October 25, 2017

St. George Utah Temple

October 25, 2017

It’s a wonderful thing to come back to St. George and visit the temple. I lived here for about six years and loved it! Some of the best people on the planet have St. George in their mailing address.

I took a $69 flight directly from Washington DC Dulles to Las Vegas. I landed at about 1 AM. In keeping with past practices, I found a secluded part of the terminal and laid down on the floor to get a few hours sleep.

At 7:30 I caught the St. George Express Shuttle for $25 and arrived in St. George, Utah at about 10:30. I was thrilled to be able to take the entire back seat, lay down, and get some more rest. The shuttle dropped me off at Kmart and I walked about eight or nine blocks to the temple. It was easy to spot.

I was amazed at how many people were coming and going from the temple on a Wednesday morning. It just says something about the goodness of the people here.

This was the first temple dedicated after the Saints left Nauvoo, Illinois. Some wonderful things happened here, including a visit from the signers of the Declaration of Independence to Wilford Woodruff in 1877. You can read about that in Wilford Woodruff’s journal.

Irrigation is something that is unique to Utah towns. You just use the running water in the streets to water your lawn, garden, etc. My dad did something like this at our Orem house when I was a kid: divert the water from your gutter to water your property. Pretty ingenious and it still works today!

I asked a young lady to take a photo of me before I went in for the temple session. As is customary with all of the photos I have taken in front of a temple, I tell the person taking it that they get extra points if they get Moroni in the photo. I forgot that the St. George Temple doesn’t have an Angel Moroni statue on top of it!

The murals on the inside of the temple are beautiful. So is the celestial room, with furniture in a very soft yellow color with white everywhere too. But the thing that caught my eye was the color of the paint on the ceiling of the celestial room. The trim up there is done in what I learned is a mauve color, having asked one of the ordinance workers before I left the room. It stands out in a wonderful way! Consequently, the frame for this temple will be done in a mauve-colored frame.

I’m here for my monthly trip out to see my daughters. This months it’s Maggie’s turn in St. George. She won’t be out of school until 4:45 so following the session I walked about five blocks straight to Judd’s Store. This place is a St. George classic. It has awesome vintage candy and drinks inside.

They also make a great grilled cheese sandwich and some marvelous soups. I was thrilled to grab a black cherry soda too!

Given that I have a little bit of time before Maggie would be by I did some work on my phone and then just had to get a pralines and cream malt, with whipped cream, of course!