture will be placed on the Boston temple, and that Boston temple is being constructed on the Border of Belmont and Arlington, the former home of Cyrus Dallin.

The Eastern States Mission was re-opened in 1893, and the first branch in Massachusetts was formed Lynn, Massachusetts in 1910. In the 1930's membership in all of the State of Massachusetts numbered 356, including only 10 families in the greater Boston Area, mostly represented by families that had come to work at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It wasn't until the 1950's that the first meeting houses were constructed. In 1962, the Boston Stake, the first in all of New England, was formed. Immediately following the formation of the stake, membership grew more rapidly. With Truman G. Madsen as President of the New England Mission, the area saw nearly 1,000 new converts per year. Several other Stakes were formed throughout New England, including two more stakes in Massachusetts, the Hingham and Springfield Stakes. (Deseret News 1997-98 Church Almanac, Deseret News, 1996)

In the early 1980's, the church grew in the greater Boston area, and the original meeting house built in the Longfellow Estate in Cambridge was being used by several wards, which included members from as far away as Woburn and Lexington. Space in the Cambridge Chapel was getting limited. So the church started looking for land to build a new chapel for the Cambridge first and second wards. Both of these wards had members from areas ranging from Belmont to Woburn, so the church looked for land in these areas. Land was hard to find and many any people were not to keen on the idea of selling land to a group of Mormons so they could build a chapel.

But, before construction ever began, there was a bit of foreshadowing that nobody recognized at the time. This story happens when the stake was first announcing plans to build a new church. At the same time, the church was accepting donations to go towards the construction of a new chapel. There was, at this time, a fourteen year old boy named David Oparowski, who was sick in the hospital with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and his death seemed pretty inevitable. He knew he was dying, and he wanted to do all he could before he left. At the time, as was mentioned before, several people were making donations for a new chapel to be built, possibly in Belmont. To help out with the funding of the building, David made leather change pouches that he sold to doctors and nurses in the hospital, as well as some church members. David asked her to take the money and give it to the church "for the construction of the temple". His mother quickly corrected him and said, " You mean the chapel". He replied, "There will be a temple there with the Angel Moroni on top, for all of Boston to see". Few took much thought to his statement, and the incident remained only in the memory of a few until the day that the Temple was announced. Upon hearing the announcement of the Boston Temple, Sister Oparowski immediately thought on this incident, and could not stop the tears from coming.

One day, Sister McKinnon, a member of one of the Cambridge wards, was walking along the access road in Belmont, and noticed a small sign that said that the land was for sale, and included a phone number. As it turns out, the phone number was that of an elderly resident of Belmont, Mrs. Rappoli, who's husband, since deceased, had owned the land. She had no use for the land and couldn't afford to get a company to sell it for her. So she put up the sign and waited. In all, the land covered 20 acres. When asked about the land, she was thrilled, and very eager for the "Mormons" buy it. In fact, she said that, prior to his death, her husband had voiced the hope that one day a church might be built on that land. She had one condition, though. She stated that the church should buy all 20 acres, or none at all. She was getting older and probably didn't want to deal with selling it off one piece at a time. So the church agreed to buy all the land, with little thought of ever building a temple on that land.

That year, the land was dedicated for the building of the chapel. President Gordon Williams, then the Stake President, said the dedicatory prayer. At the time all there was there were thick forest, rocks, and dirt. The prayer was said at the top of a tall hill, Belmont Hill, which is the second highest elevation in the Boston area, second only to Blue Hill in Dorchester. I was only six or seven years old at the time, and there is not a whole lot I can remember from that age, but I do remember that scene vividly. I remember walking up the hill, listening to the prayer (though I have no recollection of the words) and walking back down that hill with my family.

The legal process went as you would expect with any Mormon structure. The Church had every right to build the chapel in every respect, except one. They needed a special permit to build a parking lot to go along with the church. Neighbors did all they could to fight the building of the chapel, and in the end the Zoning Board of Appeals denied the Church's application for a special permit to build the parking lots. Having obtained the right to build the chapel, but not the parking lots, the church began construction, with faith that the parking lots would come soon after, and if not, the Lord would provide means. In time the decision was reversed and permission was granted to build the parking lots. Construction went smoothly for the most part. In the summer of 1984, the chapel was practically completed and the Cambridge First and Second Wards already had plans to move into their new chapel and become the Belmont and Arlington Wards. With little left but a little bit of work on the interior, things were looking up. Then late one summer night, the chapel caught fire. It remained and remains a mystery as to what caused the fire. Without any place to worship, the two wards were warmly received with open arms by several of the non-mormon congregations in Belmont. Their chapel doors were opened up to the Mormons, with it's use in their hands. Two weeks were spent holding Mormon services with the Bishop conducting in the chapel of the Plymouth Congregational Church, Several weeks were spent in the Chapel of the Holy Armenian Church, and a few weeks were spent in the auditorium of St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Friendships were formed as hearts were opened to new Mormon friends, and as the Relief Society baked all that they could and conducted "fire-sales". During this time, I turned eight years old. I was to be baptized, though we had no chapel. I was baptized in the cambridge chapel, as well as confirmed there. I was then sustained a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the auditorium of the catholic chapel.

Not long after, the chapel was again complete, and the two new wards moved in. Several years passed as the ward enjoyed its new house of worship. Some 10 years later it was announced that a temple would be built in Hartford, Connecticut. The search for land lasted several years and continued unsuccessfully. The temple work went forth world wide as many temples were constructed, but, the church still had no luck finding land for the announced temple in Hartford. Over the years the church saw two prophets sustained and two pass away. in 1995, Gordon B. Hinckley was sustained as the president of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was with his concern for the lack of land for the Hartford Temple that he came to Boston for a regional conference on April 23, 1995. While there, he decided he would look at alternative sights in all of New England. While in Boston, on Saturday he had a meeting with the stake presidencies and and other stake authorities. In passing he voiced his concern for the Hartford Temple and mentioned that he was looking at other sites. Tony Kimball, the Executive Secretary of the Boston Stake at the time mentioned that there were some 12 acres of unused land in Belmont that the church owned. President Hinckley was interested, and he asked the stake president take him to the site, and asked that Neal A. Maxwell, a member of the quorum of twelve who was also present, conduct the present meeting. President Hinckley, President Hutchins (the Stake President) and Tony Kimball all drove to the sight of the current chapel. The chapel sat on the lower portion of the total 20 acre sight, while still unused was the highest peak of the hill, which is in fact one of the highest peak in the entire Greater Boston Area, second only to Blue Hills in Boston. The three men drove around the sight and looked at it from several angles. They surveyed the actual land. President Hinckley later wrote in his journal, "As I stood there I had an electric feeling that this is the place, and the Lord inspired its acquisition and retention. Very few seemed to know anything about it. . . . I think I know why I have had such a very difficult time determining the situation concerning Hartford. I have prayed about it. I have come here three or four times. I have studied maps and tables of membership. With all of this I have not had a strong confirmation. I felt a confirmation as I stood in Belmont on this property this afternoon. This is the place for a House of the Lord in the New England area." (Go Forward With Faith, pg 530)

Several months passed and much was going on behind the scenes. Despite all that was happening, the general public knew nothing of the plans, including all members of the Belmont Ward. It was not until the priesthood session of the October 1995 Conference that President Gordon B. Hinckley announced that a temple would be constructed in Boston Massachusetts.

Gerald Brown, a member of the Belmont ward was called to be the Landscape Architect for the site. He tells an interesting story. He tells of when he was a boy, in Logan, Utah. He would often go to the site of the temple, though he could not go inside. He tells of a time that he put his hand to the outer walls of the temple, closed his eyes, and followed them all the way around the temple. He was called, presently, to survey the land and to make initial drawings of the footprint, to decide where would best site according to the given landscape. He says that as he visited the temple sight, he knew exactly where to go. He went to the highest part. And with his pencil in hand, he began to walk around the perimeter of what was to be the new temple, and sketched as he walked. He thought, as he walked, of the time he was a boy, following the perimeter of the Logan Temple, and he sensed the guidance of the Lord as he made the plans.

The temple was announced, and at first the Paper's decided not to carry the story, deciding that it wasn't newsworthy. It was soon printed, and received little attention. Everything seemed to be going perfect, quite out of the ordinary for the construction of the temple. Just weeks before the church was to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals, many neighbors joined together to fight the construction of the temple. They went door to door, rallying support in the opposition to the temple. The Church went the the meeting expecting a long meeting, perhaps even two meetings. What started as one meeting ended up being eight, and spread over a period of 6 months. During that time, the Church presented a revised plan with a shortened steeple, in attempts to appease the neighbors concerns. But, the neighbors were as furious as ever, calling the changes "cosmetic at best". The original plans called for six spires, as did the revised plan. The symbolism of the spires were explained to the people. During the time the Church was called "liars", "deceivers", and "connivers", trying to deceive the neighbors in every way. Some felt that church was not being the good neighbor that it ought to be in building the temple. Others felt that the display of the Angel Moroni on the top steeple was religious bigotry, and "shoving their beliefs in our faces". One minister stood up during a meeting and heatedly voiced his opinion that the angel Moroni symbolized a church that stood for "disdain for blacks and indians" and had no right to build any structure in Belmont. Anti-mormon literature was passed out at another meeting.

Through it all, though, the Zoning Board was on the side of the church, and voted to allow the temple to be built. Neighbors were outraged. The Local Newspaper also seemed against the construction of the temple and voiced its opinion, printing among other things, an editorial titled, Deny Mormon Proposal. the neighbors threatened legal action. Having heard this, just weeks after the vote was made, President Hinckley sent a letter to both the architects and the Temple Committee stating his desire that we try to appease the neighbors concerns once again. New plans were drawn up in february 1997. Several things were sacrificed. The sacred symbolism of the six spires was sacrifice, as the new design called for only one spire. the total size of the building was reduced by almost a 3rd. The new plans were submitted and meetings again commenced in February. Only two meetings were held this time. There were still those opposed to the building of the temple, though their numbers drastically decreased. After hearing exhaustive details once again, the Board voted unanimously to grant a special permit on the newly designed temple. The Board wrote it's written decision, which includes certain conditions that the Church must abide by. The conditions were extensive and ranged from saying that the Church may not build a visitor's center on the land, that church may not hold pageants or light shows on the grounds, and the Church may not rent the temple out for any receptions or functions.

Just two weeks after the Zoning Board of Appeals submitted it's written decision, six opponents of the Temple filed a lawsuit, suing the town and the Church saying that the decision made was the wrong one. After serious thought and consideration, church authorities decided to go ahead with the construction of the temple, despite the pending lawsuit.

Ground breaking took place on Friday, June 13, 1997. It was a beautiful affair. The invitations to the ground breaking were limited to 150 people, so as not to offend the neighbors with a large group on the hill. I was lucky enough to be one of those 150 people that got to be there. The current prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, was not able to attend the ground breaking at the date that was set, the next available time that he could come was not for another six months. The Prophet, as well as the rest of church leadership felt that I was more important that construction begin, than that the President be there. So, Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided over the ground breaking.

That friday was an extremely stormy day. There were rivers in the streets, the rain came down so hard. It was raining at 2:00 when Elder Scott arrived, and as the time passed, the rain became heavier, and the thunder and lightening was restless. But, minutes before the ceremony was to start, the clouds gave way and the sun shone through. How symbolic that our opening Hymn sang, "The morning breaks . . . the clouds of error disappear". The rain only held up for an hour that day, and just as the dedicatory prayer was concluding, the rain came down harder than ever. Referring to this, Elder Scott said that, "The heavens are weeping for joy".