The following is the statement from Wayne H. Knecht. It recounts a report by one of ten men who, in a private meeting with George Albert Smith, claimed he heard President Smith predict that the temple in California would be desecrated, forcing the Saints to flee to Utah:
"The following statements were made by the Prophet George Albert
Smith;
made in the presence of the ten men who were petitioning him, in a
private meeting in the latter 1940's, for a temple to be built in L.A.
California. All ten men were well to do, influential, members of the Church.
Nine of these men were native born Californians, one was Utah born.
2nd meeting
"Build the temple, use the temple, for the day will come when it
will be desecrated."
3rd meeting
"You men are the sons of the men who came to California against
the counsel of the Prophet Brigham Young. The day will come when you or your
posterity will be willing to give up ALL you possess in this world, if you
could just own one acre of rocky ground in Utah, and be standing on it. ... The
time will come when ALL the saints in California will want to flee to Utah, but
before they can start most will be killed, of the few who will be able to
start, most of them will be killed before they leave the state."
The above is true and faithfully recorded from the mouth of one of the
ten men who heard it from the mouth of the Prophet. Told to me personally on
March 25, 1959.
[signed]
Wayne H. Knecht
Wayne H. Knecht
(801) 371-1338
Source: Wayne H. Knecht,
Statement, repr. Jacob Peasant and Renee Martin, Visions of the Saints: Themes
in Future Prophecy from Prophets & Visionaries (2025), 406
During George Albert Smith's presidency, there were no temples in California—the first would be dedicated March 11, 1956 (Los Angeles). Of course, one needs to be very careful about using this to prove anything–after all, we are not told who the source for Knecht's report is, and after querying the author of Visions of the Saints, they were unable to provide information as to the provenance of this work. I am just sharing here as it was interesting–no more, no less.
