Seattle Washington Temple

I knew it was going to be a good trip to the Seattle Washington Temple when the folks at Spirit Airlines gave me an exit row aisle seat at the gate. Prior to that I had a middle seat. The fact that the round-trip air ticket was only $150 didn’t hurt it either.

I was ready for the 5-hour, 15-minute flight across the country. It’s been a busy few weeks. I’m ready for some R&R at a couple of temples.

The flight was great, the rental car secured, and off I went to the Vancouver British Columbia Temple. I came back that night and stayed at my aunts house. The next morning it was time to hit the Seattle Washington Temple.

My wonderful aunt prepared a great breakfast of fresh pineapple and Cheerios with blueberries.

The Seattle Washington Temple—35 Years Earlier

When I was a stockbroker back in the 1980s we took an investment trip to Seattle. Our bus driver happened to be Mormon. As he drove us on the freeway past the temple he made the comment to the bus riders that there were two young men on the bus who were Mormon. That was our “unnatural” way of trying to do some member missionary work at the time. Now 35 years later I’m back only this time to go inside this magnificent building.

Hello Escalators!

It had been a few decades since I had been in s temple that used escalators. I remember them from the Provo Temple and now here they were in this temple too. It was actually fun to step on them and get a free ride upstairs.

And by the way, some of these temples have some fascinating items on display that are well worth the trip. The Seattle Temple is one of those.

A Joyful and Peaceful Session

Something about this temple session was just plain fabulous. There was no one seated on my left or right and no one in front or behind me. I could sit and move my legs back-and-forth throughout the session at will. It was joyous just relaxing there and letting God teach me through the endowment how He does things.

Also, I appreciated the prayer that was said during the endowment. It had particular relevance to me. I was grateful to the temple worker who said it.

Lunch With the Relatives

After the temple session it was thrilling to have lunch with my aunt Carma, her husband Glenn, and their son John. However, in 30 years I was only the fourth niece or nephew who had actually visited Carma in Seattle. Not surprisingly, she and Glenn have a beautiful home that is very nicely decorated.

I arrived at the restaurant first and made arrangements to pay the bill with the waiter. Carma is a big fan of onion rings and I loved taking this photo of her.

After lunch it was off to the spectacular Snoqualmie Falls, a waterfall with a 270-foot vertical drop.

After our visit to the falls, it was back to the airport to catch the 10 o’clock redeye flight back to Baltimore. I traveled all the way across the country and back in about 48 hours. I also visited two temples in two countries. Plus, I had a great time with the relatives!

Two More Temples Visited

Finally, this is the 56th temple I’ve visited since January 2017.