I Love To See The Temple

When I was almost 17 years old, two young missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called LDS or Mormon) knocked on our door and taught my family about the gospel.  I had been going to churches with friends that summer, but didn't feel comfortable at any of them.  When the missionaries talked about Jesus and a Father in Heaven, I felt so strongly that I wanted to know more.  When we attended church, I felt welcomed and like I was in the right place.  I was baptized a member of the church at the end of the summer.  One of the things that touched my heart so strongly when the missionaries were teaching us, was when they talked about how this life isn't the end for us, that we can see our family members again in Heaven.  Coming from a home where I never knew my mother because she died when I was barely 2 years old, that meant a lot.  When I learned more about how families could be together forever when united with each other and Heavenly Father in the temples, I knew that was my goal. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and try every day to be more like my Savior.

For this post I decided to share some of the pictures of temples that I have visited over the past two or three years.  I hope you enjoy them!



Friday is the start of the Open House for the Payson Utah Temple.  For one month, the general public will be able to go and see the temple.  They can tour the inside and see the different rooms and decorations, there is a video explaining the importance of the temples and the history of the one that has been built, and there is generally a display with information about different temples and the materials used in construction.  We have been to two different open houses in northern Utah (Brigham City and Ogden).  The Payson Temple is extra special to me because we live in the area and it will be the temple that we go to most often.

Payson Temple.  Taken this past Saturday

My goal is to visit every temple in Utah.  The Payson Temple will be the 15th temple built in Utah.  The Provo City Center temple is fully under construction and I love driving by to see the updates on what they have been working on.  I love to visit the temple and feel the peaceful holy spirit there.  I feel spiritually rejuvenated.

These are the pictures from the other Open Houses we went to.  First was the Brigham City Temple.  My hubby had to work, but I took my girls up there.  As an added bonus, our close friends from South Carolina live in Brigham City, so we were able to go and visit them after we took our tour.

Just a few months ago we went to the Ogden Open House.  My girls really loved the beautiful stained glass used there.

Next are some pictures of Temples we visited while vacationing.

Last summer we took a day trip up to Vernal.  My kiddos love to visit dinosaur museums so we made the trip up to the museum and also Dinosaur National Monument.  While we were in town, we went to the Vernal Temple.

Every year, we go to Idaho for a family reunion for my husbands family.  I don't know why I don't have any pictures of the Idaho Falls Temple.  It is so beautiful being right next to the river and they have little waterfalls.  We also usually stop in Rexburg too and see the temple there.

A few years ago we took a weekend trip to Las Vegas.  My girls loved visiting the temple because it was at night and there were bats flying around.  Don't ask me why, but they are fascinated by bats.  The picture is not a good one since the camera wasn't very good and it was at night.  But the Vegas temple is very beautiful!

On our way home from Vegas, we stopped in St George for lunch and a little walk around the temple there.  This one is so pretty from far away.  The bright white of the temple stands out again the beautiful red rocks.

A little over a year ago, my husband and I went up to Logan.  We got there in the evening and it was a rainy night.  We went up to the temple and walked around for a while.  It was so pretty.

Other Utah Temples
I know when most people think of Utah and temples, they think of the Salt Lake Temple.  I love to visit temple square during the different seasons to see how beautiful it is during the different times of the year.  The lights at Christmas time are so beautiful...but definitely dress warmly!  We were frozen after about 10 minutes.  A few weeks ago I was able to go to a women's conference at the conference center with my oldest daughter.  The main photo on this post and the following picture are from that day.

I have to admit that the architecture of the Provo temple is not one of my favorites.  I can't tell you how many times I went there and each time tried to take a picture that was pretty.  This past fall I finally took one I liked.  I love the mountains in the background.

As I mentioned before, we have good friends that live in Brigham City and like to visit.  The last time when we were leaving I drove by the temple and stopped to take this picture.

The Mount Timpanogos temple has such a pretty avenue of trees leading up to the main section of the grounds.  I love this picture because you can see how the stained glass glows when the sun hits it in the right light.

I saved my favorite for last.  The Manti Temple has been my favorite for years.  It takes about an hour and a half to get there, so I don't go often.  The drive down there through a canyon, through farmlands and little towns is really pretty.  I love how the temple sits at the top of this hill.  The architecture is beautiful on the outside, and even more so on the inside.

I look forward to visiting more of the temples and adding the pictures to my collection.  You can visit my Temples Pinterest board to see some of the other temples I've visited.