Temple Square

After touring the Conference Center we crossed the street to visit Temple Square. Our tour at the Conference Center lasted longer than we thought it would so we didn't have as much time to look around as we thought we would. We were planning on going to see the Joseph Smith movie at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building so we didn't have time to go into the Visitor Center. Now, looking back I wish we would have taken the boys into the Visitor Center. I think they would have enjoyed seeing the Christus as well as some of the other things there. I guess we just have to go back soon!!

Isn't love Grand!

We did get to go inside the Tabernacle. It is a beautiful building. It is amazing to think that the early saints were able to build such wonderful edifices without the aide of modern machinery. I have many memories of the Tabernacle. I remember visiting there when I was a youth, listening to concerts at Christmas time during college and going there for Conference with Chad. Sitting in the Tabernacle for conference was quite an experience. We had to get to Temple Square early in the morning (still dark) and stand in line for tickets to get inside the Tabernacle. Once inside we were seated (almost squished) into the bleacher style seating. Over the course of two hours it can get pretty hot inside the Tabernacle and we were in the balcony (remember hot air rises!). We didn't let it bother us though, we had the privilege of seeing the Prophet. I still remember when the Prophet entered the room - everyone stood and the room became silent. What an awesome moment! It was fun to take the boys to the Tabernacle so they could start their own memories. Hopefully one day they will be able to attend conference (in the Conference Center now) and be able to have their own wonderful experiences.

I had fun taking pictures around Temple Square. The flowers, of course, were beautiful! I am always impressed with how beautiful the grounds look. It doesn't matter what season it is - it is alway stunning.

As I mentioned before, the Salt Lake Temple is an amazing feat of engineering. You just don't see buildings built that way anymore. Maybe it is because we are in such a hurry in these modern days. The saints were building a temple to their God and they put all of their love, talent and dedication into their work. It reminds me of the movie Only a Stonecutter. It follows the life of John Rowe Moyle. He is a stonecutter on the Salt Lake Temple. It is a great movie.

It took 40 years to complete this magnificent temple. What a masterpiece it turned out be. I have seen so many beautiful pictures of the Salt Lake Temple and I wanted to try to get a beautiful shot as well. Personally, I don't think you can take a bad picture of the temple. I was able to take some of my pictures during sunset. The sun lit up the temple in such a beautiful and serene way. I just loved it!

I love the reflecting pool!

As we headed over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to see the movie I saw another cool image. A shadow of the temple sat against the wall of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I had to stop and take a picture. Later, as we sat in the lobby waiting to go into the movie, I showed my mom some of the pictures I had taken. When she saw the shadow picture she told me that Tanner would be happy that I took that picture. She explained that as she and Tanner were walking over to the movie Tanner saw the shadow and said, "My mom should take a picture of that." That was pretty cool since Tanner was no nowhere near me when he made that comment. I guess great minds think alike!!

As we entered the lobby to wait for the movie I saw another cool image. I saw the temple silhouetted through the curtain on the window. Again, I took another picture. This picture is cool, but it didn't quite turn out the way I saw it in person (always the challenge).

The movie, Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration, was wonderful. It was really well done and wonderful to watch. You could really feel the spirit in the theatre. The boys were really impressed and even asked us questions afterwards. The movie got over about 9 pm, so we were expecting to exit the building into the dark, but no . . . it was still bright outside! I was amazed at how bright it was. Since the lighting was so beautiful with the setting sun (the temple had an orange glow)

I grabbed my family and asked my dad to take a picture (thanks Dad!). This is definitely one of my favorite pictures from our whole trip.