A temple in Rome...

Did I just hear that right? An LDS temple, in Rome, Italy? Oh my goodness, my screams frightened the kids. My tears were those of joy (although Nathan was wondering). I can't even believe it. What's weird is that I was listening for it. Even though I didn't think it was possible still for a while. I thought a lot of things had to happen first, but I was still listening. Five temples announced, as each city was announced I waited and waited, until they got to number five. Rome, Italy. I can't even believe it.

I was saving this post for the end of my Italy pictures, but now I guess I will have to just put it at the top of the pile. The last night that I was in Italy, Karen and I went for a Sunday drive. We went to the temple property and walked around. It is so beautiful. They have been praying and praying for a temple to be built here for years.

It's in a beautiful area of Rome, up on a hill. There is an olive grove that is on the property. There are also a lot of old pine trees; they call them 'umbrella pines'. Karen told me a story about when the church bought the property. In Rome, you have to have people come and dig up a grid of trenches on the new property. They have to check to make sure there aren't any ancient artifacts buried there. The entire stake had prayed that they wouldn't find anything, as they so badly wanted this property for their temple.

We are so happy for the wonderful members in Italy. President gave us a statistic while we were there. I can't remember the number exactly, but it was around 80% of the temple work in the Swiss temple was done by the Italians. We met so many amazing people that saved all of their money and vacation days to travel to Switzerland. This will be such a blessing for those faithful members. I only wish I were in Rome today to see the celebrations.

P.S. After reading this Deseret News article, in which President Acerson was interviewed, I realized that I should not say that this is the official site of the new temple. It is property that the church purchased a few years ago and everyone assumes that it is the temple site; they call it their temple property. But, I'm not an official representative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. So, please take whatever I say with a grain of salt and realize that I often start rumors (but they are usually true!).