The Temple of All Temples, 14 May 2014

Finally!  When we came out of the temple this afternoon, it was not freezing.  I didn't even put my sweater on and it was so nice!  I think I will miss the warm. . . .some. . . .maybe. . .you think?

We met together in the chapel dressed in white for another wonderful day in the temple; learning, sharing, participating, and serving.  We missionary couples have come to enjoy one another and have felt a camaraderie.  We would suspect you young missionaries have felt the same with your groups in the MTC.  We wished each other well in our various temple assignments throughout the world when we departed.

Our training involved sealings - their purpose and their process.  President Walker continues to perform them and when he does, Sister Walker attends with him as she loves the spirit that is felt in those holy sacred rooms.  Elder Kent F Richards, of the Seventy, and a member of the temple department spoke.   He recently attended the Ft. Lauderdale Temple Dedication.  Monday morning after the dedication on Sunday, he participated in baptisms, which were the first ordinances performed in that temple.  He explained that even after the spiritual power of the dedicatory sessions on Sunday, the true and real purpose of the temple is the performing of the ordinances.  Temples are where heaven meets earth and all the blessings Heavenly Father has for us are there.

We did a sealing session, broken up into four couples per group.  Our group crossed through the celestial room, up a hall, through the old sealing office, through 3 other rooms that wound around until we passed a set of exterior doors.  They were fascinating doors as we wondered where they exited the temple.  We then came to sealing room #5.  It was small but perfect for our group.  We all took turns being parents and children.  Our walk out granted more time to view the intricate woodwork and the furnishings of the various rooms.  We learned later in the afternoon that we were on the back side of the Holy of Holies.

After lunch, President & Sister Walker took us on a "walk around" the temple.  (He says they don't do tours of the temple.)  We began in the basement, even below the baptistry.  The halls and floors were clean, almost sparkling when we looked in the mechanic workshop.  In fact, a worker was mopping part of the floor and stopped to dry it so we could walk past.  We saw the engineers room where three brothers were monitoring the workings of the temple on screens to see that all the mechanical parts of the edifice were working properly.  Every Monday at 9 p.m. a crew of volunteers come in and clean the temple from stem to stern in preparation for the coming week.  We toured the baptistry seeing the original 12 oxen standing erect with gold hooves and horns.

We then journeyed up to the 5th floor, the Solemn Assembly Room, via the elevator.  It is 155 steps up the stairs and we were offered to brave the climb but there were no takers!  The windows were being refurbished which caused all of the seats to be covered in plastic.  It is a fantastic room; large, spacious, and of a swirly design.  The woodwork curved around one way and then another and there are four circular stairways in the corners with beautiful wood railing and banister.  It is beautiful.  Dad recalled attending a question and answer session in the room with President Joseph Fielding Smith some 50 years earlier.

Solemn Assembly room is the top room in this view, being two stories tall.

President Walker then took us to the James E Talmage room behind the Solemn Assembly Room on the east end.  We gathered in, sitting on chairs, the window ledge, the floor, the stairs leading up and out of the room, and some standing to listen as President Walker pointed out the original roll top desk Talmage used to write, Jesus The Christ.  He also pointed out a huge old dictionary he used.  Sister Walker said a Talmage family member said once that it couldn't be his because he didn't need one.  President Walker assured us that it was indeed used by Talmage.  To conclude our three day's of training, President and Sister Walker bore testimony of temples, the gospel, and of our Savior Jesus Christ in this setting.

We were given name tags the first day of our training.  We discovered that wearing a name tag provides opportunity.  We learned quickly that they protected us from missionaries!  Once they saw our tags they did not ask how they could help us!  On the other hand, when visitors to temple square saw us they would stop and ask questions.  We tried to be helpful if we could.  For some reason they did not see us as threatening.

We were taking the picture of the model of the temple in the Visitor's Center, when a young woman and her parents stopped to look at it.  We moved out of their way and they moved closer to examine the rooms and the details.  She then turned to Dad and said that she was getting married next week in the temple and her family and parents, who were there with her are not members.  They began asking questions and he gave answers that seemed to satisfy some of their concerns, etc.

We learned that wearing the name tag notified the temple staff that we were missionaries and clothing rental and lunch were at no cost.

Fun in the elevator!

So this is it, the last night before we fly to England.  We spent the evening finalizing our packing and weighing bags to be sure they fit the limit.   We walked to the City Creek Mall and found Kneaders where we had dinner and then got ice cream at Farr's.