Small Towns

So this past weekend I went up to my family's [unfinished] cabin, located near the small farm town of Paris, Idaho. Going up there reminded me of the reasons why I love small LDS farmtowns, reasons that I were going to write about; tidy, perfect yards and well kept houses; church houses filled to capacity every Sunday; modest and conservatively dressed people; hardworking saints that still shine with a pioneer attitude; and just an overall atmosphere of humble diligence that I haven't been able to find in the city. That doesn't mean that you won't find these qualities in the city... they just seem to be more prominent in the country.

But this blog isn't about Paris, Idaho. Rather, it's about my hometown, Willard, and the neighboring town of Brigham City, which will begin construction on an LDS temple this Saturday. Most of you probably know how passionate I am about my hometown. After all, it is one of two towns that has a prophet buried in its cemetery (Lorenzo Snow), it has the second oldest seminary program in the Church, the Mutual Improvement Association was first started in Brigham, and Elder Boyd K. Packer grew up there and served as the seminary principal for many, many years. Brigham used to have a trolley system (much like San Fransisco) and Brigham Young used to frequent the town. Brigham City was one of the first settlements outside of Salt Lake City (included with Logan, Ogden, St. George, Provo, and Preston) and is one of the few communities that has a tabernacle. People used to come from all over the West for the fruit grown there. Willard used to have an opera house. Okay, I feel really prideful right now, so I'm going to stop. Basically, it used to be a very important community, but now nobody gives it any recognition. But the Church hasn't forgotten us. When my stake was split a few years ago, Elder Perry (whose family helped settle a town in the area) told us that great things would be happening to the community. When the Brigham City temple was announce to the community, we were told that we were one of the Church's most diligent temple areas and it was about time we got a temple.

Okay, I'm done. Basically, I'm really excited for the groundbreaking this Saturday. So go ahead and smile and shake your head; I'm proud of where I'm from. Ha ha!