Payson Utah Temple

The Payson Temple is very beautiful.  We were lucky enough to have 2 neat experiences at this temple.  Our first experience here was to attend the sealing of a little boy to his parents.  He was adopted, so this sealing was to bring them together as a family for eternity.

It was a special experience for us because we are looking to adopt as well.  It was so neat to be there with them as they brought their family together.  They were so happy.  It was the firs time I have seen a small child sealed to their parents.

Robyn and I with my little sister, who also attended the sealing.

About a month later, we went back to this temple again.  We hadn't yet had the opportunity to do a session or to see the celestial room.

We came with our friends Tammy and Cameron.  They seem to be always selected as the witness couple.  This time we were asked to serve, so it was a big surprise.

One thing that was funny about the session was that I was sitting in the ordinance room trying to figure out where the veil was.  I thought it must be in a different room.  At the end of the session we could here the wall being pulled away behind the curtain.  And then the curtain was pulled up and there was the veil.  It's quite a contrast to some of the temples that were built in the 1800s.  But it's neat to think that while technology has made it so the temple can be laid out a little more efficiently, they had all of the blessings that we have nearly 200 years ago.  That's pretty cool.

Once we got to the celestial room I loved the flower theme that fills the room.  There are flowers in the patterns of the furniture, in the stained glass windows, in the ceiling, and of course there are real flowers in pots as well.  I loved that it was an homage to the beauty of God's creation in nature.

Here are a few pictures from our 2 visits.

Since I mentioned the flowers in the celestial room, I had to put a picture of the flowers on the grounds.

Robyn and I at the back of the temple.

The flag near the front.

The fountain.

We always need a picture by the sign.

Robyn and Tammy.

Cameron and I

With this visit, we can once again say that we have been to all of the temples in Utah.  It's been a great experience seeing them all.

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Spokane Washington Temple

The Spokane Temple is very beautiful.  It's one of the mini cookie cutter temples, as I like to call them.  That means that the layout of the interior as well as the features on the exterior are not unique, but are identical to several other temples I've been to.

One of the things that I enjoyed about it, however, was that even though the temple itself is identical to others, the grounds are completely unique.  The flowers on the grounds were beautiful, and the whole area where it is located is filled with big trees and heavily wooded land.  It's a residential area, but it almost feels like an area where you could go camping.

This temple was a unique experience, because my wife wasn't with me this time.  Instead, I attended with my Mom, which was a great experience.

Mom at the back of the temple

Me at the back of the temple

Trying to get artistic with the flowers

Moroni and the flag

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Boise Idaho Temple

The Boise Temple is very beautiful.  It was surprisingly similar to the Portland Temple, which we had visited the day before.  The main difference being that it was much smaller.  We had driven from Portland that morning and came to this temple in the afternoon.  It was a welcome experience to enjoy the quiet peace of the temple as opposed to the sometimes hectic experience of driving (particularly in Oregon traffic.)

This is not one of the small cookie cutter temples but it is roughly the same size.  The celestial room was like a small living room with just a few couches.  The intimacy of it was kind of neat.

The most surprising thing about this temple was at the beginning when we were sitting in the chapel.  They had us divide up between men and women before going into the ordinance room.  I thought that was super strange, until we walked through the dressing room to get there.  That seems like somewhat poor planning as far as building layout, but the big thing that occurred to me is that it's not about the building or how it's laid out.  It's about the Spirit of the Lord that resides there.

Looking up at the angel Moroni.  The spires came up from the ground instead the top of the building, which was kind of neat.

Me with the sign out front.

A silhouette of the temple.

The obligatory selfie

A shot I took walking around the side.

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Portland Oregon Temple

The Portland Oregon Temple was super pretty.  I've wanted to go here a long time, and I'm glad I got the opportunity.  We also had the opportunity to be the witness couple, which is always a great experience.

One thing that occurred to me while inside this temple was the power of community.  We've spent the weekend in the Portland area and we've seen lots of people that very clearly have different standards from us.  It was so neat to walk into the temple and see the smiling faces of people we know believe exactly as we believe.  I'm grateful for the worldwide community that we are a part of.

I thought the celestial room in this temple was very special.  It is a bi-level room where you can climb up stairs to a second level that has a sort of balcony looking down on the main room.  The main room has a giant chandelier and the second level has a smaller chandelier.  The room overall is very simple, but extremely beautiful and elegant.

I really enjoyed this temple.

The obligatory selfie

Robyn looking precious next to the fountain.

Looking up at one of the spires

Robyn standing by the reflecting pool

View of the main spire

Holiness to the Lord.  The /House of the Lord.

Me next to the sign.

View from the main entrance

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