Today, we find Ollie and the group at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mormon pioneers, along with Brigham Young (who was the Church president) arrived in Utah in 1847, Young selected a plot of land and proclaimed, "Here we will build a temple to our God." The city was then surveyed and the plot of desert ground and block enclosing that location was designated for the temple, and became known as Temple Square. Temple Square is surrounded by a high wall that was built shortly after the block was designated for the building of the temple.
The square also became the headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church, popularly known as the "Mormon Church"). The plot of land also includes a tabernacle (prior to the one occupying Temple Square today) and Endowment House, both of which were later torn down. The Salt Lake Tabernacle, home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, was built in 1867 to accommodate the General Conferences of the Church, with a seating capacity of 8,000. Another church building called the Assembly Hall was later built with a seating capacity of 2,000.
Because the church has grown over the years, its headquarters has had to expand as well. In 1917, an administration building was built on the block east of the temple, to be followed in 1972 by the twenty-eight story LDS Church Office Building, which was, for many years, the tallest building in the state of Utah. The Hotel Utah, another building on this block, was remodeled in 1995 as additional office space and a large film theater and renamed the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. In 2000, the Church purchased the section of Main Street between this block and Temple Square and connected the two blocks with a plaza called the Main Street Plaza. In 2000, the Church completed a new, 21,000 seat Conference Center on the block north of Temple Square.
Temple Square is the most popular tourist attraction in Utah, attracting anywhere from 3 million to 5 million visitors a year. This is more visitors than The Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park!
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| Ollie Found a "Welcome to Utah" Sign!! I Think He Had Some Help From Kyle (He's Hiding Behind the Sign!) |
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| Ollie Climbed Up On This Structure to Tell the Group NOT to Climb on Structures! SILLY OLLIE!! |
Today, Temple Square features two visitors' centers, called the North Visitors' Center and the South Visitors' Center.
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| Ollie In Front of the Temple Square North Visitor Center Sign |
The North Visitors' Center was built first and features a replica of The Christus, a statue of Jesus Christ by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. The Christus is located in a domed room with large windows, painted with clouds, stars, planets, and other heavenly bodies.
The visitors' centers and grounds are staffed by sister missionaries and senior missionary couples exclusively; no single male missionaries are called to serve on Temple Square. The sister missionaries serving on Temple Square are called from North America as well as around the world, speaking enough languages to cater to the majority of visitors from around the world.
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| Jimmy, Gene, Helen, Jenny, Ollie, Jim, & Kyle in Front of The Christus |
Sister missionaries come from many different countries, and provide tours and information in their home languages as well as English. Beginning with the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, sisters have been wearing tags with their national flags along with their missionary name tags.
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| The Group's Sister Missionaries |
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| A Pipe Organ at Temple Square |
There are over 135 LDS temples, and Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known LDS temple. It is the sixth temple built by the church overall, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois.
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| The Outside of Salt Lake Temple |
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| People of the Church mural on the LDS Conference Center roof with inscription: And this gospel shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. The Salt Lake Temple appears in reflection. |
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| Helen & Jimmy at Temple Square |
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| Jenny, Ollie, Jim, Jimmy, & Kyle at Temple Square |
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It sure looks like Ollie and the travelers got to see a lot of religious history at Temple Square. The architecture of the buildings looked amazing too! Check back here, dear readers, to see where Ollie and his group are headed to next!!!
And That's What Sarah Says!!!
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