I Love To See the Temple

We spent a Saturday touring the new Draper Temple.  A couple buses broke down and we ended up waiting for about 90 minutes for a bus-- which is hot and not fun with three kids(especially with fully charged batteries).  Once we got to the temple, all the annoyances melted-- just as you would expect at the temple.  I loved walking through the temple and explaining things like the paintings in a room and how they help us remember that Heavenly Father created the whole earth or that the twelve oxen represent the twelve tribes-- you know Jacob's 12 sons from the song...  and so on.  Ben's favorite part was the celestial room, Noah-- the oxen, Caitlyn-- the room with all the mirrors, Jeff-- looking in the sealing room mirrors with our whole family, Mine-- the paintings in the chapel: Christ and the Rich Young Man, The Pool of Bethesda by Bloch and a ressurection picture I didn't recognize with Christ and Mary.  It really symbolized the things we leave behind when we go the temple-- our worldliness and our weaknesses.  The temple is really the only place where we can be sanctified of those things and it all is due to Christ and his mission to be a Savior for us.  

I remember attending the Jordan River Temple open house when I was very young.  There are so many details from the blue hospital shoe covers to the stained glass windows along the staircase that I can still remember.  I hope my kids remember the way the temple makes them feel and they will desire to go back and learn more.  I am grateful for the unifying experience that doing spiritual things is for our family.

Lest I forget, whoa-- that was some church gym... It was better than any wedding I've ever seen. The cookies were fabulous and the hospitality was great.