Nauvoo Illinois Temple

July 5, 2014 we attended the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. We had made a weekend long trip to Nauvoo to see some of the church history sights and learn about the early pioneers. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Nauvoo, and the temple was absolutely beautiful! I could not limit this temple to just one picture. The Spirit in Nauvoo is wonderful, and I am grateful for the sacrifice of the early Saints. They faced tremendous persecution because of something they believed and knew to be true.

A beautiful sunny day on July 4th. We took a wagon ride through old Nauvoo and passed the beautiful temple up on the hill. 

July 5th was a rainy day, but still nice. Here is the statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

The carvings on the temple were gorgeous! The stars representing Jesus Christ. 

Looking out from the steps of the temple. The Mississippi River in the background.

The original Nauvoo temple was built in the 1840's and was destroyed by an arson fire in 1848. This current temple was dedicated in 2002 on the day and hour of the anniversary of the martydom of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Here is a link if you want to learn more about the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. This is the 113th operating temple. 

Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple

November 22, 2013 Chris and I went to the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple for the first time. We took a couple of days off of work to make a long weekend trip to Omaha, Nebraska to see some of the church sights and get out of town. Behind the temple is a cemetery and next to the temple is the Mormon Trail Visitor Center where you learn the impact that Winter Quarters had on the early saints. We also went to see the Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs.
It was a chilly day but sunny and beautiful out. The stained glass on this temple was just absolutely beautiful!

The Winter Quarters Temple was dedicated in 2001 and is one of three temples built in areas of historic significance. Winter Quarters served as one of the stops to gain supplies necessary for the saints to move West in the face of persecution. This is the 104th operating temple.

St. Paul Minnesota Temple

July 14, 2012 we attended the St. Paul Minnesota Temple. We had just moved to Marshall, Minnesota and this was our first trip to the Cities. We got up early, made the three hour drive, attended the temple, and also made a couple stops for things that we needed before heading back to Marshall. It was a long, hot day, but absolutely wonderful! The St. Paul Temple is small, but that is okay. A beautiful temple! We are actually in the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple district, but seeing that St. Paul is closer we go there. We will have to make a trip to Nebraska some time though. This temple was dedicated in 2000, and is the 69th operating temple.

Logan Utah Temple

December 23, 2011 we made a little day trip down to the Logan Utah Temple. I had been wanting to attend this temple and figured that we better do it now because who knows how close we will be to it once we graduate in April. This is an absolutely beautiful temple that is very unique. It has a castle look which I think is totally cool! It was a nice day, just very cold, which is typical this time of year. This temple was dedicated in 1884, and was later rededicated in 1979 after being gutted out and rebuilt inside. This temple has a very unique history which can be read at the link: Logan Utah Temple. The Logan Utah Temple is the 2nd operating temple.

Sacramento California Temple

June 4, 2011 was a very rainy cloudy day in California. People have said this is a very unusual year for weather because it doesn't rain in June and is usually in the 100's by now. I am just grateful that it is a milder year and I don't have to deal with the heat as much. The Sacramento Temple is a very small temple, I would say the smallest we have been to so far, however it is absolutely beautiful none the less. We also very much enjoyed the rain in which it was warm, just a little wet. The temple grounds were very beautiful as well and we enjoyed walking around even though it was raining. The back of the temple also had a balcony that I thought was pretty cool. In the front were arches that just added to the beauty and uniqueness of this temple. This temple was dedicated in 2006 and is the 123rd operating temple.

Oakland California Temple

On April 30, 2011 we were able to attend the Oakland California Temple. This was an absolutely beutiful temple. We loved the temple grounds that had palm trees, fountains, water, and bridges. The balcony on the temple was beautiful as well in which we were able to over look San Francisco and see the Golden Gate Bridge. The balcony also had beautiful flowers as well. We were able to attend the Oakland Temple because of Chris's internship with Cargill which placed us in Stockton, California for the summer. We are actually in the Sacramento Temple district, however we are right on the boarder of

Sacramento and Oakland. The Oakland Temple is much larger and is actually a shorter drive with an hour and fifthteen minutes. Oakland was dedicated in 1964 and is the 13th operating temple.

Vancouver British Columbia Temple

On August 17, 2010 we attended the Vancouver British Columbia Temple. This is a very beautiful small temple that we made a day trip to Canada to go visit. It was a very hot day and we saw the funniest thing ever on the way to the temple. We were waiting at the stop light to turn left to go to the temple and the person who was waiting at the intersection to turn left towards us got out of his truck and went and pushed the cross walk button so the light would change. I had never in my life seen something like that! This temple was dedicated in 2010 and is the 131st operating temple.