The Temple Officially Begins Construction

This weekend marks the beginning of construction for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple. They had the "groundbreaking" ceremony. It was a beautiful but REALLY cold day. Lady Hiva and I are excited for this temple because it is literally in the field that shares a fence with us. Our Master bedroom window faces the temple I am sure there is a life lesson there-- about having our lives constantly facing the temple.

This is also exciting because the temples, for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are the most holy and sacred places of worship. To have one literally in our backyard is amazing. There are so many temples in Utah already, but we are happy to have another one nearby.

Lady Hiva and I were lucky enough to be offered tickets to be at the groundbreaking. It is funny how spiritual it can be while sitting in the dirt and freezing in the icy wind. But it was inspirational. We heard from Church leaders and community leaders. We were challenged to build and prepare our hearts to serve the Savior and our fellow neighbors and families.

I was also touched that during the dedicatory prayer Elder Christensen blessed the place to reach its full potential--potential that was given as it was created. I thought about the way we, too, were created to have potential. We can fulfill that potential through using the talents and skills we have been given.

We then were given a chance to shovel some dirt for the ground breaking. As we got closer we saw that the shovels were gold. We reasoned that it was not gold as that would be too soft. I thought that it was brass, our good friend, Jolene thought it was spray painted. Sure enough, it was spray paint, the back sides were scratched off from all the shoveling.

The backdrop of the whole experience was breath taking--the sprawling valley, Utah Lake, and the mountains (now snow capped).

It was a special occasion, I am glad that we were able to be there for the historic day in our community and neighborhood. We will be excited to watch the temple progress over the next several years.