A Glimpse of Heaven

We went to the Draper Utah Temple open house on Friday. Emily and Caleb went to seminary earlier in the day and just skipped 7th hour chorus because our reservation was at 1:40 in the afternoon. We were assigned to park at a chapel in Draper. We first watched a lovely video about the history of Draper and the significance of temples. There was a very good feeling and I got choked up while we watched it, especially as I looked down the row at our seven children all dressed in Sunday best. The hostess instructed us to board the bus and to remember that it was the "red" bus. That meant that when it was time to go back to the chapel where we had parked, we needed to get in the "red" line. If we got in the "green" line or the "yellow" line, we would end up at a different chapel and far from our car.

After a few frantic last minute trips to the bathroom (while they held the bus for us), we were on our way. Since we homeschool, some of the kids had never been on a bus, so it was pretty exciting, especially because it was a large tour bus and we were sitting up high. A hostess gave a several minute presentation over the loudspeaker about the temple and the specifics about the timeline and materials of the construction. The stone inside the temple and the stone on the outside were from China and France, and the wood inside was from Africa. The wall murals were painted by local artists.

When we got off the bus and were about to go into the tunnel to enter the temple, I got out the camera to take a couple of quick pictures. The camera turned on, and then it went dead. I couldn't even get it to turn on enough to get the lens to go back in. I was so disappointed! I wanted so badly for this to be a memorable experience, and I thought for the younger children, it would help to have some pictures. I put the camera away and silently prayed that we could please somehow have at least one picture.

The tour was a silent tour, which means there was no one telling us which rooms were for what purposes, but there were some signs that gave room names or brief explanations of what the rooms were for. At one point we had to hang back and let some chatting ladies get ahead of us, because it was distracting. Most everyone was pretty quiet, even the little ones. Once in a while I whispered some explanation to one of them.

My kids said their favorites were the baptistry, which Hannah described as "elegant," the ordinance room with a mural of an outdoor scene filled with closely growing quaking aspen trees, and of course, the celestial room. Joshua said the celestial room was the most beautiful thing he ever saw. The details and workmanship were amazing, and it was done in mostly white. The tour ended in a sealing room where an elderly man, who I assume was a sealer or the temple president, spoke to us briefly about the eternal nature of the sealing ordinance and about the importance of the family. Emily said she couldn't wait to go to the temple for her endowment.

We were then directed to a nearby chapel where there were displays, refreshments (bottled water and cookies), and a chance to fill out a comment card. I got the camera out, because we had been told that we could take as many pictures as we liked there, but the batteries were still completely dead. Molly grabbed a pile of cookies and wrapped them in a napkin when no one was looking, then showed me her resourcefulness with a big smile, saying, "I got some for later!" I filled out a comment card.....then we got in the "red" line and boarded the bus and headed back to the chapel.

I was lamenting the fact that I wanted a picture, and Emily said she had some batteries in the car. When we got back to the car and checked, we found that her spares were dead as well. She remembered that there were some in a tape recorder she had brought with her, but they were weak. We headed back up to the temple in the car anyway. Joshua, the quick change artist, had changed his clothes in the car as soon as the bus brought us back, and he didn't know we were going back up for a picture. So, back up at the temple, we all piled out of the car, except for Joshua, who then struggled to get back into his Sunday garb. For some reason, getting Sunday clothes on in the car is much more difficult than getting them off!

Russ found a post he could set the camera on, and using the timer, he set it up for the photo while we waited for Joshua. He tried taking a couple of pictures, and the camera shut off because of low batteries! He said we'd better hurry. Well, eventually Joshua made it, without his tie, and we posed while Russ set the camera and dashed over to be in the picture. We got two pictures and the camera went dead.

It was a great experience. I hope it made an impression on my children, because ultimately, this is what matters, and this is where I want them to end up. And I am grateful that not only did I get the one picture I asked for, but I got two!