Merry Christmas Mormon Style!

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Each year the Mormon Temple in Mesa puts on a wonderful display of Christmas lights that is open to the public. Thousands of people walk the grounds each night to get a look at the beautiful imagery portrayed on their land. We stopped one night around 6:30 pm and was surprised to find an available parking space and room to walk around. We came upon the Three Wise Men as one of our first sights. (click on any photo to make even larger.)

Those tall lights in the background are "fans" that are hanging from palm trees.

These lights were made to look like a blue fountain of water.

A little farther down the walkway, we came upon this colorful "forest" of trees.

Then we walked through this tunnel of lights

to get behind the Visitor's Center and see Joseph and Mary,

and to see these blue lit trees. They had these white-lit "icicles" hanging from them that the light would race down every few seconds. It looked quite magical.

Look at these trees with orange lights wrapped up the tree trunks, and bunches of lights to look like groups of fruit.

There is free entertainment each nigh at 7:00 pm. This young lady sang like an angel and entertained a large crowd.

Between the Visitor's Center and the temple itself sat a Reflection Pond. The water was a sheet of glass and I was able to capture this great reflection (posted on Weekend Reflections on Sunday).

Here's the Temple reflected in the pond.

And the Temple lit up.

There was a small pond in front of the Temple with lit candles floating in it.

Purple Trees

The stable full of animals:

The stable with baby Jesus was stunning with the bright star hung above.

There were many Mormon representatives on the grounds ready to answer any questions or assist you in any way; BUT there was no selling tactics used - no PERSUASION to join the Mormon church. I would HIGHLY recommend that if you are ever in the MESA, AZ area near the Christmas holidays, that you stop by to see their exquisite decorations. It is well worth your visit.

Christmas joke-of-the-day:

Q. What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmastime?

A. Sandy Claws!