Draper Utah Temple

Tucked away up near a canyon in Draper, Utah, is a beautiful temple. It is the Draper Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS the members of the church are also known as Mormons). During the day the temple is a dominant edifice on the hillside. From the freeway in the morning you might be able to catch the sunrise complementing the building and the area round about. At night the radiant glow of the building shines like a beacon through the valley. 

There temples of the LDS throughout the world. Utah is unique because it has temple fairly close to each other. From the Draper temple you can see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and the Jordan River Temple. Both of them are also lit up at night and are beautiful day or night. The Salt Lake Temple is also in the valley but hidden in Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The temples are beautiful inside and out. When a temple is built or renovated the public is invited to tour the temple as see throughout it. 

Following are some photos I took in the fall of 2013.

Jordan River Utah Temple

In South Jordan, Utah, is a notable building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), whose members are also known as Mormons. It is called the Jordan River Temple. It derives its name from The Jordan River which is not too far away. The Jordan River Temple resides in the middle of the Salt Lake Valley. It can be seen from most parts of the valley.

The Jordan River Temple is one of the busiest LDS temples in the world! It is so busy that South Jordan became the first city in the world to have two LDS temples, the other being the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

The Jordan River Temple is a beautiful building and a symbol of a world faith.

South Jordan Utah Temple - 3 photo panorama

South Jordan Utah Temple - 16 photo panorama

Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple

13 months ago I took some photos of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in Daybreak, South Jordan, Utah. Here is a ten photo panorama from that occasion. It really is a lovely temple. It encouraging to see a bit of light standing out among darkness. There are the lights of the city be you better see that those lights are dim when you see a temple all lit up. I'm sure a host of analogies could be made. It must be admitted that the buildings are beautiful. They truly are.

The Rexburg Temple Presidency

I had the great opportunity to take photos of the Rexburg Temple Presidency. This temple has special meaning for me because it was where my wife and I were married. This is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all over the world.

There are 134 operating temples, 12 under construction, and 14 that have been announced. Most of the temple has been built in the last 50 years.  Here is a video showing many of them all around the world:

A temple is a sacred place and  a person has to live their life in a way to be worthy of entering. Though that is the case the temples are open to the public right after construction is complete, but before their dedication, so everyone might be able to see what a temple looks like from the inside. These open houses are great opportunities for anyone to learn more about temples. The open house for the San Salvador El Salvador Temple will end Saturday and there are upcoming open houses for the Brigham City Utah Temple,  Calgary Alberta Temple, Cordoba Argentina Temple,  Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple,  Kansas City Missouri Temple, Manaus Brazil Temple,  Phoenix Arizona Temple,  Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple,  Rome Italy Temple, and theTegucigalpa Honduras Temple.

If you have any questions about temples or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visit http://mormon.org/ and you can see if there is a temple near you at http://lds.org/church/temples/find-a-temple?lang=eng

August - 25 - 2010

This was a big toad!
Here is a photo in the same town where I took the photo above:
(it is right on the Mississippi)

August - 24 - 2010

This is an LDS (Mormon) Temple.

If you are driving along the Belt Way around D.C. this temple just pops out of the trees right in front of you. It is quite breathtaking.