Saint George Utah Temple

The Saint George Temple is the oldest temple currently standing.  It is a beautiful temple in a beautiful city in southern Utah.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into this temple was a painting depicting Wilford Woodruff and a number of the founding fathers of our nation.

I couldn't find a color copy of the picture.  This is the painting but it has color inside the temple.

It brought to mind a glorious vision that took place in this temple.  The following are Wilford Woodruff's own words.

Before I left St. George, the spirits of the [Founding Fathers] gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, “You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God.”
Everyone of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General Washington, called upon me as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them.
I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McCallister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others.
When Brother McAllister had baptized me for the 100 names I baptized him for 21, including General Washington and his forefathers and all the Presidents of the United States--except three. Sister Lucy Bigelow Young went forth into the font and wa baptized for Martha Washington and her family and 70 of the 'eminent women' of the world. (Wilford Woodruff, in a Conference Report, April 10, 1898; Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, pp. 160-61; Wilford Woodruff Journal, August 21, 1877)

In the April 1898 General Conference, President Woodruff again recalled this sacred experience:

I am going to bear my testimony to this assembly, if I never do it again in my life, that those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits, not wicked men. General Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord. . . .
Everyone of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General Washington, called upon me, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them. (Wilford Woodruff, Conference Report, April 1989, pp. 89-90)

As I made my way through this temple, I pondered the above experience and the miracle that is our nation.

We had the opportunity to be a witness couple as we did an endowment session.  The ordinance room was beautiful and it lead into a special veil room which was a unique feature of this temple.  The celestial room has a large sealing room adjacent to it.  We watched a family with small children come in to be sealed together and have the opportunity to be an eternal family.  It was special to sit there and ponder what a blessing it is to be together forever.  It was somewhat difficult for us because we're struggling with fertility issues.  Of course, we both have faith that we will have the opportunity to have children and be with them forever.  We just don't know when or how that will happen.  I am grateful for the knowledge that the Lord will provide this blessing, and I am grateful for the experience we had in this temple.

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Fresno California Temple

Besides the Timpanogos Temple, where we were married, this is probably one of the most special temples for Robyn and I.  She is from Clovis, which is about 25 minutes from this temple.  Before we got engaged, I came home with her and had the opportunity to be present in the session where she was endowed.

This past week we were able to go to this temple again for a very special event.  Robyn's Oma (German grandmother) was baptized about two years ago and had the opportunity to attend the temple about a year ago.  Oma decided to be sealed to her husband who had passed away.  We drove out and I had the opportunity to sit as a witness to the sealing.  She was also sealed to two of her children, Robyn's mother and uncle.

We joked that not many people get the opportunity to attend their grandmother's wedding.  It was so neat to be able to stand in and see her obtain this incredible blessing.

Carol (Robyn's mother) was sealed to her mother.  I looked into her eyes as she was receiving the ordinance.  I saw how happy she was to finally partake of the blessing of an eternal family.  It made me appreciate what an incredible blessing it truly is.  My parents were sealed before I was born so I have never known anything different.  But watching her and realizing how special it is to gain that blessing; it made me truly appreciate the blessing that I've taken for granted.

I love the temple.  I especially love the blessing of an eternal family.

A Nativity at the Fresno Temple

Twin Falls Idaho Temple

The Twin Falls Temple is a beautiful temple nestled in a small community.  Across the street from the temple are pastures filled with horses and cows.  It's a great area and a fun little city.

The interior of the temple is absolutely beautiful.  The Telestial room has an amazing mural of nearby Shoshone Falls.  It is breathtaking.  I love it because it gives honor to the surrounding area as well as to the magnificence of God's creation.  I obviously can't include a picture of the mural, but I decided to include a picture of the actual falls themselves which we were able to visit today as well.

The Temple Patron Fund

Last week in General Conference President Monson announced 6 new temples in Provo, Utah; Star Valley, Wyoming, Durban, South Africa; Barranquilla, Colombia; Kinshasa, Congo and Paris, France.

I was super excited about the Provo Tabernacle being rebuilt as a temple.  How exciting to have a temple only 3 miles away from an existing temple.  Temples really are beginning to dot the earth.  I was also extremely excited about the Star Valley Wyoming temple.  I served a portion of my mission in Casper, Wyoming.  I have always dreamed of the day that Wyoming would get a temple.  This new temple will still be several hours away from Casper, so I still dream of the day that Casper gets its own temple.  But I still leapt for joy when President Monson mentioned Wyoming.

Another thing that made me super excited was the announcement of the Temple Patron Fund.  What an amazing program.  To think that we could donate to help others to have the blessing of the temple is so exciting.  My wife and I discussed it and decided we definitely want to contribute to that amazing fund.

In case you missed it, I grabbed this part of President Monson's talk and put it on youtube.  Here it is below:

San Diego California Temple

The San Diego temple was one of the most unique temples I've seen.  The celestial room has a beautiful staircase going up to a second level.  It has large spires coming down from the ceiling that look like icicles.  The outside is absolutely beautiful, with somewhat of a fairy castle type look.  To the brides who get married here they really do get to feel like a princess in a castle.

It sits right next to the freeway, where you can see its majesty as you drive by.  It is a beautiful temple in a beautiful city.

These flowers were all over the trees on the temple grounds.

We were there with Robyn's sister Megan and her husband Graham.

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Manti Utah Temple

The Manti Temple has always had a special place in my heart.  I've had several good friends who attended Snow College.  I loved to come down and visit.  I loved to do sessions here.  I love the beauty of this temple.  From the rose petal tips on the lights, to the spiral staircase that winds up each of the towers, this is a magnificent temple.  It is one of two temples in the world that does a live endowment session.

It has been several years since I have been to this temple.  Today I was able to take my wife there.  It was her first time and I loved sharing this temple with her.  It is amazing to look at this beautiful temple and realize that there was no paid labor in its construction.  It was all built as a labor of love by members of the church.  That makes its beauty even more incredible.

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Logan Utah Temple

The Logan Temple is a very special temple.  It is one of the 4 temples built by pioneers in Utah in the 1800's. It has since been renovated to support the newer technologies such as projection screens but it still has a special air to it.  It sits on a hill overlooking the valley.  It is beautiful and almost looks like a castle.  Robyn and I really enjoyed seeing this temple.

This sign amused us.

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