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.

View a gallery of this temple.

Rexburg Idaho Temple

The Rexburg temple is beautiful.  It's very similar to the Brigham City Temple.

I was impressed with how busy this temple was.  When I first went into the dressing room, I had a hard time finding a locker that wasn't already in use.  That's a good problem to have.

The session has a multi-room progression, starting with a telestial type room with a mural depicting forest lands with deer and other wildlife.  The endowment stays in that room until it progresses to a terrestrial room that is beautiful, but with a simple design.  Of course, you eventually progress to the celestial room.  There was a huge chandelier in the center, and some smaller chandeliers on the side.

As I watched the other patrons in the temple, I could see the love that they had for temple ordinances.  It made me really think about what a blessing it is to be able to attend the temple.  It's a blessing for us to be able to commune with our Heavenly Father, and it's a blessing for those whose work we are doing.

View a gallery of this temple.

Idaho Falls Idaho Temple

The Idaho Falls Temple sits right on the Snake River, right above Idaho Falls.  It's a beautiful temple, both inside and out.

I loved how the river functioned as a reflecting pool.

It has the style common among older temples where there is a creation room, a garden room, a telestial room and a terrestrial room.

Each room had beautiful murals on the walls.  A few things that were unique and fun were in the creation room and the celestial room.  The creation room had lights on the ceiling designed to look like stars.  The lights come on when God creates the stars.  It was a neat and fun affect.

The celestial room had a mural showing families dressed in white, among green hills.  I liked that it was depicting something truly simple and magical, the joy found in loving relationships.  The mural also showed a glowing kingdom in the sky, but the silhouettes of the buildings looked just like temple square in SLC.  It had the Salt Lake temple as well as the tabernacle.

We had the opportunity to be the witness couple here, which is always a great experience.

Between the murals depicting families, and the fact that we've been trying to adopt recently, my thoughts really focused on the blessings of eternal families as I sat in this temple.  I'm grateful for that blessing, and the knowledge that I can be with my wife and family forever.

Here are some pictures of this temple.

It's important to always get a shot next to the sign.

Robyn is more precious next to the sign.

It's not a temple trip without a selfie.

Checking out Moroni.

A shot with Idaho Falls.

From behind the fence

I love how the leaves framed the spire

Another reflecting pool shot a little later in the evening, with some bonus geese.

A river shot with the temple.

View a gallery of this 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.