Sunday, February 10, 2008

I Love...

The Rexburg Temple



Today is the dedication of the Rexburg Temple. Kent and I are going to watch it broadcast to a chapel in one of the buildings on campus. I'm so excited to have a temple here! It will be such a sacred and holy place, where we can go often to learn the things of eternity. Last night we went to a Temple celebration--children from stakes all across our temple district performed songs and dances that told the history of this area and celebrated having a temple here. The dedication is going to be wonderful. President Monson and President Eyring are dedicating it today in four separate sessions. It's going to be wonderful for Kent and I to have a temple literally only 1 mile away. We can see it from our parking lot. It's so beautiful up on the hill.

A few interesting facts about it:


  • The temple artwork and detailing is themed around wheat. All of the beautiful stained glass windows have a wheat pattern in them, the upholstery on the chairs is wheat patterned, the carpet in the Celestial and sealing rooms has been hand-etched by a local artist in a beautiful wheat design, and the moldings in the stair railings have pictures of wheat. There's actually a beautiful wheat field just east of the temple that makes some great pictures.
  • President Hinckley was very involved in the construction process. He had a special hand in every detail of it. This temple was prophesied by Wilford Woodruff back in the 1880's when the saints from Logan were asked to settle the Snake River Valley. President Woodruff came to cheer them up because they were suffering from the harsh climate (think lots of snow!) and he told them that one day there would be a temple here.
  • This temple has the largest sealing room of all the temples around the world. I think they said that it can seat 115 people.
  • The Celestial room and the sealing rooms are all lit by incredibly beautiful chandeliers of genuine Austrian crystals.

I wish I had pictures of the inside to show you. It's the most beautiful building I have ever been in. A lot of the woodwork is actually pear wood, which is a very unique color and grain, and there's also a lot of beautiful marble tilework in the floors. It's definitely fitting for the House of the Lord. It has been such a wonderful experience to watch the temple be built. From groundbreaking until dedication I've been living in a place where I can see the temple from my front window, and I love it!

4 comments:

heidi said...

that so awesome, i'm a little jealous that it's so close. it really sounds like it's beautiful, thanks for the details

Shannon b said...

that is so amazing! It is a beautiful building. It looks very similar to the Twin Falls temple which is currently being built directly across the street from where Scott's parents are building a home. They also said something about how it will have the largest sealing room among all the temples -- so it must have the same or very similar design.
All those wheat details sound gorgeous. I bet you guys can't wait to get in there and do a session!

Teresa said...

It will be wonderful to hear how things went today- What a great experience. One of the blessings of living where you do....snow and all :}

Anonymous said...

Wow - it really is so beautiful!