Our move to Sandy — November 1986
As our family continued to grow, we soon realized that we would need to move into a larger house, and we also had a desire to get away from the very busy corner that we lived on. We had enjoyed our first home very much and we made some close friends in the Monument Park 2nd Ward, but we knew it was time to make a move. We put our home up for sale in September 1986 and sold it 3 days later! I went through a brief period of insanity during which I seriously considered building a home up at Jeremy Ranch, near Park City. Fortunately, this hysteria was temporary and not long thereafter we found a new home on Powderkeg Drive in Sandy that we fell in love with. It was built by Noel Ballstaedt, was beautifully and meticulously built, was located in a quiet subdivision with no through traffic, and our lot backed against a side-hill. We moved in during November of 1986, and immediately fell in love with the neighborhood and the area.
Following is the dedicatory prayer I pronounced upon our home, located at 2202 Powderkeg Drive in Sandy, Utah on October 30, 1998 (I am embarrassed that it took me two years to get my home dedicated. Also, this prayer, modified somewhat, was also offered at the dedication of our home at 1692 North 2000 West, Provo on June 5, 1995).
Our Eternal Father in Heaven, Acting in the authority of the holy Melchizedek Priesthood which I hold, and in the holy name of they Son Jesus Christ, I kneel with my family this day to offer a dedicatory prayer upon this beautiful home in which we now live. We offer this prayer to dedicate and sanctify this home as the residence of our family, and we ask Thee to accept and approve of this home for that purpose.
We first offer sincere gratitude for the blessing of living in such a lovely home, and for Thy material blessings upon us which allowed us to purchase and secure this home. We likewise express thanks for the furnishings which we have been able to obtain and have in our home. We ask Thee to bless the workmanship of this home, to bless the physical structure thereof that it will be solid and sound, that all of the various pieces of material and appliances in our home will function properly. We ask Thee to bless our home that it will be free from disasters or calamities, either natural or manmade. Please protect it from the ravages of fire, flood, earthquake, theft, and vandalism. Please bless the soil and ground upon which this home stands, that it will support it properly, and also that this solid will be fertile and provide for the growth of trees, shrubs, lawn, and a garden.
We humbly pray, Father, that this home will be a haven and a sanctuary for our family, a place where we will be free from the evil and unpleasant influences of this world. Please bless this home with a spirit of harmony, happiness, love and compatibility. We likewise ask that we will have a spirit of reverence, peace, and quietude here, and that we will never do anything which would destroy that feeling. We pray that this home will be a place where Thy Holy Spirit will dwell and feel comfortable. Help us to eliminate from our lives contention, argument, unhappiness, and any other negative tendencies which would drive Thy Spirit away.
We pray that this home will be a place of learning and education, both spiritual and secular. We pray that as parents we will teach the beauties of Thy gospel to our children, including faith, repentance, love, the importance of the temple, the importance of serving a mission, and many other beautiful truths. We pray that our children will have an unquenchable thirst for things of the Spirit, and that they will always live accordingly. Bless us all to seek secular wisdom and apply it properly, and that our children will excel in school and learn those things which will ensure success in this life. In the Doctrine and Covenants, Thou hast promised that in this dispensation the heavens will be opened and that knowledge will be poured out upon the heads of the Latter-Day Saints. We pray that this home will be a place where that will happen.
Bless us as parents in this home that we can help to make it a house of prayer, a house of faith, a house of fasting, that we will set a righteous example for our children, and establish a pattern of cleanliness and spiritual strength. Help us to live in such a way that our children will view us as worthy examples, and that they will be able to pattern their lives after ours. Help us to establish a house of order, a house of obedience, a house of discipline when necessary, always followed with love.
Bless our children to grow up in this home with a desire to serve Thee and to lead clean, worthy lives. We pray that as they are taught principles of righteousness, they will incorporate them into their manners and habits. Bless our children that they will always leave from and return to this home with clean hands and pure hearts, unashamed of the Gospel of Thy Son, having been true to the faith which we as parents have taught them.
We pray that this home and ourselves will be a proper example for this neighborhood in which we live, an example of friendliness, of proper Sabbath Day observance, of service, of charity. Let Thy Spirit emanate from this home in such a way that our neighbors, both LDS and non-LDS, will be influenced for good.
We fervently pray that no unclean influence will ever enter this home, via television, radio, literature, language, or telephone. We beseech Thee to rebuke any evil spirit or power which would try to influence any member of this household in any way or manner.
Whenever we leave this home, Father, help us to leave armed with and protected by Thy Holy Spirit and influence, that we will always honor Thee by our actions and conduct, and truly be representative Latter-day Saints.
We pray that this home will be a place wherein the gifts of the spirit will be fully operative, including the gift of knowing that Jesus Christ is indeed Thy Son, also the gifts of belief, faith, healing, knowledge, word of wisdom, and diversity of operations. Please grant unto us these gifts as appropriate needs and occasions arise.
Please assist us in making wise use of our financial resources, that we will always have the means and the wherewithal to meet the obligations required for us to occupy this home. Bless us with giving hearts, charitable hearts, and kind hearts.
We ask a blessing upon this city and county in which our home stands, that it will always be an area of liberty, religious freedoms, law, and order. We pray that honorable men and women will hold the public offices in this area, men and women that will defend the liberties and freedoms we now enjoy, enabling us and those around us to come and go in safety and security. We ask a blessing upon our immediate neighborhood, that no evil or unwanted influence will desecrate or taint this area.
We love thee, Father, and we love thy Son, Jesus Christ. May this home and our personal lives reflect that love. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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