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Posted: 2:39 PM- REXBURG, Idaho - New LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson relished his first temple assignment as leader of the 13-million member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .

"I can't think of anything I'd rather do as my first official act than dedicate this holy house of the Lord," Monson told thousands of Mormons squeezed into every corner of the temple or watching on close-circuit television beamed to the area's Mormon chapels.

The day held some unexpected moments for Monson.

He arrived, with his wife, Frances, and daughter, Ann Dibb, more than 30 minutes late for the first dedication session, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. There were three more dedication services scheduled throughout the day. Early Sunday morning, he had 'learned that Ruth Wright Faust, widow of James E. Faust, Monson's longtime associate in the LDS First Presidency, had passed away. Then his plane had to be rerouted to Pocatello, due to the thick fog obscuring the area around Rexburg.

But the fog did not suffocate Monson's jovial spirit.

He joked with onlookers as he tried to press mortar into the concrete surrounding the temple's symbolic cornerstone. When some of the squishy substance fell off his trowel, he asked someone else to pick it up and put it in for him.

"That's called repentance," Monson quipped.

He called on LDS Apostle Russell M. Nelson, a former heart surgeon, to assist him, saying, "Where's my doctor? He's better at instruments than I am, but they were different instruments."

Back inside, Nelson said it was a "great privilege" to accompany Monson on this historic occasion.

"We express our love and desire to assist President Monson in his weighty responsibilities," Nelson said.

From there, Sunday's service followed a pattern that began with the 1836 dedication of faith's first temple in Kirtland, Ohio. It featured hymn-singing, prayers and several speeches, including one by Apostle David A. Bednar, former president of Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg.

In his remarks, Nelson described the temple as a place where "we feel close to the Lord . . . and learn about the creation, the fall and the atonement [of Jesus Christ]."

Going to the temple is a sign of faith and a symbol of commitment to God, Nelson said.

In fact, only those Mormons with a current temple recommend, attesting to a person's adherence to LDS standards such as the prohibitions on alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea, could attend the dedication or can enter temples once they've been dedicated.

In his remarks, Monson said President Gordon B. Hinckley, who died Jan. 27 at 97, approved plans for this temple, looking at every page of the architectural drawings.

"He's here with us in spirit," Monson said.'

He promised the Latter-day Saints watching the service that if they live "worthy lives," they would feel a spirit in the temple that would guide them in all they do.

"The church has come out of obscurity," Monson said in his dedicatory prayer. "Many not of our faith have previously visited this building. May they acknowledge that it is thy holy house."

He blessed the hill on which the temple stands, the grounds and landscaping, the furniture, and decorations and all who enter it. He prayed that God would preserve it from the destructive acts of nature and other people and save it from "pollution of any kind."

Monson then promised that those who enter will "grow in faith . . . and understanding of eternal life. They will look to this temple as a sanctuary."

The dedication's climactic ritual is the "Hosanna shout," where the congregation rises, waves white handkerchiefs and repeats in unison three times, "Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna to God and the lamb."

According to Mormon teachings, it is meant to convey the same sense of joy that believers in the Bible expressed by waving palm branches when Jesus entered Jerusalem.

At the end of the service, the choirs and congregation joined in singing, "The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning," the unique Mormon hymn sung at the 1893 dedication of the Salt Lake Temple.

It was an emotional moment for Lila Atkinson Moore, an elderly woman who has lived on Harvard Avenue in Rexburg for 50 years and whose grandfathers were sent by earlier LDS leaders to settle the area.

The dedication was "heavenly," Moore said. "Words cannot describe my feelings. I am so thankful to be here. Our prayers were answered to have President Monson here."

Just then, Monson himself came around the corner and spotted Moore, sitting in a wheelchair. He leaned over and shook her hand. She was speechless.

"I shook Pres. Heber J. Grant's hand when I was a child," Moore said, referring to an LDS prophet who led the church from 1918 to 1945. "I never thought this would happen in my life."

Moore's LDS bishop, Howard Egan, and his wife Tauna, brought their elderly friend to Sunday's ceremony.

"This temple is a fulfillment of prophecy," Egan said. "Now it's up to us to take advantage of having it in our own backyard."

For Tauna Egan, the day was doubly blessed.

It was her 50th birthday, she said. "I think we'll have a temple cake."

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