From Great Basin NP we headed to Salt Lake City KOA in, you guessed it, Salt Lake City Utah! Our first full day we spent touring Temple Square. I love to learn about different religions. This monument is located at Temple Square and has inscribed scripture and doctrine of the Mormon LDS faith.
We joined a tour given by missionaries. These young men and woman spend 18 months at Temple Square. There are not permitted outside the Square and have one day a week of preparation. They are forbidden social media and the Web. They are given 1 hour a week to email their family. One of our Missionaries was from Sweden and the other, Texas.
The Square was meticulously landscaped. Terri noted their was not one dead petunia to be found:
There is beautiful architecture throughout the square:
Below is some of the interior of the Joseph Smith memorial Building This was once a Hotel and now holds a few restaurants and meeting rooms. Joseph Smith Junior founded the Mormon religion in late 1920’s. He was living in Western New York and published the Book Of Mormon. In 1844, Smith was killed and most Mormons followed Brigham Young West to the area that became Utah Territory. They called themselves The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
In the main lobby sits a baby grand piano and we saw at least two different pianist entertaining visitors.
The temple was not open to the public for tours. There was a replica model at the North Visitor Center.
We did get to go into the Tabernacle to hear an organist. The Organ in the tabernacle has over 10,000 pipes. According to the missionary, only 5 people in the world know how to play this organ. You must have a PHD to play. They have recitals a few times a day. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir practices are open to the public as well. We did not have an opportunity to hear the choir.
The North Visitor’s Center also has a statue of Jesus. Terr i and I stopped to say a prayer.
We later visited the home of Brigham Young called the Beehive House. The Lion House was also a residence of Brigham Young as he had multiple wives and children. The Lion House has a cafe on the bottom floor and the rest is not open for tours.
For this tour, there were two other young missionaries who guided us through the home. Visitors were forbidden access to the upstairs. One of the missionaries asked the guest how do they think people accessed the upstairs. A gentleman answered “A ladder.” The young missionary responded, “Yes and that is how we got our name, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints.” Terri laughed hysterically. Later, the same missionary pointed to multiple portraits of Brigham Young that were lined up on the wall. These portraits were done throughout his lifetime and the young woman said, “Here you can see Brigham Young to Brigham Old.” Again, Terri laughed hysterically…She still giggles when we talk about that tour…