Jordan River Utah Temple

The Jordan River Temple was the first that we visited after beginning our temple tourism.  It's a very beautiful temple and it was fun to visit a temple that is so close to home yet we had never bothered making the journey.  You can see I was trying to be artistic with the above photo.  I was kind of proud of the way I put Moroni in the sun like that.

As always, this is a beautiful temple and we felt the spirit as we walked within its walls.

View a gallery of the Jordan River Temple.

Bern Switzerland Temple

The Bern Temple will always be a special temple to me. This is the first temple I had a chance to visit in a foreign country.

The part of Switzerland that this temple is in is generally French speaking. I assumed when we went to the temple the session would be in French. However, this temple serves members in Italy, France, Switzerland, Albania and Israel. Because they server such a diverse set of peoples they do the sessions in whatever language best fits the group that is in attendance that day. The day we attended happened to have many Italian speaking members so the session was in Italian.

They gave us the headsets to wear so that we could hear it in English. It was absolutely amazing to me to realize that the Church is the same worldwide. It is the same temple session no matter where in the world you decide to enter the temple. At the end, the temple worker at the veil was speaking French, while I was speaking English. I again marveled that it didn't matter what language we were speaking, I had just attended a session that had essentially been in three languages, Italian, French and English. The Lord understands all languages and He loves all his children no matter where they live.

This experience really touched me. Of course, I know that we had a world wide church and that there were temples all over the world but I got to experience firsthand what it is like to do the Lord's work in another language. I am so grateful that we are blessed with temples. I love that people all over the world can be blessed with temples.

After this experience I realized that I wanted to see a lot more temples. This was what made me start my whole idea of "temple tourism." I can't wait to continue to see the beauty of our Lord's house, both near to my home as well as all over the world.

Here are a few pictures we took of the Bern temple.

Also, you can view a gallery of the Bern Temple here

Draper Utah Temple

The Draper Temple reminded me of some of the castles we visited in Germany.  It is nestled in the mountains in a beautiful area.  Of course, the temple itself is quite beautiful as well.

When we visited this temple, Robyn and I had the opportunity to be the witness couple for the first time.  (There is one couple that is at the front that kneels at the altar on behalf of all those gathered there.)  It was a truly neat experience.  Of course, the ceremony is the same for everyone, but I learned some new things in being able to hold that capacity.  I also thought it was very interesting that when we were asked to be the witness couple, the worker who we spoke with made sure to ask me to walk my wife back to her seat when we were done.  I don't think that walking her to her seat is necessarily part of the ordinance, but I did think it was interesting that he would think about that and think that was important.  I guess it shows how important it is for us to respect our wives and honor them.  I hope I give Robyn the honor she deserves.  I certainly try to, but I think that was the biggest thing I learned in visiting the temple on this particular day.

This temple was also fun because it has a Telestial room that has a beautiful mural of the mountains and glorious landscape.  I really enjoyed the beauty of this temple and came out with a desire to be a better husband.  Here are some pictures we took at this temple.

View a gallery of this temple.

Provo Utah Temple

The Provo Temple is another one that will always be special to me.  As you may know, it is across the street from the Missionary Training Center.  For those who don't know, missionaries for the LDS church go to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) to be trained in methods of teaching the gospel and also to learn the local language of the area they will be sent.  Since I was going to the Dakotas and I was english speaking I was only in the MTC for 3 weeks.  Foreign speaking missionaries are there for varying periods depending on the difficulty of the language they are learning.

The MTC has a very regimented schedule.  You have personal study time, group study time, classes and more classes.  But once a week you get a chance to walk across the street and go to the temple.  I remember the first time our district was able to walk over to the Provo Temple.  It was so nice to feel the warmth and peace of the temple.  It was so nice to escape the regimented schedule.  Unfortunately, none of us took our books with us that had our schedules in them.  We didn't know when our next class started.  Surely, they wanted us to take some time to sit and reflect in the Celestial Room.  I remember really feeling the spirit and really enjoying the time spent in the temple.  Finally, we decided it was time to go back.  Upon returning we discovered we had missed half of our next class.  OOOPS!  Skipping out on class is not something you do in the MTC.  From then on we made sure we knew when we were supposed to be back.  But I don't regret at all the time I spent basking in the spirit of the temple.

I don't have any pictures of the time in the MTC.  But since then, Robyn and I have had a chance to go to the Provo Temple together.  Here are a few pictures of one of our visits together.

View a gallery of this temple.

Bismarck North Dakota Temple

The Bismarck North Dakota Temple was the only temple within my mission boundaries. I served as a missionary in the South Dakota Rapid City Mission which covered the two Dakotas, as well as portions of Wyoming, Nebraska and Minnesota.  Even in all that land mass there was only this one temple.  The cities I served in for the first year of my mission were too far away from the temple to get a chance to visit.  So when I finally served close enough to the temple to get a chance to go it was a very exciting time.

Near the end of my mission I was serving as a zone leader in Grand Forks, ND.  (Each set of missionaries covers an area where they proselyte.  Every 2-3 areas is formed into a district with one missionary serving as a district leader.  3-4 districts form a zone with two missionaries as zone leaders over that zone.)  We had one month that everyone had worked particularly hard.  I called my Mission President to ask permission for our entire zone to caravan and make the 300 mile trip to the temple.  He agreed that a temple trip would be an excellent reward for everyone's hard work.

We spent the entire day in the temple.  We were able to perform all of the different ordinances.  I think missionaries need the piece that the temple brings just as much, if not more, than everyone else.  The spirit of the Lord is felt there even stronger than you can feel even as a hard working missionary.

It was such a blessing to be there with all the other missionaries.  I think we all grew closer that day.  The Bismarck temple will always have a special place in my heart as the only temple in my mission.  Though, I hope that more temples will be built in that area.  I'd love to see a temple in Wyoming as well as South Dakota.

View a gallery of this temple.

Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple

The Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple was the first temple I ever was able to go inside. It is where I was originally endowed prior to my mission. It wouldn't be appropriate to write about my first endowment experience without showing a picture of the preciousness.

This is me with various members of my family on the steps of the Timpanogos Temple.  Looking back on it, I think I could have been more prepared.  I didn't have a full understanding of what an incredible blessing it is to be able to enter our Lord's house..  Luckily, I have been able to go back many times and gain greater clarity on what I was taught that day.  Since then I've begun to understand what we are taught in the temple.  I've developed a deep gratitude for the ordinances that we receive.

The Timpanogos temple will always be "my temple."  In addition to receiving my endowment there, I was married there as well.  I'll never forget the moment as I knelt across the altar from my lovely bride.  The sealer (my wife's grandfather) spoke to us about the eternal covenant we were making to each other and then he sealed us as husband and wife for time and all eternity.  I am so grateful that we have the blessing of eternal marriage.  I'm grateful that our Heavenly Father has allowed his authority and his "keys" to be given to those of us here on earth so that, as it says in (Matt. 16:19) whatever is bound on earth, shall be bound in Heaven.  Robyn and I were bound in marriage, and that binding will be valid in Heaven as well, allowing us to be husband and wife for all eternity.  What a miracle!

The rest of the pictures are of my wedding day.  If you can't handle the cuteness of the bride and groom, be not afraid; I was only married once so this is the only temple that will have my wedding pictures.

View a gallery of this temple.