A Temple Attending People

I just read an article from Deseret News regarding temples in Utah. Basically the gist of the article is that members in 521 of 522 stakes in the state of Utah can get to a Temple quite easily. In fact the Escalante Utah stake is the only stake that is not within a 30 minute to two hour drive of a temple. Along the Wasatch front most members are within several minutes of a temple.

A friend of mine calls the Escalante area home right now and I've attended her parents' ward with her on a couple of occasions to witness the announcing of a Temple trip. I think of my own parents who live in between two different temples, each are a four hour drive one way. It is significantly less convenient for these people to get to the temple.

While in Spain I had the privilege of attending the Madrid Temple. The temple sits on its own version of Temple Square. There is a Stake Center, an MTC and even a handful of Sister Missionaries to give you a tour of the place. I found out that the Madrid Temple not only services all of Spain, but also Portugal and even some of France. I know there are numerous other Temples across the globe that have a more far reaching district as well.

I just can't help but feel how lucky we are here in the Utah valley to be able to have such access to the Lord's house. Looking back to my teenage years, I've had the chance to be in a handful of temples. Some, like San Diego, I simply toured during the open house and others, like the Seattle temple I had the opportunity to first serve in. I'm just thankful for the opportunity I have to so easily help the work move forward.

On the old record player: Let Love In, Goo Goo Dolls