M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

“Oh the Rains of Holland”, Part 4
Photo Essay: Temple Dedication in The Hague
Text: Maurine Jensen Proctor
Photos: Scot Facer Proctor

The Prophet Arrives

At last the prophet arrives. The first one up the walkway is Sister Marjorie Hinckley, accompanied by their youngest daughter, Jane Dudley, who has been caring for her on this trip.

Then comes President Hinckley, warm and lively as if he had not already made two European stops the day before.

President Hinckley offers his hand to many. Parents hope their children will see him and remember this day.

President Hinckley passes by fairly quickly, heading into the temple for the 9:00 session.

Following behind him are those who will be the first dedicatory session of the temple. The long-awaited moment has arrived.

Coverstone Ceremony

Part way through the first dedicatory session, President Hinckley and members of the Area Presidency came out under a white canopy to put mortar on the coverstone, and with him came the rains. “Oh the rains of Holland,” he laughed, and no one would be driven away.

The choir who had been practicing all morning broke into “Now Let Us Rejoice” while the rains came.

Somebody ran to get umbrellas left over from the open house.

The choir was drenched but smiling. The news media stuck it out, and so did the people who were merely walking by.

Children lined up to put mortar on the stone and it rained. They waved the trowel and it rained. The crowd didn’t thin, and I asked the handsome young man next to me to tell me about himself, wondering why he stayed in the rain.

His name was Faizel Zahman, and he is one of the assistants to a justice of the Dutch Supreme Court, training to one day become a judge himself. He said, “We knew that someday there would be a temple here because President Kimball prophesied it, but I never thought it would be in my home town.

“I grew up as Muslim, but my parents always sent me to Catholic schools so I would understand people of other faiths in my country. As one of my projects in school, I had to write a paper on a non-mainstream religion and so I opened a newspaper and chose the religion with the longest name, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
For my project I got help from the missionaries and read the Book of Mormon and A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. Then I wrote my paper and that was it.

“Then about nine months later,” he said, the missionaries invited me to a baptism. I felt the Spirit so strongly at the baptism that two days later I was baptized. I had been studying to become a Muslim cleric, but once you get that feeling in your heart…
It’s been the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“When all that was promised, the Saints will be given,” the choir sings and the rain falls, and there is a happiness in the air that surpasses understanding.

Watch for another photo essay on The Hague Temple Dedication on Wednesday.

Click here to go back to Part 1 of “Oh The Rains of Holland”

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