Temple Square is pretty amazing. We
were surprised at the beautiful gardens and just how immaculate
everything was. Of course, all the volunteers that work around the
Square, from guides, to hosts, to missionaries, to weed pullers, were
very very friendly but not one of them tried to convert us. My guess
is that they have learned over time to do the old “you can catch
more flies with honey” routine than doing the hard sell.
Tourists are not allowed in the Temple,
actually Mormons are not allowed in there except for very specific
ceremonies and by invitation only, so we only have exterior pictures
of it. The Temple was built over the course of 40 years with hand
quarried granite from a local quarry 20 miles away.
View from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building Garden Restaurant (very good) The silver domed building is the Tabernacle |
The Tabernacle, where the famed Mormon
Tabernacle Choir performs is open to the public and we attended a
noontime organ concert in the building.
The organist can control the lighting. Not allowed to take pictures/video during the organ concert. |
The Conference Center is a phenomenal
structure. This one building occupies 10 acres adjacent to Temple
Square and its roof is a 6 acre garden. The building seats 21,000
people. There are free tour-guides available for all facilities
associated with the LDS in this area but we did not take advantage of
that until we went in the Conference Center. As we walked in the
last available docent was leaving with a group and rather than making
us wait, one of the hosts took just the 2 of us and gave us an
amazing tour of the facility. He spent over 1.5 hours with us
showing us around, answering our questions, and sharing with us his
knowledge of the history of Christianity (LDS version) and the LDS
Church.
Photo stolen from a web site. I did not take this but don't remember who to give credit to. |
The 6 acre roof top garden of the Conference Center (another pirated picture) |
During the summer months the Conference
Center is where the choir rehearses and we were lucky enough to
attend a rehearsal with full orchestra. They were rehearsing all
patriotic songs in preparation for their Independence Day
celebration.
A few of the 21,000 seats |
"This is My Country" which happens to be my favorite patriotic song.
Mormon Tabernacle Choir Rehearsing "This Is My Country"
One other notable location in Temple
Square is the Family History Library. Shelley spent 1.5 days in
there researching family genealogy. This place could be very intimidating but the many volunteers that are there are incredibly helpful. The facilities there are as you
would expect – top notch and amazingly free. If you belong to
Ancestry.com (as I do) you know it is owned by the Mormons and is not
inexpensive.
I don't care what your religious (or
lack thereof) bent/leaning/background is. Temple Square is a must
see and do. Plan on spending an entire day.