The Phoenix Temple

We started the day waking up at the Residence Inn next to the Mayo Clinic.  After breakfast we hit the pool for a nice chilly swim.  It wasn’t too cold and once you got it it was actually really nice.IMG_9723 IMG_9724

Then we got cleaned up, had lunch in our room and headed over to the Phoenix Temple Open House which was our excuse for staying in a hotel this weekend even though it is only about 1 hour from our house 🙂

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IMG_9733Parking for the tour was at a nearby water park and they had tour buses shuttling people back and forth to the temple. We were hoping to see the

temple from the road somewhere and we were a little surprised that we didn’t really see it until we got into the stake center parking lot and the steeple peaked out above the stake center. It was still a beautiful site.

Now here is the crazy part of the story. We got off the bus and walked into the stake center for a presentation. As I step off the bus there was a guy at the front of the bus who looked familiar. As we started the presentation I got another look at the familiar face and I was pretty certain it was a friend of mine from High School. As we filed out of the room I stopped him and asked him if he was who he thought and sure enough it was! We embraced and chatted (as reverently as possible) during the tour and come to find out he has been living in Arizona for the past 5 years.  I had no idea.

Anyway, the temple was beautiful.  Unfortunately, I can’t help compare it to the Gilbert temple which really is possibly the most amazing temple I’ve been in.  We were glad our kids had another opportunity to be inside a temple.  What a cool time to be a part of this church!  Tomorrow we may try and catch a showing of “Meet The Mormons” after we do another morning swim, checkout and go to our Nephew Max’s baptism.IMG_9737

Gilbert Arizona Temple

In case you haven’t heard. The church announced two new temples to be built in Arizona. The Gilbert Temple will be less than 5 miles from our house! That will be exciting and fun to be a part of a new temple. I know it was a great experience for the Runyans in Folsom. If you’re familiar with the area, it will be across the 202 freeway from the San Tan Village (Greenfield & Pecos). The other temple will be in eastern Arizona. I’m sure the process will take years but it will be fun to see the progress and eventually invite friends and neighbors to the open house.

FHE at the Temple

We decided to take Jackson to see the Mesa Temple tonight for FHE. We wanted to make sure and see the Reflections of Christ display at the visitor’s center before it ends next week. Jackson had fun and liked seeing all the Jesus pictures and statues. It’s amazing how well little kids can recognize Christ at such a young age.


 

Temple Square



This weekend we met up with the Woods and Kings in Salt Lake City and Saturday we visited a few of the sites at temple square. Although we’ve lived in the Salt Lake valley for almost 18 months this was our first trip as a family there. We had fun at the visitor’s center, toured the conference center and had lunch at the Lion House Pantry. After Jackson’s nap we played in the pool at the hotel and had book club where we discussed our reading of Bruce R. McConkie’s biography.