Our New Temple

On Feb 12 we went as a family to the open house of our new Temple, The Gilbert Temple. It was neat to have our whole little family together and to show the girls the inside of a temple.
Anna loved seeing the temple. She got a pamphlet of the temple with pictures of all of its rooms before we went in. As we were walking from room to room Anna would open the pamphlet and find the picture of each room we were in. There were a lot of stairs. Every time we went up or down the stairs Anna would hold up both sides of her dress like a princess to walk up or down. When we walked into the celestial room Anna said pointing to the Chandelier, “wow look at all those sparkly lights, so pretty.”
At the entry Elise would not let them put the shoe covers over her shoes. She started screaming if we tried. I had to carry her until I finally convinced her to put them on. Inside she was delighted by it all and wanted to touch everything. She also had to walk up and down all the stairs “all by herself,” even if it meant we were the last ones from our group to make it into each room.  When we walked into the baptistery Elise pointed and said aloud in an excited voice, “an ocean!” It was cute. She like looking at all the “cows” too.
It is a beautiful temple. I loved the agave design found throughout the temple; on the windows, carpets, wood, vases, etc. The reception of the temple and the amount of people that have come through to see it has been amazing to us. Thousands every day!
It is neat to have a new temple in the area, in our own temple district. It is OUR new temple; how neat. Kent has been working with the youth as they are preparing for the cultural celebration. The dedication will be March 2nd which we feel blessed to have another House of the Lord in this land. Our Stake President gave all the primary children their own picture of the temple to hang on their walls.
Ever since the open house started and many many non-members have been through to see it, I have had a lot more opportunities at work and elsewhere to talk about the gospel and our church to others. It has been a great blessing to the people of this area. We are grateful for this new temple and hope to be able to go there often.