PHOTO ESSAY

The view from the freeway is quick and sweet. You have to be watching for it but be careful when you finally see the temple — just pull over or you’ll wreck. If you look very closely you can find all six spires.

I love the Moroni figure on each of the temples. That symbolic image from the Book of Revelation is so powerful: “And I saw another angel [scripture mastery] fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The architect of the temple here must have walked among these enormous pine trees and felt the texture of the bark and been awed by the sheer height of these monoliths. There is a oneness between the House of the Lord and nature here.

As Maurine and I pulled into the neighborhood where the temple stands we said, “We could live here. This is about as lovely as it gets.” Now, I know that we are at the tail end of the tulips (I’ll probably get letters about that), but I still think they were breathtaking. I’m still going to show you some close-ups of the tulips later.

Okay, so I was transfixed by the combination of the trees and the temple. We both could feel the Spirit of the Lord as we walked upon this hallowed ground. What a place a transcendent beauty to bring your family.

The spires of this temple are truly striking in their brilliance and beauty. The star motif was everywhere to be found upon the temple. It reminded me of the kind of artistic rendition you often see of the star that pointed to where the babe of Bethlehem lay.

I had only one lens with me on this trip (remember, I was in the area to be a Grandpa, not a professional photographer) so I could not capture the full grandeur of this temple. What a magnificent edifice.

All I can say is that if I were living in one of the thirty stakes of this temple district, I would want to attend here often—just to be lifted up in the very presence of the temple. The unique architecture of this temple reminded me of this Psalm: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.”