Temple Visit

 On Friday afternoon, Trish and I got to do a very special thing: we got to go to the open house at the newly completed Saratoga Springs Latter Day Saints Temple.

In the Mormon faith, when the new Temples are completed, there is a period of time when everyone is welcome to tour the entire building during an open house time.  Once the Temple is consecrated, it is only open to members of the LDS church, and then only to those who in good standing have a Certified Temple Recommend.

There were hundreds of people there when we visited. We had to get timed entry reservations ahead of time to keep the numbers of visitors spaced out.  After a brief informational video, we were taken to the Temple itself where we had shoe coverings placed over our shoes. The reason for this became obvious later as many of the carpets were pure white!

The main rooms we remember were: the baptism room, where the giant font is resting on the backs of twelve golden bulls; the celestial room, a beautiful room at the highest level where people can sit in quiet contemplation; and the sealing rooms (six in all),  where husbands and wives are sealed in marriage.  Imagine having six weddings going on at the same time!

The view from the front of the Temple was astounding as you stand there and look at the snow-capped mountains all the way across Jordan Lake.  To be looking at snow while standing in seventy-degree weather is fascinating.

At the peak of the top spire of the Temple is the golden figure of the Angel Moroni. Moroni is believed to be the son of Mormon and the Angel who delivered the golden plates inscribed with the Book of Mormon to Joseph Smith as the beginning of Latter Saints faith history.

If you want to see more of what we got to see inside, the Temple interiors are no secret. Just Google “Mormon Temples” and there are many interior photos of the rooms in a number of beautiful Temples.

We are glad we got to do this. Not only was the stained glass no art work beautiful, it is always better to live with reality than imagination!