Brigham City Temple Open House

It was one of those things that both Artyom and I felt VERY strongly about. We really wanted to go to the Open House for the Brigham City Temple. We assumed that holding a reservation would mean we had to get there at that time...nope. There were HUNDREDS of people and no one was turned away. So our original plan to go out on Saturday would have worked just fine...Oh well.

 

So. We headed out for Family Home Evening on Monday night and as it is with most things that are a righteous desire, we were hit with obstacles at every turn. A storm came thorugh literally minutes before we were going to leave knocking out the power throughout our neighborhood which made the traffice horrendous. It took us 45 mintes just to get out of our city and to the freeway. Wardrobe malfunctions were also rampant with none of Sofia's dresses fitting her anymore. That girl has grown overnight! We got those figured out and then thought we would not make it if we did not stop for gas...another dealy. However. We did make it and even though were late for our "reserved" spot, it did not seem to matter as ALOT of other people were there and we got through just fine.

 

There is something about seeing a temple before it has been dedicated that just warms my heart. I felt the Spirit so strongly there and was so impressed at Sofia and Ella who recognized thier Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather, Lorenzo Snow and the special tribute they paid to both him and Brigham Young in one of the rooms with paintings on the wall. The girls were so cute and tried to keep silent, as was the request of the Temple Service workers during the tour, but were smiling and pointing to make sure I saw the elderly face that they recognized as family. They loved seeing all the pictures of Christ throughout the Temple and Ella asked if the Baptismal Font was "Jesus' bathtub".

 

I was a bit less impressed by the actions of other people during the Temple Tour. It was mentioned several times to please be quiet, silent even during the tour, the Temple Service workers would not talk if asked questions and yet, a family in front of us (who happened to be members) were VERY loud the entire time. The girls even asked why they were talking. It was hard for me to keep my cool and not say something. Then tender mercies were shown once again and we were able to by pass the stair congestion and take the elevator up with a few others. When we exited the elevator, it was quiet and peaceful once again. The rest of the tour was wonderful. In the Sealing Room I made sure to show Ella the eternal mirrors and she just looked in awe. I'm saving that memory....Sofia said the temple was like magic and she loved the sparklies (the chandeliers) in the Celestial Room was here favorite.

 

If you have not been able to see a Temple Open House, I encourage you to do so. It was a wonderful experience for our entire family and although it made a VERY late night (we did not get home till after 11pm) I am so glad we made the small sacrifice of forgoing a few hours of sleep to go.

 

 

 The girls thought it was "the coolest thing ever" to ride on a bus shuttled from a parking lot to the Temple. A worker told us the Church spent over 239K just on buses alone for the Open House....WOW.

 

It was SO hot with all the people crammed into the small rooms and not much breeze. However, in LDS fashion, they had cookies and bottled water ready for you when you came out. It was one of the few times that the girls were much more impressed with the bottled water than they were a M&M cookie......