Lots of Mormon temples being built all over the world--infographic below

A Mormon temple has been announced for my city, but it's still in the planning stage and not included below.  But look at the exciting things happening all over the world:

Another trip to the Phoenix area

No rest for me after driving to the Phoenix area yesterday.  My niece Carolyn needed a ride to one of the metro airports there this afternoon.  Due to church and work I couldn't take her in the afternoon, but told her I could take her hours early if she were willing to wait.  She was.

Here she is grabbing her things out of the car at the airport:

 

After dropping her off I headed back the 15 miles to the main freeway and as I was driving along I saw something on the other side of the freeway earthen berm and thought to myself, "That looks like an LDS temple."  But of course, I wasn't near the Mesa temple and the Mesa temple doesn't look anything like the thing I saw.  Oh.  Except there are TWO new LDS temples being built in the Phoenix area, including one in Gilbert, which I was passing.  You can't see it very well in this picture I snapped, but it is just above the berm in the middle of the picture.  Oh, and behind a light pole.  Next to Waldo.

 

This artist's conception picture miiiiight give you a better idea what it looks like.  The exterior seemed to be in place, so I assume they are working on the interior now.

 

A sort-of trip to the temple

Our ward has been sponsoring a trip to the LDS temple 2 hours away twice a year as long as we've been living here and we haven't missed one yet.  We provide our own transportation, but they provide babysitting near the temple, along with lunch after our temple session of worship.

In all this time Bill and I have never been asked to babysit, but today was finally our turn.  We were assigned to watch the children for the first half of the time the parents would be gone, then we would go to the temple and do some faster-than-normal things there due to the shortened time.

But!  There was a wreck on the way to the big city that didn't hold *us* up because we passed it only about 10 minutes after it happend and the freeway wasn't closed yet, but almost everyone else behind us got caught in the traffic jam as they rerouted traffic off the freeway and then back on.  And then the temple apparently was PACKED!  There were weddings!  There were guests!  There were photographers!  There were bridesmaids in their pretty, matching dresses!  There were more regular temple attendees than normal, even for an August Saturday because of some internal changes!  We decided to just stay at the babysitting place and skip the extreme hustle and bustle of the temple today!

Honestly, one reason I go to the temple is to feel the peace of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  I wanted to feel that today and I feared I wouldn't, or at least not to the extent I usually do.

So the picture is of the girls as we got ready to leave.  You can see how excited Elizabeth was to leave.  The girls really love this semi-annual activity and guess what?  Our ward juuuust changed it to a quarterly activity, so we'll be going at least four times a year from now on.  So happy about that!

Missing Nauvoo

Last summer when we returned from Nauvoo we planned to return in 2013.  But . . . life got in the way and we realized going back in 2014 was more realistic, so we put 2014 in our sights instead. 

I was straightening up around the house and came across a little folder with the schedule for the Nauvoo Temple.

I'm envious that our friends are already there this year and enjoying the work, fun, and joy of being in Nauvoo and helping visitors have a terrific visit.

We are planning to apply to be summer volunteers next year--I hope they accept us!

Bass Pro Shop

Have you ever been to a Bass Pro Shop?  It's a sporting goods store that Bill has been wanting to visit for awhile, but it's in the Phoenix area, which is not where we live.

However, we went on one of our favorite outings which is the semiannual family trip to the LDS (Mormon) temple in Mesa, Arizona that our ward sponsors.  The kids go to a church building near the temple to play while the parents go to the temple to worship.  Afterward everyone goes back to the church building to enjoy a big pizza lunch (and chips and soda and cookies . . . ).  The kids love it and Bill and I love being able to go to the temple together and he's my favorite traveling companion so I always like the hours in the car with him.

So that trip took us near a Bass Pro Shop.  Look at the fireside area just inside the door:

There were comfortable leather chairs sitting around it.  I planned to go back and sit, but inside we found out they were having a children's exploration day in the store.  They got a card to check things off.  First they made a butterfly that they glued a thermometer onto.  Then they went upstairs and shot arrows.  Caroline was strong enough to use the real bow and arrows, while the other girls decided to use the sort of "play" set.

 

There were a couple of other activities as well.  The highlight of the day, however, was fish feeding time at the tank.  My pictures today left quite a bit to be desired, but you can get an idea of the magnitude of this tank in this picture (that's a glass-sided elevator through the water on the other side):

They liked when the feeder threw pellets out.  They liked it better when he threw out night crawlers.  The best (for them) was when the feeder threw out lots of little live fish and we watched the big ones, um, EAT the little fish.  I might have nightmares about that, myself.

We had a terrific day together.

One of my favorite annual trips

. . . is to the LDS temple in Mesa, Arizona with the stake Relief Society ladies.

taken from the door of the bus as we were leaving

 

Once a year our stake (a group of 7 wards (congregations)) charters a couple of buses and all the women are invited to come to the temple.  There are usually about 90 women, which means only a few take advantage of the event, but it is a wonderful one.

 

Women can go inside the temple to perform sacred ordinances or they can go to the visitors' center and watch movies, look at displays, and enjoy the beautiful temple grounds.

 

I sat next to a good friend who will be in a new ward starting tomorrow (geographical boundary changes) and we chatted most of the 2 hours there and back.  We nibbled on the bag breakfast that was provided and watched a movie on the bus. 

 

Excellent day.

Temple location?

Mormons in Tucson are getting a temple!  Actually, everyone in the city will be able to take a tour during the Open House before the temple is dedicated to God, so I guess you could say everyone in Tucson is getting a temple.

This is a possible location:

The blue dot is a location where the LDS Church has 10 acres and it is widely thought to be the location for the construction of the new temple.  However, until the Church officially announces a location, it is just speculation.  Which is tons of fun.

Temple trip today!

Once or twice a year our ward sponsors a trip to the Mesa, Arizona LDS temple.  Of course anyone can visit the temple any time (although it or the visitors' center might not be open), but on this trip the ward provides babysitters for children as well as a lunch afterward. 

It's a favorite in my family because my girls love to be babysat.  Bill and I can worship in the temple together, then we can have a nice lunch afterward without having to pack a picnic or find a restaurant.

Except . . . .

Bill had to go to Gallup today to take care of some business.  When I found out about that I invited my mom to go with the girls and me instead.  My mom hasn't wanted to make the trip to Mesa because it is several hours away by car, but she has had something important to do in the temple. 

Did you know that an important part of LDS doctrine is that families can be together forever and not just "until death do you part"?  Husband and wife can be sealed together in an LDS temple and when children are born to them, they are also sealed to their parents.  If children come into a family through adoption or before the parents are sealed, there is a special ceremony in the temple to seal a child to his or her parents.

So what if some of the family members have died?  Doesn't seem fair they don't get this blessing of being sealed, does it?

That's where proxy temple ordinances come in.  A living person can "stand in" for a person who has already died and the same ordinances (like sacraments) can be performed.

My mother's parents and sisters have all passed away and they have had these special ordinances performed for them.  I hope they have accepted these ordinances, as it is always up to the deceased to decide if he or she wants to accept in heaven what has been done here on earth for them.

Today my mother was sealed to her parents.  Now her family (father, mother, sister, and sister) are all sealed as a family.  I feel really happy and my mother does too.

Here are a couple of pictures of Caroline today:

Good Saturday

This morning I traveled by charter bus to the Mesa Arizona LDS Temple. The ladies in our local area take a women-only trip once a year and I never miss it. In the temple we learn about where we came from, why we're here, and where we're going. Simple, yet important, right? In additon, we perform ordinances for our ancestors who have died so they can have the same knowledge on "the other side."

When I got home this is what was in my driveway:

Dh was in the house kitchen whipping up a late lunch of boxed macaroni and cheese and fried Spam. We know how to eat around here.

Excellent day.

Mesa Arizona Temple

Today our ward had a temple trip to the Mesa Arizona LDS Temple. We don't have a temple in our town or even in our general area and we want the church leaders to know we in our town are willing to drive to Mesa and are a temple-going people. So please build a temple in our city! Here is the beautiful Mesa Temple: Here are some basic statistics about the temple:

Milestones

Announcement 01 October 1919

Groundbreaking 25 April 1922

Dedication 23 October 1927

Rededication 15 April 1975

It has a beautiful 1920s style and was built during and just after the time the Cardston Alberta temple was being built. I has more than 60 LDS Stakes in its temple district, which would explain why there are 2 new temples which will be built in the Phoenix area in the next several years. That will help relieve the congestion in and around the Mesa Temple.

Here is a link to a FAQ to answer questions people have when a new temple opens near them:
http://www.lds.org/temples/faq/0,11264,1904-1,00.html and here is a link to a page that tells the purpose of temples: http://www.lds.org/temples/purpose/0,11298,1897-1,00.html

And if you are a Korean speaker/reader, here is a link to a page about doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Korean. Since I don't read Korean, I can't post the specific link for information on the temple but if you look around the site I'm sure you'll find what you are looking for. And here is the LDS Church site for Koreans.