I want to take a moment to reach out to all my friends, but most especially those who live in and around Tucson, and tell you about something very special and exciting for me and many of the people in our community: the newly built Temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints here in Tucson. I want to tell you a little about why this new building is special to me and invite you to go inside that building and see how beautiful it is during the open house this June.
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| May 2016 Tucson, AZ: still under construction. |
What is this open house? Prior to a temple being dedicated, it is open to the public to walk through and see the interior. Anyone, regardless of age, gender, religion, or life style can walk through the temple during the open house. After it has been dedicated, only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) who hold a temple recommend can go inside a temple and participate in the work done inside.
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| Salt Lake City, UT Temple at Christmas time. |
Why would you care about seeing the inside of a temple? Well, if you are curious about Mormon theology you would get some insight into what it is that goes on inside a temple that is actively being used. If you aren't curious, that is fine. Temples are beautiful and unique. The work that happens in temples is the same everywhere in the world, but the architecture and decor different in each one. The design of a temple usually reflects the culture and natural beauty of the place it was built. Even if religion holds no interest for you, it is worth it to see the beauty of this building. It is a work of art and well worth walking through.
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| Seattle, Washington Temple |
How do I go to this open house? There is no charge for a reservation, it is FREE to attend. As I said before, anyone can attend the open house. Follow this link to make a reservation:
https://templeopenhouse.lds.org
All you need to do is select the Tucson AZ Temple, choose your date, time, and number of people in your reservation. Your reservation info will be e-mailed to you, so use a real e-mail, you won't start getting spam as a result. The open house begins June 3rd and ends June 24th, you can tour every day of the week except Sunday.
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| Apia, Samoa Temple |
What will this open house be like? I have been to a couple of these, so I can tell you! You will watch a short video that explains the sacred nature of the temple and why we build temples. You will then get to walk through and see several of the rooms. You will likely not see every single little nook and office, but you will see the majority of the interior. When you enter, there will be volunteers helping you put on weird looking white booties over your shoes. These are for the very functional purpose of protecting the carpets while thousands of people walk on them for three weeks. Imagine having to replace the carpets right after installing them! In other open houses I have been to there were signs posted in each room you walk through to explain its purpose, I imagine the same will be done here. As you walk through, you will be asked to refrain from talking unless in a whisper to maintain a reverent atmosphere. You will also be asked to turn off your phones and to not take pictures of the interior. There will be professional photos posted online for the whole world to see and share, but others are asked not to take pictures. Taking goofy selfies inside a temple is the same level of no-no as goofy selfies at the Vietnam war memorial. It is in bad taste and does not show proper respect to the reverent nature of such places. Take as many photos of the exterior as you like and pose however you want. Walk around and see the landscape and garden, see the temple from every angle, but bring some water because it is June, it will be HOT.
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| St. George, UT Temple |
What are temples for? For the purposes of this post I will simply say that the purpose of temples is to bring families and individuals to God. marriages performed in temples are called a sealing. Couples and families are sealed to each other and to God. They are sealed to parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren, for time and eternity. It is our belief that those family relationships can last beyond the grave and that the sealing work can be done by proxy for our relatives who have passed away. I believe the whole goal of such work is to bind the whole human family to their Heavenly Father and Mother so we can live with them and be like them. If this sounds crazy to you, that is fine. It doesn't hurt my feelings and I will continue to love you and be your friend.
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| Las Vegas, Nevada Temple |
I feel close to God and Jesus Christ, when I spend time in the temple. I was lucky to live several years less than a mile from the Logan, UT temple. We went to the temple on a weekly basis. Moving to Tucson meant the nearest temple was in Mesa, AZ so we could only attend on a weekend, traveling 4+ hours in the car round trip. When you have small children the challenge of going to the temple regularly feels insurmountable at times. To have a Temple in Tucson will be a blessing beyond description for so many people living in Southern Arizona.
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| Bountiful, UT Temple |
After the open house ends in June, the temple will be prepared for the dedication. I don't know what all that preparation entails (cleaning and preparing practical things like computers for record keeping, I think) and on August 13th of this year the Tucson Temple will be dedicated. All baptized members of the church in good standing are able to attend by way of broadcasts to meeting houses throughout the state of Arizona. The dedication has 3 sessions that Sunday and members can attend any of the three (or all, I suppose if they wanted to) speakers will share short spiritual messages, a choir will provide music, and a dedicatory prayer will be said. The speakers are usually men and women who have been asked to fill leadership roles within the temple.
I have tried and failed to adequately express how much this new temple means to me, how significant it is to members of my faith, and its importance to God's plan for his children. I could not do it justice in a few paragraphs. If you want to understand, by all means ask. I am not shy of answering questions. And, please, come and see for yourself what has all your Mormon friends jumping for joy!
