Helena Montana Temple

I had an 8 AM endowment session the next morning so all was well. It’s a joyous thing to drive 84 miles an hour using cruise control all the way up through Idaho and Montana. We can’t drive that fast legally in Washington DC, but with the speed limits being 80 miles an hour out here it was a joy!

Hello, Mr. Policeman!

As with all good temple trips, it starts with the flight. Mine was $24 one-way to Salt Lake City from Washington DC thanks to Frontier Airline’s GoWild Pass, which I own.

I left Washington at 7 AM, arrived in Denver around 8:30 AM, had a layover until about 3 o’clock, then flew to Salt Lake City and arrived around 6 PM. Went straight to the Hertz counter and picked up my Toyota midsized SUV which I got through Priceline for $44 a day with unlimited mileage. At that point it was about a 500 mile drive straight north to Helena Montana where I would arrive around 2 AM.

All was well until I ended up in town at 2 AM not sure whether to go to a fast food place or try and find a hotel for the next few hours. Consequently, I made a couple of jerky moves right and left and as soon as I pulled into a hotel parking lot a policeman turned on his lights right behind me.

I explained I just driven seven hours from Salt Lake City and that I was here to go to one of our temples. He asked if I was a member of the Church. I told him yes. He then immediately ruled out the fact that I might be drunk because he knew that we didn’t drink alcohol! He gave me a warning and told me to use my turn signals a little better. Very nice guy!

Where to Stay?

At 2 AM you can’t book a hotel using hotel points on your phone. The phone thinks you’re booking the room for later that night and the following morning. So I called one of the hotels and got a rate of $120 a night. The phone app had it for about $65 a night. I had only five hours to sleep before I needed to get up and go to the endowment session. I decided to pass on the hotel option.

Thank God for Stake Centers!

The Helena Montana Temple was only about 4 miles away so I headed over there. Frequently we build temples next to stake centers. In times past I’ve been known to just sleep in my car in the stake center parking lot. So that’s what I did here.

At 7 AM I got out of the car, got dressed. Then, I walked in the front door of the temple next-door.

Our First Modular-built Temple

The Helena Montana Temple is unique. It’s our first modular built temple. The temple was actually constructed in modules in Alabama, then shipped on 25 trucks up to Helena to be assembled. From the date of the groundbreaking to the date of the temple dedication, it was only about 26 months. This cuts the construction time almost in half and also saves a lot of money.

Word got out that this was the only temple in the United States that I had not visited. The temple president heard about it and invited me into his office for a short chat. His name is David Heap. What a wonderful man!

Here are some highlights of what I learned about modular temples:

1. Apparently 55 of these have been approved.
2. It has one endowment room and one sealing room which are interchangeable.
3. It was dedicated in June by Elder Gary E. Stevenson.
4. All the members of the first presidency have visited this temple.
5. When President Nelson was there, he paused in the hallway and took a quick hopping step up and down. When he was asked why he did that, he simply said “I just wanna make sure it doesn’t feel like a trailer.“
6. There is no angel Moroni atop the temple.
7. Even though it was put together in modules, you cannot see any of the seams that were used.
8. When you build a temple next to a stake center, you don’t have to go through the lengthy permit process all over again. It’s much quicker!
9. When I asked President Heap what’s the most important thing he’s learned as a temple president, he quickly said, “This is the Savior’s house. He’s really here.“ That was good enough for me!

Coming Home from the Helena Montana Temple

With the endowment session completed, I stopped in at the stake center and changed clothes. Then it was back in my midsized SUV for the 500 mile drive down to Spanish Fork, Utah to stay with my mother tonight. Once again, it was cruise control all the way at 84 miles an hour.

I filled up the gas tank twice on the way up and back. Each time it was only $46 to fill it up. Once it’s filled, the car gets about 450 miles before it needs to be refilled again.

Hello Dell, Montana!

The ride home was fabulous because this time I could see the landscape. I even stopped in a small town called Dell Montana to buy gas. I loved the signs on their marketplace gas station.

As always, the flowers around the temple grounds were fabulous.

The Helena Montana Temple is my 87th temple visited since February 2017. It is my 84th temple visited in the United States. My next temple visit will be in about 10 days to Saratoga Springs, Utah. It’s a joy to use the Family Tree app to present names in the temple! The names are quickly scanned and printed out on the cards for you. I went through for one of my relatives from Berkshire, England today. It was a joy!