An Afternoon in Snowflake

Today my sons and I traveled to the LDS temple in Snowflake with 24 other young people from our ward to perform baptisms for the dead. Our youth participate in this temple ordinance every other month, but today was special because it was Dylan's first time to do so. Thus it was my first time to be able to attend the temple with both of my boys. With Jacob set to go away and serve a mission this coming summer, who knows when or if we'll be together like this again?

It was also special because the people for whom our youth were baptized today were the ancestors of my cousin Raelene's husband, Holiday. The temple workers tell us Holiday and Raelene have submitted more than 50,000 names for temple work over the years through their diligent geneology efforts. It was fun to see Holiday and Raelene at the temple today, too!

The temple is sacred and central to the LDS religion. Because we follow Christ and because He said that baptism is necessary for entrance into heaven, we believe it is important that the opportunity to be baptized be extended to all people, including our ancestors who never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

These proxy baptisms are perfomed in the temple, as they were in ancient Jerusalem. See 1 Corinthians 15:29.

Many other saving ordinances are also performed in the temple, but proxy baptisms are the one way that our youth can participate in these rites for our kindred dead.

I love being in the temple. The interior is beautiful, and everyone is dressed in white, glowing like angels.

The white represents both cleanliness and commonality, with no person being set above another.

While inside, we speak in hushed tones. The feeling is calm and peaceful. The warm, comforting presence of the Spirit is strong.

Our family was so excited when they began building the Snowflake Temple in 2000, on what is now known as Temple Hill (for obvious reasons).

Previously the nearest temple was in Mesa, 3 hours away. Snowflake is just a 30-minute drive from our house.

In August of 2000, Temple Hill was just that: a hill. Located in the middle of barren high desert, the top was sheared off and flattened prior to construction.

Mark and I took the kids there on August 16th to see where the new temple was to be built in the small rural town of Snowflake.

Here are the kids and me on top of Temple Hill more than 9 years ago. Just an empty space. Dylan was 3, Jacob was 9, and Sarah was 10. I was almost 46. That used to seem so old...

Here is the view today from the temple doors. The area has boomed with new homes.

(Note: Snowflake doesn't get that much snow. The town was actually named after two families who settled the area: the Snows and the Flakes.)

The boys are Jacob, Dylan, and two of Wyndie's sons, Evan and Derek, who rode with us.

A little bridge crosses over the fountain just outside the entrance. Many wedding pictures have been taken here, including some in my own photo albums! I think the fence is a new additon, though.

There is still ice in sections of the fountain. The fountain in the picture below is located at the bottom of the stairs leading down to the parking lot on a lower level.

See how the sky is becoming gray and threatening? Another storm system is rolling in.

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The National Weather Service says our town (higher elevation than Snowflake) will have snow from Monday morning until next weekend. Predictions are for anywhere from one to eight feet of snow. We just never know.

Today, though, we had a beautiful afternoon in Snowflake.