Temple Open House

The Brigham City Temple Open house has been going on all month.  I guess since dad and I were able to tour both the Oquirrh Mountain and Draper Temple in the last 2 years or so I wasn't sure we'd make the trip to see this one.  At the beginning of the week I started thinking that it might be a good experience for you (even though I know you won't have any real memory of it, I still thought you knew enough about temples that it would be meaningful for a little while).  I heard a few people say that they weren't really checking for reservations, so I made a quick decision and decided that we should go on Wednesday.  I called Grandma Hardcastle, who happened to have been called off work that day, and we went right after lunch.

I'm still not sure what I thought you'd get out of going, I think you were mostly impressed with the white booties we had to wear, the cookies and water bottles we got afterwards, and possibly the porta-potties outside the temple.  You and Kate both seemed to like the baptismal font.  Kate, because it was water, and she loves water, but you've been to enough baptisms that you understood a little bit more.  You made comments about the 'lights with jewels' in the Celestial Room and sealing rooms and wanted to sit on each and every chair and bench we saw.

When we were getting ready to go Grandma told you that we were going to the Temple, which was Heavenly Father's house.  You got pretty angry and said that the church was Heavenly Father's house.  We explained that He also lived the temple, and you asked if He would be there.  I explained that we would see pictures of Him and Jesus while we were there.  Later that afternoon when we were talking to Jodi on the phone you told her it was Jesus' house -but you only saw His picture.

You made a few remarks about how it was beautiful and you liked the 'map' (pamphlet) that they gave us at the beginning.   I remember a lot from the first open house I attended -but I was also 13 years old.  I know that you won't remember the visit, but I hope that you (and your sister and brother) will get to attend more and more as you get older.

I only got one quick picture of you and Kate outside following the tour.  It was pretty sunny and there was no way I was getting both of you to look at me at the same time.