Last night we had the opportunity to take our children to the Draper Temple Open House. The kids were SOOOOOOO excited!! They talked about it all day long. When it was time to leave they got even more excited. On the drive there they were singing and playing. When we got to the point where you could see it on the mountain they were stunned. It was all lit up and glowing and beautiful. We got to our designated meeting house and were seated. We waited for several minutes and then we were taken into the Relief Society room to watch a 12 minute video. The video talked about temples, why we have them and it also talked about the city of Draper. Every time someone on the video would say the word temple, O would whisper loudly, "Mom, he just said temple. We are going to see the temple." Then someone said the word heaven and she broke out into song, singing I Lived In Heaven. She is a funny/naughty little girl!! Then it was time to get on the bus and head to the temple. My kids thought the bus ride was AWESOME!!. We got there in about 6 minutes. The closer we got the more excited the kids got. When we finally got inside--it did NOT disappoint. It was GORGEOUS!! Every room was stunning. I explained to my children that the murals on some of the walls of the ordinance rooms were hand painted they were shocked.
When we got to the Celestial Room, both of the girls gasped at the beauty. There is a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling that is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Both girls were stunned silent!! It was so sparkly and beautiful. Then we went into a sealing room. BEAUTIFUL!! A couple spoke to us about eternal families and encouraged us to look into the never ending mirrors. When we looked into them as a family and we never ended, I was brought to tears. This is my family for time and all eternity. It was an amazing experience. It made me feel so grateful for the wonderful husband that I have who hold and honors his Priesthood. It made me think how thankful I am for his example and for what an amazing husband and father he is. It also made me realize how lucky I am to have 3 beautiful, healthy children. I may not be able to have more, but the 3 that I have are amazing. And most important--it made me realize that if I live worthy--they are mine for all eternity!!
29 comments:
It is beautiful. It's our new temple, and we're volunteering on Wednesday. Yay!
Wow that is beautiful! Thanks for sharing with all of us. :)
We went a few weeks ago and my 2.5 year old is still talking riding on the green bus. She remembers to say "thank you for the temple" in her prayers too which is so sweet!
How AWESOME! We are going in March as a family :) ♥ Hugs!
beautiful story, i find your spirit spilling from your blog today. thanks so much for reminding me about the important things.
the last open house we were so privileged to take our family to was the Bountiful Temple.
What a great experience! I am so happy you got to go. I wish I lived closer so we could.. Maybe we will have to schedule a weekend before it closes and is dedicated
Liz
What a fabulous experience for all of you. It's so wonderful for kids to be able to see the inside of a temple, and begin to imagine themselves there. I think it helps.
that is a beautiful temple, and this is a beautiful post!
I love that children can sense the reverence of a temple. It is so beautiful! It sounds like you had a wonderful experience. I wish I could go to it!
How special that you all got to do that together!
It's beautiful, isn't it? My son thought the bus ride was the most exciting part- Every room was gorgeous!
Your family is lucky to have you too. Sounds like your all very happy and I loved hearing how excited the kids were to go the temple.
I'm going tomorrow morning! Thank you for this post, I'm so excited!
(Que and I are taking a non-member friend, so we are excited about that too!)
That is so neat. I wish we could figure out time to drive up. Oh well. :)
You made me cry. So glad you guys got to go! :)
It is a beautiful building. I'm in love with the Bride's room. And that chandaleir is amazing. I'm glad you had such a great experience there. I gathered my family around me in the Celestial room and told them that I wanted them to remember how that felt and that I expected to be there again with them when they were all old enough to go through the temple. And my kids loved the bus rides as well.
I'm excited because we got tickets to go to one of the dedication sessions. March 22.
We had a very similiar experience. Then my oldest went baptizing for the dead a week later...what a great combination. He was so excited and proclaimed.."Mom, it was AWESOME!"
Sounds beautiful. Glad you were able to share the experience as a family.
What a great opportunity to go tour this amazing temple. And, how cute were your kids!! I really loved the last line of your post:)
Finally. I've tried to leave a comment on this post 3 different times today. Something was goofy with Google.
I think I told you, but we got to go through this temple while it was under construction. That was really neat. We got lots of inside information and details the general public wouldn't get. Like the fact that the front brass doors cost $600,000.00 and when originally hung, the doorknobs were in the wrong place and the temple builing committee made them take them down and start over. Then when the knobs were moved you could sort of see if you squinted really hard where they were originally. Even though they had been patched and welded and were barely visible to the naked eye. They made them start over after that because they didn't want any kind of imperfections. The exactness with which the temples are built is amazing, but they need to be that way. They're building a House of the Lord.
We haven't been able to attend the open house yet and see it in all it's completed glory. I guess I'll just have to go to a session to see the finished product.
That sounds like a beautiful experience. :)
I don't know what else to say, though. It's odd being surrounded by people of a different religion, knowing you'll never experience what they do.
Eternal Family!! It doesn't get better than that!!! I'm glad you're feeling better. PS... Thanks for taking care of our VT this month. Love ya!
You're back, Jillene. How I've missed you so. I was thrilled to see your comment on our site...like seeing an old friend.
We live very close to the Mormon Temple in Oakland. I am continually amazed by its beauty. Glad that you and your family were able to see the Draper Temple. Sounds like you had a great time.
-Francesca
that is beautiful!
How beautiful!!! I missed my bloggy friends bear with me while i catch up!! loves!!!
The enthusiasm of the kids is so fun to hear about. I'm glad it was such a wonderful experience.
hey...i haven't been out reading for a few days...this is a beautiful post. thanks for sharing. i am glad that you had a good time. it is good to hear from you again. missed you. hope you are doing well.
I am so glad you went and it was a great experience!
it is so beautiful! i am glad you went what a good reminder.
Post a Comment