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Friday, October 1, 2010

Flashback Friday - Salt Lake City, UT



In keeping with the "Mormon" theme from yesterday, I thought it would be a good time to visit Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. We were enroute from Arizona to Washington, and decided to make a stop in Salt Lake City because we had never been there before. I was surprised at how small the downtown area was, and the majority of it was taken up with Temple Square, the Mormon's headquarters. Our campground was located just down the main street, a couple of miles from the square. We were told of a free concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir being held on the evening of our arrival. So we quickly set up the trailer, ate some dinner then went down to hear the choir.

Normally the choir sings in the Tabernacle. It is the oval-shaped building.




But the Tabernacle was closed due to refurbishing, so the concert was held in the Conference Center, which seats 21,000.


Inside the Conference Center - the auditorium


The stage. Imagine all those seats filled with choir members.


When we visited, the choir was practicing all Disney songs - they were going to record a CD within a few days. I don't know why I don't have a video of them singing, unless we weren't allowed to videotape them. Here is a clip of the organist warming up. I didn't know how to edit it, so just listen to a small portion if you like.









Jim and I returned the following day and took a little tour of Temple Square. The first thing I noticed was the flowers. They were EVERYWHERE.  They were in flowerbeds.


They were hanging from the walls.



They were planted around trees. They were beautiful.




People were very friendly, smiling, saying hello. Nobody tried to convert us at every stop. I truly was surprised.

We first went to the Visitor's Center. Inside is a huge display of Jerusalem A.D. 33


Upstairs are large open rooms, where you can sit and listen to tapes or speeches. This is one of the statues in the room.


In the basement are a couple of rooms that you can watch films. They tell the history of the religion. I think we watched only one of them. Also, on one wall is a picture of all the "Prophets", men who are chosen to lead their people.

Two young women asked us if we would like them to give us a tour of the square and we said, "Sure!"

They took us to Assembly Hall, which was built by the Latter Day Saint pioneers in 1877. Now it is used mostly for a concert hall.


Our young tour guides were from other countries. Both were serving on their 18 month mission for the church. During this time, they cannot communicate with their family by phone, except for special occasions. I couldn't believe this. It was near Mother's Day when we were there, and I said, "You mean you can't call and wish your mother a Happy Mother's Day?" My eyes welled up. (Jim just rolled his eyes and thought, "Oh here she goes!"

One girl replied, "Oh, no, no, we can call our Mother and wish her a Happy Mother's Day!"

"Okay!" I said, a little relieved.

Of course, at this point, I think the girl would have said anything to calm down this loony tunes.

We left Assembly Hall and walked across the street to the Conference Center where we heard the choir sing the previous night.


This building is huge. What is so interesting about this building is the roof. Looking at the picture above, you can see a little bit of greenery sticking up. That is because they have a garden up there. Well, not really a garden, but it looks like an open prairie. Like this.


I am standing on the roof, on grass, looking at the other buildings of the city.

Now I turn my body in the other direction, and this is what I see.


They wanted it to tell a story of how the Mormons came over the mountains and settled in Salt Lake. This is a beautiful water fall system that starts here and runs all over the top of the building.


The water eventually runs down the side of the building here.


Here are some of the views from atop the Conference Center:

Church Office Building
Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg
We were not allowed in the Temple. (Only Mormons.) The Temple took 40 years to build, and was completed in 1893. Granite was hauled in by wagons pulled by oxen from a canyon 20 miles away. It took four days to travel back to the temple site.







And finally, here is the Family History Library. It has the world's largest collection of genealogical information. In 1894 the Church founded the Genealogical Society of Utah to gather records that help people trace their ancestry. As new methods of preserving records are discovered, the library is able to store more and more information. Today the library has records of more than 2 billion names in data bases; 2.4 million rolls of microfilm; and 278,000 books. With the help of more than 4000 family history centers (branches) in 88 countries, the Family History Library is constantly expanding its prized collection of  records. courtesy of http://lds.org/placestovisit



All in all, it was a very interesting visit, and if you are ever in the area I would encourage you to visit Temple Square, too.

18 comments:

Angel Rogers said...

Thank you for posting something positive about our religion. Temple square is one of the main attractions when visiting Salt Lake and there really is a lot of beauty there. Also, the young lady was being honest when she said missionaries can call home during Mother's day. The only other holiday is Christmas. :)

Missy said...

Again, great photos!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tour of Salt Lake City; I may never get there in person, but now I have seen it by way of your lovely photos!

betty said...

that does look like an interesting place to visit. I have driven through Salt Lake on more than a few occasions, but never took the time to visit it; maybe one day. I listened to a little of the organ music, beautiful! I bet it was awesome to hear it in person along with the singing.

when we lived in Billings, Montana, a temple was being built. Upon its completion, before it got dedicated (if that is the right word and if not, I apologize) we were able to tour it. Very fascinating; we all had to put on little booties over our feet so we wouldn't track things on the carpet and you are right, everyone there was soooo very friendly :)

betty

Anonymous said...

wow, amazing place;) again thanx for taking me along.

Brian Miller said...

wow what a cool place.. i listened to the warm up while i read...such textures to the music....and those flowers are so vibrant almost surreal...very cool.

Anonymous said...

what beautiful pics.

The Bipolar Diva said...

Impressive photos!

I Wonder Wye said...

I actually lived 2 yrs in UT working at a ski resort, and like you thought SLC was a pretty and pleasant place. People didn't have much to do with you if you weren't Mormon but fortunately most of us at the ski lodge weren't!

Carletta said...

Thanks for the tour Pat! I probably won't ever get there so this was a virtual treat.
I would so love to visit the geneology library.

Cheeseboy said...

My home town! I am here! Glad you enjoyed your visit.

FYI: Contrary to popular belief, not EVERYONE in Salt Lake is Mormon... in fact half are not. In fact, Salt Lake is one of the most liberal cities around.

I am glad you were treated kindly and had a good time.

Ed said...

Saw some of the Mormon boys on their bikes today.

I almost swerved.

Valerie said...

Very pretty flowers, I adore pansies. Thank you for this post, Pat, I am now more informed about Salt Lake City. The memorial building and temple are awesome. I wouldn't have been able to stop photographing the temple if I was there. I mentioned yesterday that we had a Mormon church nearby. One of the neighbours visits occasionally to research her family tree. I remember her telling me about the terrific data base.

Snowflake said...

Thanks for the tour!! We go through Salt Lake City on our way to and from Arizona but have never stopped. Will have to put it on our To Do List!!!!

Maude Lynn said...

It sounds really interesting!

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Mike said...

What a great looking place to visit! There is good skiing there too, I think?

SquirrelQueen said...

What a beautiful city, thanks for the tour Pat. My hubby has been to SLC several times on business but I have never made the trip. Maybe one of these days, it isn't really all that far from here.