Episcopal Priest/LDS Temple Visit

This is a very good article written by a female Episopal priest, Danielle Tumminio, who visited the new Missouri LDS Temple during the public open house.  Read at Huff Post Religion.   Open house continues through April 28.  Tickets are free but reservations are required to control the traffic flow.  Check it out here.

Kansas City LDS Temple

He's got talent! Lego Temple Model

The Bountiful Temple model, built by a Lego hobbyist/law student in his "spare" time

photo by Samuel Mirejovsky & Deseret News

Read the story about Samuel Mirejovsky's project here. 

photo by Samuel Mirejovsky & Deseret News

Remarkable!

On the 7th Day of Christmas

Temple Square from the 1960s (Deseret News Archive photos)

A lovely evening!

Thursday night I enjoyed some time on Temple Square. It is always inspiring. The weather was beautiful, there were couples doing wedding picture shoots, and I could have just sat outside soaking it all in. Too bad there's always something grabbing my attention...
The amazing tabernacle.
The exquisite temple.
The flowers are always something to behold!

What a cool exhibit!

Scale model of the inside of the Salt Lake Temple.  This looks so cool.  Even having been inside the temple it is hard in such a large building to get the feel for where everything is.  I was fortunate enough to get a tour once into some areas we don't usually get to see but it was still hard for me to visualize exactly where the rooms were.  This will allow me to see it in 3D - a better learning style for me.  Inside the visitor's center on Temple Square.

Some of Jon's recent work - The beautiful Bountiful Temple

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Driving home from the hospital tonight was breathtaking.
It was even nice weather - not freezing cold, but the little boys were home sick with colds, I still have a cold and I decided it would not work to see the lights tonight. I hope the nice weather lasts a while longer so we'll get another chance.
The trees lining the conference center were beautiful too.

Oquirrh Temple Dedication Today

Click the post title to read about the cornerstone contents of temples. Sunday we will watch the broadcast of the dedications as part of our church meetings.

Oquirrh Temple - dedication August 26

Utah's newest temple will be dedicated to the Lord on Sunday, August 26
In the background is the mountain this temple is named for. Click on the post title to see Meridian's complete photo essay of this beautiful House of the Lord.

The Beautiful Manti Temple

I love the Manti temple. It sits on the hill overlooking the quaint town of Manti, Utah (pop about 3,000). I love the feel of the town and the way the whole community gets involved in this huge event. Read Jerry Johnston's experience here. He was also moved by the faith and dedication of the community. There were multiple "miracles" involved in this production. Not only does Samuel climb on the wall, but the angel Moroni stands atop the West tower of the temple for one scene. With my acrophobia, I had a hard time believing anyone would actually volunteer to do that night after night....

(View from the Northeast)

View from the South (pageant side)

The main entrance (North Annex)

North Entrance

Chris and Kiyomi were married at the top of one of these two towers (this is NE and I can't remember which one they had but it was beautiful at the top of the winding staircase)

View from the N.E.

This is the side you see from the street, entering Manti.

View from the West

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Another new Temple in the Salt Lake Valley. We have been promised Temples where there is greatest need. Having these here helps provide us with safety, goodness and peace in troubling times. It is a quiet haven we can retreat to for meditation and learning about God.

The mountain for which it is named is in the background. Click on the post title for information about obtaining free tickets to the open house in June and July. (Hint - if you want a weekend, don't wait too long).
(photo: Desnews.com)

Planning Ahead

Photo source: Flikr - click on post title

Oquirrh Mountain Temple open-house ticket plans

Mormon Times, Wednesday, Apr. 08, 2009

Open-house reservations for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple will be made available to the general public starting Monday, May 4, 2009, at 10 a.m.

The open house will go from Monday, June 1, to Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009. (Except for Sundays, Saturday July 4, and Friday, July 24, 2009).

Following the open house, the temple will be formally dedicated on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 14-16, 2009. A total of 12 dedicatory sessions will be held.

FYI: Data released Saturday by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints place its worldwide membership at 13.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2008. That's up from 13.1 million in 2007. Growth is occurring fastest outside of North America. Data are considered reliable because the church employs professional demographers.

Temple Dedication today

Click on the post title for some video explanation about Temples with discussion from both within and without the Church.

The cornerstone was placed by President Monson, with the help of four local children, and the dedication is underway. Some of our family enjoyed the tour a couple of weeks ago. Excerpts from comment cards at the Draper Utah Temple open house speak volumes about the success of the 10-week event.

A member of another faith wrote: "When I was in the sealing room I felt like I never wanted to leave."

Another person wrote: "I am not an active member of the Church. I felt so lucky to come and see the temple. Today I recommitted myself to come back to the Church."

A young man noted: "I recently lost my mother and I have had some other trials. But today I knew I was in the right place. And today I decided I want to go on a mission."

And an investigator said: "Thank you so much for the wonderful experience. I have been studying with the missionaries and my goal is to be baptized. I was converted today."

Across the board, "people had great experiences," said Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy and director of the Church's Temple Department. "Over and over again we got reports of wonderful, positive experiences."

Photo by August Miller, Deseret News

In all, 684,721 people participated in the temple open house between Jan. 5 and March 14, 100,000 visiting the last week alone. President Thomas S. Monson is dedicating the new temple March 20-22 in 12 sessions. (Complete coverage of the dedication will be included in the March 28 Church News.) The temple will serve 60,000 Church members living in 25 stakes on the southeast end of the Salt Lake Valley.

To make the event possible, an average of 600 Church members a day — more than 35,000 total — volunteered their time directing traffic, working in security and with audiovisual, hosting and cleaning the building. Selected musicians from the temple district provided live music for the event.

The day we attended, we enjoyed a family who performed with strings and piano. It was delightful and the kids loved the cookies. Over a million were served in all.

Read about.com's LDS Religion Guide, Rachel Wood's explanation of the purpose of Temples here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More allegations - and the Church responds. http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705292009,00.html?linkTrack=Email-GME

Why Temples?

New Temple

From comment cards left by visitors who toured the temple during the open house:

A member of another faith wrote: "When I was in the sealing room I felt like I never wanted to leave."

Another person wrote: "I am not an active member of the church. I felt so lucky to come and see the temple. Today I recommitted myself to come back to the church."

And an investigator said: "Thank you so much for the wonderful experience. I have been studying with the missionaries and my goal is to be baptized. I was converted today."

A few photos from the newest LDS Temple in Draper, Utah.

Because we believe in baptism by immersion, when we do the baptisms by proxy for the dead, it is done in a font such as this one at the new temple.
This temple has the largest sealing room of any in Utah. It can accommodate up to 80 guests for weddings. There are smaller rooms as well for those with more intimate marriage witnesses.
The bride's room is where last minute touch-ups are done and she prepares to leave the temple for couple and family/friend photographs outside. Once the temple is dedicated, no photography is allowed inside.
Some haze in the valley.
The newest LDS Temple in Draper, Utah. (Photos by Ravell Call, Deseret News)

Another New Temple

The public open house of the Draper Temple (Utah) is underway now. It is estimated that a million people will view the interior prior to its dedication. Saturday tickets are already gone but some are still available here http://www.lds.org/reservations/0,10751,1619-1-501,00.html

Below is a unique photo where two LDS Temples are in the same picture. The Oquirrh Mountain Temple is in the foreground (still under construction). These two are not so far from the Jordan River Temple as well and just around the mountain is the Mt. Timpanogas Temple. The photo was taken by Scott G. Winterton for the Deseret News, you can view the article by clicking the post title.
Photo below by Ravell Call (Deseret News)
The Draper Temple Celestial Room. Photo below is from LDS Church and Deseret News article referenced above.
To see where other LDS Temples are, click here http://www.lds.org/temples/alphabetical/0,11202,1901-1,00.html For information about what we believe click here http://mormon.org Purposes of Temples are explained here http://www.lds.org/temples/purpose/0,11298,1897-1,00.html If you are interested in family history, this is a great, free resource http://www.familysearch.org

Another Temple Open House & Support for Religious Freedom

Planning ahead....the Draper Temple open house will run from mid-January to mid-March. Free tickets can be obtained at lds.org - go to Family History and Temples > Temples around the world. Alphabetical search is easiest so click that option on the left sidebar and scroll to Draper, Utah. Open house information/reservations can be done there. (Or, as usual, click on this post title to be taken there directly)

The Becket Fund is taking a stand against attacks on the LDS Church for its position on families - Prop 8.

"The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a nonprofit, interfaith, public-interest law firm that defends the free public expression of all faiths. Our clients have included Agnostics, Amish, Baptists, Buddhists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Hindus, Jews, Methodists, Mormons, Muslims, Santeros, Sikhs, Unitarians, and Zoroastrians, among many others. We have represented religious and civil rights organizations that are on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate.

The Becket Fund does not take a position on whether same-sex marriage should be legally recognized. The Becket Fund does defend the right of religious people and organizations to speak out on the issue—whatever their viewpoint—without fear of intimidation or violent retribution."

If you would like to add your name to the list of those opposed to LDS attacks over political freedom, you can read here http://www.nomobveto.org/

To read about the man and project behind this amazing (and expensive) ad go here: http://mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/joel_campbell/?id=5365

For more Wiki-FAIR summary of the issue: http://en.fairmormon.org/Latter-day_Saints_and_California_Proposition_8

Twin Falls, Idaho Temple

Close enough to visit, the new Twin Falls, Idaho LDS Temple is having a public open house this summer. Everyone can come see inside before it is dedicated. Our kids enjoyed seeing the San Diego Temple this way and it would be fun to go see this one while waiting for the Draper and South Jordan Temples to open. If you want, tickets became available online yesterday. Go to LDS.org, choose Temples and Family History from the menu, then on the left sidebar you can get the alphabetical listing. Go to Twin Falls and you can get open house information there. This is the city where my mom was born.

Photos from January 2008

Logan Temple

Today I am going to the Logan Temple with my friend Barb and a few of her friends. This is one I have never been in before so I'm very excited. It's also great to spend the day with this really great friend.