Provo City Center Temple

The Provo City Center Temple is really special.  I have lots of memories of coming  to the tabernacle for various choir performances or other events.  So it was really neat to be able to go inside and see how it has been transformed.

Robyn and I did this temple as part of our Anniversary trip in October.  (I know, I'm really slow about updating this blog.)  It was super neat to see not only how the inside has transformed, but the outside as well.  The underground parking was particularly interesting, with the main entrance to the temple being underground.  I don't think I've ever entered through an underground entrance before.  (The Salt Lake temple has an above ground entrance that sends you underground to get to the temple, but that's the closest I can think of.)

As I was in this temple I spent a lot of time thinking about transformation.  The temple has transformed from a tabernacle into something greater.  I think each of us go through that transformation in our lives.  It's excited to think that the temple itself aids us in our transformation as we try to become more like our Heavenly Father.  It truly is an amazing place.

The underground entrance

A selfie in front of the entrance.  Sorry it's so dark.

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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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Ogden Utah Temple

The Ogden Temple was really neat.

We never had a chance to attend this temple before it was remodeled.  So, while we said that we had been to all the temples in Utah, the truth was that we had been to all of the operating temples in Utah, but this temple was a secret blemish on our record.

We were finally able to remove that blemish.  We went with two of our good friends, and we were able to drive up there, do a session and go to dinner afterword.

It was really neat to me to see the completely rebuilt temple.  I wish that I had seen the old one, and it would be really neat to see what they kept and what was completely new.

I think the thing that struck me most about this temple was how important it is that the house of the Lord be a place that truly honors him.  It was important enough that the temple be up to modern standards, that they completely rebuilt it.  That was just amazing to me.

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Brigham City Utah Temple

The Brigham City Temple is a special little temple.  It is small enough that you need reservations to go to any session.  When you arrive at the front desk they check your reservation and give you a little wooden card that says what session you are in.  Robyn thought the little cards were very cute.  Naturally, I left the little card in the dressing room when I changed my clothes, so I had to go back and grab it to get into the session.

The ordinance rooms are very small.  I would estimate they seat about 50 people.  The celestial room has a different shape.  When you first walk in, you are in a really small room with just about 4 seats.  At first, I thought that was it, but I realized there was a larger room adjoining it.  The larger room is still not very large. There is room for maybe 20 people to sit down.  It has a beautiful chandelier in the center of the room and a fairly high ceiling.

One thing that was neat about this temple, was that we had been able to stop by and see it under construction when we went to the Logan Temple.

At this point, the temple was just a hollow shell.

My wife and I at the temple construction site.

Of course, now it's all completed.  The grounds are beautiful and there is no construction equipment.

You can't really see the sign above, but it's easier to read in the closeup below

Holiness to the Lord.  The House of the Lord

Playing with the fisheye lense

I really liked the waving flag in this pic

Robyn really liked these windows.

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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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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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