Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Draper LDS Temple
As the only member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in my family, I thought it would be neat to post some pictures and the article below for everyone and friends that aren't "Mormon." The pictures below are of the new Draper Temple-only a few minutes from home. All new temples like this one have open houses before they are dedicated, so the public can appreciate the site for themselves. Most of the temples are very similar in style inside....they are the most beautiful and peaceful places, a real heaven on earth. Going to the temple is the best way to step away from reality, worldly things, and give you the opportunity to focus on the more important and spiritual things in life. I am so grateful to be a member of the church and for the chance I have to live in driving distance to over 6 temples here in Utah.
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 20-22 March 2009, the Draper Utah Temple will be formally dedicated. Latter-day Saints in the area served by the new temple will attend 12 dedicatory sessions. After its dedication, the temple will serve approximately 60,000 members of the Church in Draper and surrounding communities. It will become the 129th Latter-day Saint temple worldwide.
Temples are considered "houses of the Lord" where Christ's teachings are reaffirmed through sacred ordinances such as marriage that unite families for eternity. In the temple, Church members learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants with God to serve Him and their fellow man.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, former worldwide leader of the Church, announced the construction of the new temple at the Church’s October 2004 general conference.
Now, with the mountains of Corner Canyon as a backdrop, the Draper Utah Temple rises more than 168 feet to the top of its angel Moroni statue. Its exterior is made of white granite from China, and its interior includes limestone from France and Makore wood from Central Africa. Art-glass and murals were created by local artists.
The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Draper — an area once known to Native Americans as Sivogah, meaning willows — goes back to 1847, when Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. By 1852, it had grown to a community of 20 families whose livelihood was farming and raising cattle and sheep. The first Latter-day Saint congregation in the area was organized in September 1852, with William Draper Jr. as its local ecclesiastical leader and in whose honor the community was later renamed.
More about Temples
The sacredness of the temple anciently can be seen in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, Moses had the children of Israel carry with them the Tabernacle (a large, portable temple) as they wandered in the wilderness. King Solomon built and dedicated the great temple that was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. It was rebuilt and later substantially expanded, but again destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. The great Western Wall can still be seen in Jerusalem today, and even after millennia, remains a sacred site for Jews. The New Testament gives an account of Jesus Christ clearing the temples when its sacredness was violated by people using its courts as a common market.
Latter-day Saint temples are considered houses of God, a place of holiness and peace separate from the preoccupations of the world. They provide a place where Church members make formal promises and commitments to God. They are also the place where the highest sacraments of the faith occur — the marriage of couples and the “sealing” of families for eternity.
Temples serve as the only place where ceremonies such as baptism and eternal marriage can be performed in behalf of those who have died —a practice that Latter-day Saints believe was followed in New Testament times but that later was lost.
Temples point Latter-day Saints to Jesus Christ and their eventual life with Him, their Heavenly Father and their family members on the condition of faithfulness to Christ’s teachings.
In a modern-day revelation, Joseph Smith received direction to build a temple in Kirtland, Ohio (dedicated in 1836). Later he was instructed to build a temple in Nauvoo, Illinois (1846). So important were temples to early Church members that within days after arriving in Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young selected the site of the Salt Lake Temple.
There are 145 temples throughout the world either in operation, under construction or announced. (See temple list.)
On most temples there is a golden statue of a man in flowing robes, with a long horn pressed to his lips. The statue depicts the angel Moroni, an ancient prophet and a central figure in the Book of Mormon. The statue is symbolic of the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
Sum Sum, Natsu, Verano. 3:41 PM.
