Snowflake Arizona Temple
Like all great temple trips, it starts with a good airfare. In this case it was $170 round-trip from Washington DC to Phoenix. The plan was pretty aggressive: arrive in Phoenix at 7:30 AM, visit the Snowflake, Gila Valley, and Tucson temples all in one day, then catch a flight early the next morning back to DC. They would be my 52nd, 53rd, and 54th temples visited respectively since January 2017.
This temple trip would be unique for two reasons: number one, it’s the first time in over two years that I’ve rented a car; second, I would be using temple names that I brought myself. It seemed appropriate the rental car was white!
It’s 177 miles from the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport to Snowflake. I was amused to find out that it’s also 177 miles from the parking lot of the Snowflake temple to the Gila Valley temple. . It’s another 140 miles from Gila Valley to Tucson; and another 110 from Tucson back to Phoenix. All told I would put about 600 miles on the rental car. Turned out to be 605 miles.
The drive to Snowflake was awesome. I went from cactus 🌵 to pine-trees and from sea level to 6300 feet in altitude.
When I arrived at the temple I was thrilled to see a beautiful waterfall out front.
I’ll be framing this photo in a teal-colored frame to remind me of the beautiful stained glass around the entrance to the temple.
The Snowflake Name
The first temple worker I met inside was named Sister Flake. I told her she had the right name to be working in that temple. She explained that her husband’s great grandfather (Brother Flake) had founded the town with Erastus Snow. When Erastus came to visit one time he asked Bro. Snow if he had a name for the town yet. When Bro. Flake said no, Erastus suggested they name the town for the two of them! 142 years later the name still stands.
An Outstanding Temple Worker
I arrived around noon. The timing was critical as I still needed to visit two other temples that day. Unfortunately some temple workers told me I had arrived inbetween shifts. The next shift wouldn’t start until 2:30 and I would have to wait until then to do some ordinance work. I told him that wouldn’t work. I even joked by asking if they needed any help with the laundry?
One of the ordinance workers then said he would grab another guy although they would only have time to do one or two initiatory names. That was fine with me! He then made the quote of the day: “It’s not about the quantity of work gets done by someone; it’s about having the temple experience.” Driving 177 miles to do only two initiatory names was my new record. More importantly, it allowed me to do some temple work and move on in quick fashion.
I told this worker he was a good man. He then revealed his name tag to me. “[Brother] Goodman” it said.
The Snowflake Arizona Temple was my 52nd temple visited. I loved every minute of it!
Enjoy this panoramic shot from the front of the temple showing the Snowflake area.
On to Gila Valley!