On the third of August, 1831, the prophet Joseph Smith and seven other elders of the Church assembled on the temple lot and dedicated the same to its sacred purpose. Though the company was small, the occasion was one of great solemnity and impressiveness. The prophet himself offered the prayer of dedication.[6] The temple so projected is yet to be built. Though the Latter-day Saints acquired by purchase title to and possession of the {114} temple lot, they were later by violence compelled to abandon their rightful possessions. THE KIRTLAND TEMPLE The building of a temple in Missouri was regarded, even by the prophet and those who assisted him in dedicating the site, as an event of the future, perhaps even of the far distant future. The center of activity, the seat of the Church for the time being, was in Ohio, and Kirtland was the place of temporary gathering. In Kirtland too was to be erected the first temple of modern times. In a revelation given December 27, 1832, the Lord commanded the establishment of a holy house.[7] Perhaps because their eyes were directed too steadily toward the "center place," and because the people were prone to contemplate too absorbedly the glory of the future to the neglect of then present duties, compliance with the requirement to proceed at once with the erection of a temple was not prompt; and the Lord rebuked the people for their tardiness and neglect, declaring again His will that a house be reared to His name and promising success on condition of faithful effort.[8] The Saints were aroused to great activity in the matter of erecting a temple for immediate use. A building committee was organized, and a call issued to all branches of the Church.[9] On the second day of August, 1833, the voice of the Lord was heard again respecting the matter of temple building, and while the specific requirement {115} appears to directly apply to the temple of the future in Jackson County, Missouri, nevertheless the revelation had immediate effect in inspiring greater effort in the building of a temple at Kirtland.[10] The Kirtland Temple was built as projected and designed, though the work was marked by an unbroken course of supreme sacrifice on the part of a poverty-laden people. Consider the words of one who was present and saw, one who helped and suffered, one who spoke from personal knowledge and keen remembrance. Eliza R. Snow, a gifted poetess and historian of modern-day Israel, has written: "It [the Temple] was commenced in June, 1833, under the immediate direction of the Almighty, through his servant, Joseph Smith, whom he had called in his boyhood, like Samuel of old, to introduce the fulness of the everlasting gospel.