Draper Temple Open House

“Every temple that this Church has built has in effect stood as a monument to our belief in the immortality of the human soul, that this phase of mortal life through which we pass is part of a continuous upward climb, so to speak, and that as certain as there is life here, there will be life there. That is our firm belief. It comes about through the Atonement of the Savior, and the temple becomes, as I have indicated, the bridge from this life to the next. The temple is concerned with things of immortality. We wouldn’t have to build a temple for marriages if we didn’t believe in the eternity of the family. We build it so the family may be eternal. All of the ordinances which take place in the house of the Lord become expressions of our belief in that fundamental and basic doctrine. The temple therefore becomes the ultimate in our system of worship and therefore is of great and significant importance to us" ~President Gordon B. Hinckley

Today I had the awesome opportunity to attend the open house for the Draper Temple. My stake arranged a trip, and we had to leave at 615 to get there for our schedule time. That is, 615 AM. I never get to sleep in during the week, so Saturday's are usually when I try to catch up on my sleep. However, I'm so glad I went on this trip. I never have been to a Temple Open House before, so this was an amazing experience. The Draper Temple is absolutely beautiful. I mean, all temples are beautiful, but this is probably one of my new favorites (Just behind the Denver and Oakland). I can't even describe the feeling of peace that was present as we walked through all the rooms. Everything was so pure and perfect, and it made me so excited for when I one day will get to go through the temple and get my endownments. When we walked through the Bride's room, my roommates and I couldn't help but feel a little bit giddy about how pretty and cute it was, and feel excited about one day going in there before our own weddings! The paintings on the walls in some of the rooms were so amazing, I was in awe at how beautiful and intricate they were. However, my favorite part of the whole tour was the Sealing Room. I've seen pictures of sealing rooms, but there is nothing more cool than actually being in the room. While listening to one of the tour people talk, I just was overwhelmed by the spirit and it was reaffirmed to me how much I never will settle for anything less than a temple marriage. When we were told the tour was over, I just wanted to just stay in that room, it was so beautiful and the spirit was very much there. I am so grateful I was able to go today :) My love for the Temples grew significantly and just going through the tour made me even more determined to always stay worthy so I can one day enter ino a dedicated one and participate in those covenants. After the tour (well usually..we saw before), they had a beautiful display of pictures of Temples around the world in the Cultural Hall of a Stake Center, and they provided yummy cookies! This was such a great way to end the week. I love the Temple! :)


Three of my roommates and I in front of the Draper Temple