CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH THE EARLY TEMPLES WERE BUILT--HOW THE WORKMEN WERE ENCOURAGED--ARRIVAL OF BROTHER L--IN NAUVOO--HIS WILLINGNESS TO WORK WITHOUT PAY--HIS EXTREME WANT--APPEALS TO GOD FOR HELP--MONEY MIRACULOUSLY PROVIDED--PRAYER FOR FOOD ANSWERED--PROVIDENTIAL FINDING OF A PAIR OF SHOES ON THE PLAINS--A CRIPPLED SHOULDER RESTORED WHILE DEFENDING THE CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SMITH. If a record had been kept of all the facts connected with the building of the Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples, it would tell a curious story of poverty, self-denial, dependence upon God and wants providentially supplied. No doubt such a record has been kept, but not here on earth. We have not access to it. But many, very many of those who had the privilege of aiding in the work of building those temples have gone to meet that record. Some doubtless will meet it with satisfaction, with joy untold; others with remorse and self-reproach. Could the Saints of the present day peruse that record, it would put many of them to the blush to think they had done so little in aid of such works. They would see that, though they have enjoyed peace and plenty, they have done almost nothing towards the temples in our day, compared with what the poor Saints did in building those earlier houses of God. The Kirtland Temple was built when the Saints were few in number and in great poverty, and though comparatively small in size, the erection of such a building by the tithes and voluntary donations of those who were faithful, was a very great undertaking. That it was finished in so short a time was remarkable, and this fact speaks volumes for the devotion of the Saints of that early day. When the Nauvoo Temple was commenced, the Saints had increased considerably in numbers, but were, as a rule, even poorer than in the days of Kirtland. They had been persecuted by their enemies, driven from their homes and plundered of their property. Finding a temporary rest in a bend of the Mississippi river, a locality noted for its insalubrity, they had struggled in the midst of malarial sickness and severe privations to establish new homes, and had only just begun to gather a few comforts around them when they were required by revelation from the Lord to build a temple to His name. Upon that temple, many of the Saints labored month after month, with an energy and interest that only religious zeal can impart. They had learned something of the use and importance of temples, before that building was commenced, but as the work advanced more light was given them from time to time. The Prophet of God would visit the workmen and instruct and encourage them in their labors personally, frequently pronouncing blessings upon their heads for their diligence and faithfulness, and when persecution became so strong that he was obliged to hide from his enemies, he sent the written word to stimulate them in their labors, and explained the doctrine of baptism for the dead, then newly revealed.