A Useless Pile of Bricks?

The Provo Tabernacle was a beautiful icon here in the Utah Valley.  Built with the blood, sweat, and tears of the first pioneers to settle here in the 1870's, it had a rich history.  I personally loved visiting that building.  I did photography shoots there because of the beauty of the outside red brick walls and the expansive lawn out to the side.  My stake held Stake Conference there in February 2009 and I was involved in numerous choir concerts that took place in the tabernacle for the BYU Women's Chorus.  Here are some of the shots I have from my memories there:

Just a little over a week after I got home from my mission last December, I was visiting my brother and sister-in-law out in California when I got a text from a friend of mine telling me that the Provo Tabernacle was on fire!  I couldn't believe it.  I immediately googled it and, sure enough, found videos and photos of the historic blaze.  I'll admit, I think I remember crying.  

For months, the Provo Tabernacle sat in ruins on the street corner, reminding us all of its tragic demise.  We wondered what they would do with it; to us it seemed like there was no option but to tear it down.  The amount of distress it went through left it a useless pile of bricks.  

What we didn't know during all of this was that the Lord was planning something much greater and more beautiful for the remains of this tabernacle.  In this most recent General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, announced that plans were underway to use the structure of the Provo Tabernacle to become a temple, a house of the Lord.  What an incredible announcement!  It will now become something more glorious than the pioneers could have ever imagined.

This story was related today in my stake conference by the stake president.  He compared it to the power of the Atonement of Christ.  Sometimes, we have to go through incredible trials in our lives.  These often leave us feeling lower than the dirt, like a useless pile of bricks on a street corner.  But the Lord knows what we can become.  He always knew the Tabernacle would become a temple, he was just waiting for us to figure it out.  The same applies in our lives.  No matter how low we feel, he can make us greater than we ever could have imagined.  The rebuilding process may be slow and it may be hard, but it will be worth it.  His Atonement heals us and gives us ennabling power to be instruments in His hands. 

Thanks for that analogy, President Mullen.  It's something that I hope will stick with me forever.