Tour the Salt Lake Temple

Well, virtually any way.

More than a century has passed since the public open house was held for the Salt Lake Temple, but an exhibit featuring a 1:32 scaled replica of the Mormon temple opened today that offers an open house experience of the magnificent building. Earlier this morning, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unveiled the 88-inch tall, near-identical replica of the temple in the South Visitors’ Center on Temple Square. The permanent exhibit will be open to the public starting at 1:30 p.m. today.

This is a really cool idea!  The model is almost 7 feet tall and weighs between 600 and 800 pounds.  The Deseret News has a decent article on the project, with a neat slide show.  Even though I’ve been inside the Salt Lake Temple, I plan on heading downtown next week when I have a day off to check out the model.

If you’re interested, here’s a little background on the Temple.

 

Kyiv Ukraine Temple

Lifted from a friend on Facebook

 

Kyiv Ukraine Temple

From LDS Newsroom.

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced dates for the public open house and dedication of the nearly completed Kyiv Ukraine Temple. The public will be invited to visit the Kyiv Ukraine Temple during an open house that will run from Saturday, 7 August 2010, through Saturday, 21 August 2010 (except for Sundays). The temple will be formally dedicated on Sunday, 29 August 2010. A total of three dedicatory sessions will be held.

The Kyiv Ukraine Temple is the Church’s first in Eastern Europe and the 11th overall on the European continent. It will serve approximately 31,000 members of the Church living in 13 European countries. Other European temples of the Church are located in Bern, Switzerland (dedicated 1955); London, England (1958); Freiberg, Germany (1985); Stockholm, Sweden (1985); Frankfurt, Germany (1987); Preston, England (1998); Madrid, Spain (1999); The Hague, Netherlands (2002); Copenhagen, Denmark (2004); and Helsinki, Finland (2006). A temple to be built in Rome, Italy, was announced in October 2008.

It is customary for Latter-day Saints to open the doors of their temples to the public before they are dedicated. It is expected that many thousands of visitors will come to this temple open house to tour the temple and learn about the highest rites of the faith that take place there.

“We are very pleased to be able to invite our friends and neighbors to tour the temple and learn more about this sacred structure,” said Elder Wolfgang H. Paul, president of the Church’s Europe East Area. “We know that many people have passed by the temple during construction and wondered about its purpose. Soon we will be able to welcome them to the temple and explain why the temple is known as the house of the Lord.”

Latter-day Saint temples differ from the meetinghouses or chapels where members meet for Sunday worship services. Temples are considered “houses of the Lord” where Christ’s teachings are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism and other ordinances that unite families for eternity. In the temple, Church members learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants to follow Jesus Christ and serve their fellow man.

When the temple is formally dedicated, it will be open to members of the Church who are actively engaged in the faith — unlike the thousands of standard church meetinghouses that are open to everyone for regular Sunday services, regardless of religious affiliation.

Speaking to the entire Church membership in October 2009, Church President Thomas S. Monson said, “We continue to build temples. We desire that as many members as possible have an opportunity to attend the temple without having to travel inordinate distances. Worldwide, 83 percent of our members live within 200 miles (320 km) of a temple. That percentage will continue to increase as we construct new temples around the world.”

The Kyiv Ukraine Temple was announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley, former worldwide leader of the Church, 20 July 1998. Ground was broken for the temple’s construction on 23 June 2007. When completed it will be the Church’s 134th operating temple worldwide.

Formal temple work will commence at the Kyiv Ukraine Temple on Monday, 30 August 2010.

As mentioned before, I served as a missionary in Ukraine from 2002-2004.  In fact, here’s a picture of me on the temple site before any construction had been started.

More pictures and information can be found here.

 

Ogden Temple Face Lift

The LDS Church announced yesterday that the Ogden Temple is going to get a face lift as part of the Ogden downtown revitalization project.  As you can see from the photos, it’s going to be a dramatic change.

When most people look at the Ogden Temple, they see an architectural disaster.  When compared to the Temples that the Church had in operation at that time, Salt Lake, Logan, Manti, St. George, Laie Hawaii, Cardston Alberta, etc. (go here to take a look).  All of the Temples were land marks and “monuments,” they were also expensive to construct and operate.

In the 1950′s and 60′s the Church was having financial difficulties, to put it lightly, and President David O. McKay charged Church Architect Emil Fetzer “to design [an] economical and functional” Temple.  “We can’t continue to build huge monuments.  We have to have temples that the membership can use to do efficient temple work,” President McKay had said.

What Fetzer came up with was exactly what President McKay had requested – an economical and functional Temple.  The interior design was changed. “Fetzer’s fundamental innovation… [was] having multiple ordinance rooms – as few as two and as many as six – opening into a single celestial room….”

This design became “the central interior feature in new temples throughout the world.”  At the time, the Salt Lake Temple was performing roughly 50,000 endowments a month.  The first month that the Ogden Temple was open, they completed 75,000.

I’m excited for the Ogden Temple.  Finally it is getting the recognition that it deserves.

*Quotes taken from David O. McKay and The Rise of Modern Mormonism, pp 269-271.

 

What An Eye Sore!

Some north Phoenix residents are voicing strong opposition to a proposed LDS temple, saying it would be an eyesore and would disrupt their mountain views.

But what an eyesore it could be!!!  Take a spin through the gallerie of an LDS Temple near you.

 

The Temple

If you have questions, email me.  We’ll talk.

 

Temples

Temples have a special place in Latter-Day Saint theology. It is inside these sacred houses of the Lord where we participate in the sacred ordinences that help lead to salvation with God and His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

I just found out that a friend of mine from Ukraine, Lena, went to the Temple for the first time. She lives in Florida and went to the Orlando Temple (left).

When I met Lena she was 17, learning English and wanted to come to America so badly. A teenage product of post-Soviet Ukraine, she was heavily influenced by Western pro-Democratic ideologies, along with MTV and such. She gave herself to the idea that America was one big party and that this is still a land where your dreams can be realized.

Her dream was to become a musician. A fan of hard rock and heavy metal, it was not uncommon to see Lena in a studded leather jacket and jeans with holes in the knees. It also wasn’t uncommon to find Lena hanging out a little bit longer after English class to talk and “hang out” with the Missionaries.

On more than one occasion my companion, Elder Holbrook, and I were invited to her home to “hang out, listen to music, play guitar…,” which we respectifully declined. The truth was, we didn’t quite know what Lena’s intentions were at first. Missionaries learned to be weary of young girls who wanted to become fast friends. A possible distraction from the work at hand, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, among other things made us leary.

Yet, at the same time, she’d known about the Church for several years as she’d been taking English classes from us, and we didn’t want to rule out that she may be genuinely interested in learning from us.

Elder Holbrook was quick to pick up on intentions other than learning the message that we were teaching and we promptly turned her over to the Sister Missionaries in the area.

About one year after my return from Ukraine Lena informaed me that she had been baptised. It made me happy to know that I had not become a road block in her path to finding that truth, and that I may have helped in a small way. Hearing from her that she’s been to the Orlando Temple made me think of my own Temple experiences. I have had the priviledge of being in eight Temples. Not a huge number, considering there are 128 open Temples and another 12 either announced or under construction, but they are special to me. They are, in order of visit, Dallas, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Jordan River, Utah; Provo, Utah; Ogden, Utah; Bountiful, Utah; Logan, Utah.

The Temple is a wonderful place. They are so beautiful on the inside, unlike any other buildings on Earth. If you’d like to learn more about why we have Temples, go here. If you’d like to find the LDS Temple closest to you and maybe take a trip to walk the grounds, go here. You may find that one is closer than you think.

 

Somewhat Troubling

I found this article on CNN and it troubled me slightly. The opening line reads, Authorities stormed the temple of a Texas ranch that’s home to a rogue Mormon sect Saturday, as part of a search for victims of physical and sexual abuse, police said.

I’m glad that the raid on the compound happened because of the reported abuse that is happening in the FLDS Church. What concerns me is that they raided the temple. Now, the story doesn’t give details as to whether or not the raid on the temple happened because they thought children were being hidden inside or whether or not church leaders were not complying with the authorities. The story doesn’t even have any details of what was found inside the temple, if anything.

Though I do not agree with the practice of polygamy, nor do I believe that an arranged marriage between a teenage girl a man of any age is appropriate, I’m concerned over the apparent lack of respect that the government has shown for this religious site.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have 124 functioning Temples world wide. My wife and I were married in the Bountiful Utah Temple, seen here.

Many people have questions about LDS Temples. What goes on there? Who can enter? Why don’t LDS people talk about what happens inside? Here are some answers to these questions from LDS.org, the Church’s official website.

What goes on inside the Temple? To members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the temple is the “House of the Lord.” It is a sacred building, and after its dedication only faithful members of the Church may enter. Inside, members learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants to serve Jesus Christ and their fellow man. In addition, they participate in religious ceremonies that reach beyond mortality, such as baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors and eternal marriage.

Who can enter the Temple? After [a] temple is completed, there will be an organized open house (typically multiday) for the general public. During the open house, information [is] provided to explain the different functions and ceremonies performed in the temple and answer questions. After the open house, the temple [is] dedicated to the Lord and open only to worthy Church members.

Why don’t LDS people openly talk about what happens inside? A careful reading of the scriptures reveals that the Lord did not tell all things to all people. There were some qualifications set that were prerequisite to receiving sacred information. Temple ceremonies fall within this category.

We do not discuss the temple ordinances outside the temples. It was never intended that knowledge of these temple ceremonies would be limited to a select few who would be obliged to ensure that others never learn of them. It is quite the opposite, in fact. With great effort we urge every soul to qualify and prepare for the temple experience. Those who have been to the temple have been taught an ideal: Someday every living soul and every soul who has ever lived shall have the opportunity to hear the gospel and to accept or reject what the temple offers. If this opportunity is rejected, the rejection must be on the part of the individual himself.

The ordinances and ceremonies of the temple are simple. They are beautiful. They are sacred. They are kept confidential lest they be given to those who are unprepared. Curiosity is not a preparation. Deep interest itself is not a preparation. Preparation for the ordinances includes preliminary steps: faith, repentance, baptism, confirmation, worthiness, a maturity and dignity worthy of one who comes invited as a guest into the house of the Lord.

All who are worthy and qualify in every way may enter the temple, there to be introduced to the sacred rites and ordinances.

Temples are the most sacred edifices that we as members of the LDS church have. I hope that our Temples will be held with higher regard and dignity, than was the FLDS temple in Texas.

If you would like to know more about Temples in the LDS Church, please visit this site. Also, if you have any questions for me, please email me and we’ll start a dialog.