The Atlanta LDS Temple has been closed for renovations for almost 2 years. The renovations are now done and the temple has been open for tours for a couple weeks before it is dedicated and closed off from the general public.
Since most of the temple is normally closed off to children, this was a great opportunity for Gavin to get to see the inside. We went on our tour Wednesday. In preperation we had a family lesson on the temple geared toward Gavin on Tuesday afternoon. I taught a little lesson about the purpose of temples while Gavin looked at a slideshow of temples around the world (
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/). He then constructed a few temples of his own out of blocks.
His favorite was the Salt Lake Temple:
The tour on Wednesday was wonderful. We met up at the temple with our friends Dale and Angela and their little boy Brayden. Also, it was our stake's (group of congregations in our area) day to volunteer at the temple, so we knew many of the people working at the open house, which added to the experience. The inside of the temple is even more beautiful than before. The ceilings and chandeliers were awesome. What stood out to me most was all the different pictures of Christ throughout the temple. There were pictures before, but I never really noticed them. Now the beautiful artwork really stands out. Gavin did a great job on the tour. He was a little reluctant to have shoe coverings put on him before entering but once he saw that his friend Brayden was wearing them he allowed it. Gavin was rather quiet throughout the tour. I enjoyed pointing out all the neat stuff for him to look at, like the mirrors and the ceilings. The only time I recall him talking at all was when we were in the room with the babtismal font - Gavin said "water!"
Angela, Dale, and Brayden:
Gavin and Brayden:
After the tour Angela and Brayden rode home with Gavin and I while Jake and Dale stayed to work at the temple. Their job was to man the water table in the refreshment tent, where everyone goes after the tour to eat a cookie and ask any questions they may have. Their shift was 4pm-8pm. In Jake's own words, he thought this was a "cake job," but soon found out it was harder than it looked. He ended up getting quite a bit of exercise, constantly switching out water jugs and filling water cups from a dispensor for hours. Luckily our good friend Sister Kozak was handing out cookies so at least Jake got a snack. 4300 people toured the temple that day, many during that last shift. That's a lot of cups. The tours ran late and Jake didn't end up leaving the temple until around 10pm, getting home right after midnight.
Also speaking of temples, I'm excited that one is being built right outside my home town of Liberty, Missouri. It's scheduled for completion sometime in 2012. Here are the details:
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/kansascity/
