Ok, let's talk Utah Temples

Gini and I have lived in Utah while we were in school, and for a few years of our married life.  We've lived in Hyrum, Plain City, Ogden, Midvale, and Provo.  So over the years we've made it to all of the Temples in Utah.  My first was the Salt Lake City Temple when I went on my mission.  I went without any Temple preparation class, and totally unaware of what to expect.  I went once, during the week in the Mission Home, and not again until after the mission was completed.  I was lost, confused, inspired, overwhelmed, and a few other adjectives.  As missionaries, we got to spend an afternoon in the upper assembly room with the Prophet, Joseph Fielding Smith, and could ask him anything about the Temple or whatever we wanted to know. 




Following my mission assignment, I was invited to attend the Temple in Provo to witness the marriage of a man I had baptized on my mission. What I remember about their wedding was the extremely long kiss over the alter of the Temple.  Awkward! 

Provo Utah

My first job out of college was selling veterinary supplies to dairy farmers in Northern Utah, Southern Idaho, and Southern Wyoming.  We lived in Cache Valley Utah, and attended the Logan Temple several times during the year we lived there.

Logan Utah

We only lived in Cache Valley about a year and we loved it there.  Then we moved to Plain City and didn't love it there.  Plain City is just west of Ogden so we attended the Ogden Temple whenever we could.  Soon we moved into the City of Ogden and bought our first home.  The Ogden Temple used to look like the Provo Temple but has since been remodeled.  When we attended, it looked like this.

Ogden Temple before remodeling

When I first decided to attend as many Temples as possible, I went to 4 Temples in one day.  That's only possible in Utah.  I started early in the morning and went to the Temple in Bountiful.

Bountiful Utah

I then drove down the I-15 to the Jordan River Temple.  This one has an escalator in it which seemed odd to me. 

Jordan River Utah

My next stop of the day was just around the point of the mountain, into Utah County and the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.  This one had just been opened and was quite beautiful. 

 

Mt. Timpanogos

The fourth Temple of the day was about 100 miles south to the Manti Temple.  This one is quite historic and beautiful.  Something quite humorus happened in the session I attended.  The endowment session there is done with live actors and not with the film shown in most other Temples.  During the endowment, two of the actors accidently reversed their lines.  One of them was to say, "What are you going to do now?" but it was said by the wrong guy.  So the second guy returns the line, "No, what are you going to do now?"  It caught us all by surprise and there was quite a chuckle by all.  Maybe, you had to be there.

  Manti Utah

So, that was 4 more Temples in 1 day.  Quite a trip!

The other Temple in Utah is in St. George.  I attended the Temple there on a trip with the Priests Quorum from my ward in San Diego.  We decided to take the Priests to Utah to visit some of the historic sites in Salt Lake.  Along the way, we arranged to attend the St. George Temple and do some baptisms.  It was a great experience, and we learned a lot about the history of St. George, and the Temple there.  The Temple workers showed us around and told us about the vision Wilford Woodruff had with the founding fathers of the United States, and how they had appeared to him requesting their Temple work be done.

St. George Utah

There are now 14 operating Temples in Utah and I've attended all of them.  Still to come, Provo Center City, Cedar City, and the Payson Temple will be done by early 2015.  I'm already planning my next trip.