Jordan River Temple

Temple #16

Jordan River, Utah

September 4, 2014

     The Jordan River Temple; another beautiful Temple that gives the Salt Lake Valley a little more brightness. This Temple can be seen from both the Oquirrh and Draper Temples, and sits more in the valley than the other two. 

      What led us to this day and this temple is in itself a story. I haven't always had the best smile or teeth, as some may know. I had braces all through high school. After my mission I realized my jaw had grown more on one side, giving me an uneven underbite. Because of this I got braces, was married in braces, and then had a jaw surgery scheduled. 

     The insurance I was on wasn't accepted by any surgeons down in St. George, where Ivy and I lived at the time. So because of this, and some other circumstances, we moved up North to live with Ivys’ parents. We did this to be close to a surgeon in which I had to visit weekly, and to save on rent to pay for the surgery. 

     At first I was a little apprehensive, but have come to love the experiences I've had living with Darcy and Vera. They are the best in-laws I could have asked for. 

     This is the last temple where I had my old jaw. You'll notice that the next few temples are with my new jaw, and my face is still fairly chubby because of the surgery. Ivy still teases me about those weeks when I looked like I gained fifty pounds. 

     So we were up North now, living in the beautiful valley of Kamas. It was the day before our anniversary, and we wanted to celebrate a little, and that is why we made a date out of it, and started it off with the Jordan River Temple. We had been married for a year now, and had done sixteen new temples that year. Most of them were easy and in Utah, but we were happy to have done so many. 

     The Jordan River Temple is gorgeous, with its uniquely shaped spire that points towards heaven. It is one of the largest temples in the church, containing six ordinance rooms, which only three other temples are the same. Even with all that room though, you still feel special as you go through. 

     The temple at the moment, while I write this, is under reconstruction. It's always a little sad to see temples changed from their original form, but it's also an exciting thing when they go through renovations. It'll be as if it is a new temple next time we go through it, and that is always fun. There have been other temples we've done or Ivy has done that have been renovated, and it's amazing to see the transformation. 

     The Jordan River Utah Temple is grand and wonderful, and we encourage all within or near the Salt Lake Valley to take the chance to go there when it is re-opened.