Ogden Temple

Today we had a enjoyable outing to the open house (all people including non-Mormons are welcome to visit) of the newly remodeled Ogden LDS Temple. Marie was home sick, but joining us were grandma Emmett and Aunt Betsy and cousins Eli and Luci.

I took limited photos because my primary focus was helping mom, who is not as steady on her feet as she once was. We took her photo in the shade so she could escape the heat of the late morning sun. We were all later revived with a delicious lunch at Zupas.

Adjacent to the temple is the Ogden tabernacle (used for Sunday stake conferences) which was built in 1956. It lost its steeple in the renovation project, I guess so it wouldn't compete with the temple steeple.

For wonderful photos of the interior (where photography was not allowed) please go to this site:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/public-invited-to-tour-newly-remodeled-ogden-utah-temple

The detail in the windows, carved carpeting, carved marble and woodwork often included a desert rose motif as in "the desert shall blossom as a rose."



Complementing the main color of whites and gold were many different shades of light teal/sage/mint. This is one of the marriage/sealing rooms where couples kneel at the alter to be married.

The peaceful Celestial Room is symbolic of our heavenly home where untied eternal families will live. One of my favorite parts of the temple was the the wonderful central dome.  Most celestial rooms seem to focus on a large central chandelier.

I also really like all of the original art work found throughout the hallways, offices, rooms and entry ways. These paintings often show local landscapes and people or new paintings of Jesus. Some offices were decorated with paintings of apple harvesting or hollyhocks. My favorite painting, which I found most encouraging of an ever progressing church, depicted a side profile of a woman of African heritage, dressed in white and kneeling in prayer. I hope it will one day be published so more people can enjoy it.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/multimedia-download/article/ogden-temple-to-get-architectural-facelift

These photos from the LDS Church show the original temple (which is just like the Provo Temple) and tabernacle (circa 1975) followed by the planned (and now completed) temple "facelilft" and de-steepled tabernacle.