The Mountain of the Lord ~ January 5 2021

I noticed something today.  And I got so excited.  And then I showed my husband and I cried, because I feel like this detail was chosen just for me.  There are some new detailed stone pieces going in at the top of the temple.  I haven't heard anything about what the theme for our temple will be.  But I've been sooooo curious! I have seen the themes that have been chosen for other temples that were chosen from the history of the area or some other meaning that has to do with the church. These are things like sunstones on the Nauvoo temple, beehives on the Salt lake temple, apple blossoms in the Payson temple.  Well, today I found a little glimpse of what the Saratoga Springs temple theme is as I zoomed in on one of my photos.  What do you see?

I see a sunrise over our mountains and a lake just below the mountains.  

One of my favorite gospel analogies of all time is comparing a mountain to a temple.  We have shared this analogy with young men while hiking Mount Timpanogos.  I have shared it with young women, at young women's camp.  And we have shared it with our children during our hikes and camping trips.  

One of the places I "hear Him" best is in the mountains or in nature.  One of the things I love most about living in Eagle Mountain is that I can always look out to our beautiful mountains and I feel peace.  

Today I found mountains and lakes and a sunrise on the temple.  I couldn't ask for a more perfect theme for our new temple.

A peek through those windows, and you can see a staircase. I wonder what it will look like when it is done.

Another new thing I noticed today is that the stake center has a steeple.  It is a beautiful building that compliments the temple perfectly.

These are the photos I zoomed in on to find the mountain details on the temple. 

 

The Morning Breaks

With the sun going down so early this time of the year, I have started to plan my time at the temple around sunrise instead of sunset. It's fun to see the light coming from a different perspective.  These first two photos were taken one at the beginning of my time at the temple, and one right before I left.  I love both of them, but am so glad I drove around one more time to get the second shot with the sun higher in the sky.  It's interesting to me to see how even the nasty smog in the sky seems to dissipate as the sun rises.

Look at that beautiful stone surrounding the doorway!  I am so excited to see what the permanent doors look like!

The bricks seem to be all done for the stake center.  Looks like we are getting ready for a steeple.

There is something about seeing those giant stone slabs on a truck that just makes me happy.  It hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it would be fun to see them traveling on the road to the temple.  I'm sure a few people have.

It just gets more and more beautiful each time I come.  

 

Temples and Tumbleweeds

The stone is going up quickly.

The brick on the stake center is moving along as well.

There are the beginnings of a door.  Imagining all the people who will use this doorway makes my heart happy.

The construction workers are now parking on the paved parkinglot instead of on the streets around the temple.

The color of the brick on the stake center goes nicely with the stone of the temple.

These tumbleweeds have been on my mind lately.  Sometimes it's hard to see the good through all the tumbleweeds of life.  As I tried to get high enough above the fence to get some good shots with my camera, the tumbleweeds were prickly against my legs.  

There is a lot of opposition in this world, and sometimes it might seem hard to focus on the good that comes from our Savior and His atonement when there are so many tumbleweeds blocking our view.  But the beauty of it, is that even amid the prickly tumbleweeds of life, we can still build our relationship with our Savior.  It might look messy, like a construction site, but little by little we can grow and become something more beautiful that we could have become on our own. Over time, Christ can help us clear away our tumbleweeds until someday we will be like this beautiful temple.  With flowers all around in the places where tumbleweeds once blocked our view of what we could become.