San Diego Temple President and Matron

     In mid-August 1999 we had been released from our duties as a General Authority and wife for nine days when we received a call from President Gordon B. Hinckley. We went to meet with him and he extended the call for us to serve as the President and Matron of the San Diego temple. Judge Wallace was currently serving as the President and his wife was very ill. We asked President Hinckley when he would need us there. He replied: “Next week.” We quickly made all of our arrangements at home and traveled south. Our official start and end dates were September 1, 1999 to November 1, 2002.

     The San Diego temple had 100,000 members in the Temple District of which 20,000 were south of the border in Mexico. The temple was situated on what was known as the "Golden Triangle" - one of the two most expensive pieces of real estate in America. When President Kimball saw the projected cost of temple, he was shocked and said: "We have a lot of really beautiful temples in the church, but we need a few jewels."

     When we arrived, I had the option of choosing my own counselors. Brother Bryant Rosseter and Norman Rossell were already serving as the counselors and we asked them to continue on for which they were very willing and seemed pleased to do. We arranged the schedule so that a member of the Presidency was always in the temple. With the rotating shifts it meant every third day we needed to be there about 4:00 in the morning. The counselors and their wives lived 60-70 miles away and it took them one to two hours to drive to the temple. What early mornings and faithful people! Brother Rossell had serious kidney troubles but didn't miss one assigned shift in the three years we served there. We had it arranged that every three weeks we were available to fly to Salt Lake if needed for baptisms, ordinations, etc.

     Nilda and Lloyd Castleton coordinated all the Spanish speakers coming from Mexico by bus with the sessions of the temple. It was tender to hear of the Mexican sisters coming to count their pennies at the Distribution Center to buy an extra pair or two of garments.

     Barbara’s many assignments included training the sister ordinance workers. With the temple district being quite large, every ordinance worker had only one shift a week and we had a total of 3,200 of them. Barbara also helped the many brides get ready and upon encountering an immodest bride would often say: “Oh here, let me help you with that,” and tuck in fabric wherever needed.

     We would ask the Stake President's for names for 30 or 40 couples per stake to be recommended as ordinance workers. We would ask them to come to a special meeting and while there would tell them that they had been recommended and asked if they would accept the call. Those that were willing would fill out the necessary paperwork and be set apart. Barbara and the assistants to the Matron would take the paperwork that night and snap polaroid pictures of the workers. We were blessed to never be short of ordinance workers while there.

     One day a Russian man not of our faith asked if he could go through the temple and was told that he could if he obtained a recommend. He decided that he would be going in anyway and walked straight past the recommend desk and into the temple. He was by the bottom of the staircase when our security man, who was a Jiu Jitsu professional, grabbed him by the arm and had him out immediately. Many not of our faith loved to come onto the grounds and we even had several take their wedding photos there.

     We greatly enjoyed our time in San Diego. Many of our children and grandchildren came and visited while we were there. We lived just a short walk from the temple and could walk on the beach several times a week. Just adjacent to our gated community was a park where we could walk every day for exercise. We also enjoyed Old Town and visiting the Mormon Battalion.