DEDICATION PRAYER OF 1000 SONGS OF ZION BUILDING
Given By: Bernard McCarthy Johnson, Roy Utah
(Great Grandson of Joel Hills Johnson)
Our Eternal Father in Heaven, we are gathered here this day to thank thee for our pioneer ancestors who searched for, found, and accepted the message of the restoration of thy Gospel and the establishment of thy church and kingdom. We thank thee for their sacrifice, their love, their faithfulness, their testimony and their legacy that they have left for us to follow and honor.
On this occasion we especially honor and pay homage to our great ancestor, Joel Hills Johnson, who gave so much to build and expand thy kingdom here on earth. We thank thee for his teachings, his testimony, his lifelong example of valiant service and sacrifice, his legacy of colonizing and settling, and establishing new homes and settlements for thy saints. Over 15 times he left his home and possessions to follow the call of thy prophets.
We thank thee for his great legacy of verse and song. Along with his pioneering journals and history, he has left us with over 1000 songs or hymns of Zion. We now dedicate this beautiful building - by the power of Thy Holy Melchizedek Priesthood - as a sacred edifice where the Holy Spirit may reside, where family, friends, and neighbors may meet together and learn to love their ancestors and each other.
May each person who enters this building, feel of thy spirit, may they feel thy peace and love. May they mingle in song and happiness. May their love for family, both earthly and eternal, continue to grow and expand to each of thy children.
We thank thee for the vision, the labor, the sacrifice, and the love of all who built this building. Bless each of us that we might show increased love and support to them and share in lifting the burden of cost and labor in building this edifice and in its care and upkeep through the coming generations.
Father, please watch over this building and protect it from storm and vandals. We thank thee for the joy, the peace, the happiness, and the love we have felt and enjoyed this day.
We say this in the name of thy Son, our beloved Savior, even JESUS CHRIST. Amen.