Phoenix Arizona Temple

January 31, 2018

Once again, it starts with the airfare: $40 from Washington DC to Denver, $20 to Phoenix, arrive at midnight.  Find a gate with some vacant, non-armrest chairs, lie down, and fall asleep for five hours.

I took the SuperShuttle at 5:15 AM north and west to the Phoenix Temple.  It was $29 one-way–half the price of a cab.

The shuttle driver was a guy who has a home in Crystal City, Virginia, among other places around the country.  When I told him where we were going it naturally led to a conversation about the Church.  I gave him one of my church public affairs cards and invited him to contact me so we can stay in touch.

I got there at 6:05 and just missed the 6 AM endowment session.  No problem!  They have a beautiful water fountain out back and I took a nap there for 30 minutes.  I noticed a unique style tree and took a photo of it after I came out from the endowment session when it was lighter.

I forgot that I didn’t shave before I left so I went in the bathroom of the temple and shaved before going into the session!  I figured no one was going to interrupt me at 6:50 in the morning in the bathroom.  I was right 🙂

The endowment session was awesome.  When you do an endowment session at the Newport Beach California Temple you feel like you’re sitting on the beach during the session, based on the murals that are on the walls around you.  When you attend a session at the Phoenix Temple you feel like you’re out in the desert.  They’re both beautiful; just different.

There were 10 men in the session.  Afterwards I took a couple of shots of the beautiful flowers out front.

I also noticed the home of a very spiritual bird…

I took the SuperShuttle back to the airport and had an even more spiritual discussion with the driver who is an active Baptist.  He even drove out of his way to show me his church and their facilities on the way to the airport.  They feed about 1200 homeless people each week there at his church!  I gave him one of my public affairs cards too and got his email address for further contact.

Once back at the airport I was introduced to their awesome train system which I’m riding right now on the way to the Mesa Temple.  It’s only going to cost $4 to ride on this train system all day.

I’m going to meet my uncle at the Mesa Temple after doing some initiatory work there for about an hour.  I haven’t seen this particular uncle in about 30 years!

This is my 26th temple visited since January 2017 and my third in 2018.  This is fun!