madeline memories ♥

 

what a blessing it is to raise children in the gospel and to be able to capture memories to look back on on the hard days that will surely come.

when doug and i were in nz for the unveiling of his grandparents headstone in 2012 i insisted we drive to hamilton so i could see the temple my parents had been sealed in, back in 1977. we took madeline into the visitors centre, where she sat and stared... and stared, completely mesmerised by the christus statue they have there. it was so wonderful for us to see her as a baby, being able to recognise the savior.

fast forward 5 years and i had the wonderful opportunity to take her to salt lake city utah, where another, larger, christus stands in the north visitors centre. i asked her to sit down so i could recreate the picture and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to know that doug and i are on the right path, which is allowing them to be also. i can't even imagine what it would be like to grow up and not know of the gospel... not to have the light that it has brought to my life... i am so happy that my children have that in their lives!

*******************

"he lives, my kind wise heavenly friend, 

he lives and loves me 'til the end. 

oh sweet the joy this sentence gives... 

i know that my redeemer lives!" 

♥ 

salt lake city temple

today was a dream come true! after years of wanting to go to the salt lake city temple, i got to not only visit last week, but to be blessed enough to actually do a session there this morning with one of my dearest friends and her mother. it was amazing, everything i had ever dreamed it would be. just being there and seeing the inside of the temple, the attention to detail, the perfection, the utter sacrifice that had gone into each room and the building as a whole, had me completely in awe.

indeed it was something i will never forget as long as i live. i was just so happy to be there, i don't think i stopped smiling the whole day. i have always felt such a pull to the building, to just want to be there, which as i explained a few months back, it all of a sudden made sense when i knew more than just that my grandfather was born in salt lake city and it just deepened my desire to go. so to be here, was just everything! i can barely believe it, yet here i am on temple square, never wanting to leave.

as we stood in front of the east doors and i got to snap away to my hearts content taking in every little detail my heart was full to bursting. i mean seriously! look at these shots i was able to get. best of all, we managed to exit at a time when there was no weddings out the front and i was able to get some awesome shots without having to dodge people.

so. fun fact. i always wondered if this gold piece was on both ends of the temple. i can now report that it is not. but it is stunning.

and i have always always always wanted to see these doorknobs up close. to actually look at them. i did. i held onto them. i turned them. they were locked of course, but i did it anyway. because i could. they are also just as cool as i imagined.

salt lake has been a dream. so amazing and everything i wanted it to be. we have to go home tomorrow and i don't want to go. there are so many people here that i love, so much here to love. but it's time to go back to the real world. :( i just can't wait to come back again.

salt lake city!

there are not enough words to describe everything i felt today while finally being able to be in salt lake city and getting a chance to look at the temple and everything around it. after surprising tara at lunch with her daughters, what else could there possibly be to do, than head off into temple square together, as we always dreamed of doing, to have a look. we started in the joseph smith memorial building (formerly the hotel utah) and headed into the lobby.



what a beautiful building! even the edging in the foyer, all done in gold with beehives, blew me away!

not to mention this gorgeous chandelier! 

and the joseph smith statue. madeline instantly recognised who he was and wanted to have her picture taken with him. what a sweet girl i have!

up to the top floor we went, where the restaurants are... and huge windows, perfect for my first proper view of the temple. from wayyy up high, allowing me to get a good look at the whole thing at once. nothing, not any of the thousands of pictures i have seen of it over the years, could have possibly prepared me for the sheer size of it. it is just absolutely incredible! i feel so lucky to be here and to be able to have this experience. someone pinch me please!

from there we went out into the square, to have a look around. it is so perfectly done, so beautifully finished... and i just wanted to spend the entire day walking around and looking at it. i could have spent hours and hours in temple square quite happily.

another joseph smith statue, this one within temple square.

view from the south visitors centre

the assembly hall

inside the tabernacle. think that looks familiar? yep. it's the organ on the front of our hymn books!

♥

the north visitors centre was a wonderful experience for me. for years i have seen pictures of the christus in the temple square visitors centre, but obviously had no idea just how big it was... or where it is. to reach it, you walk up a walkway that spirals around until you reach the top and walk into where he stands. it is so so beautiful, the entire room had a huge domed ceiling with the entire thing painted with the sky, stars and universe all around. it was breathtaking. with beautiful music playing and such an inspiring backdrop, it's somewhere you could spend time and find peace with yourself and your father in heaven.

across the road to the conference centre. wow again. seeing general conference via a broadcast truly can't prepare you for the size of that building either. it was incredible!

with all the artwork in the entire place being originals, it's easy to see that the church has so much pride in this building. it's truly worthy of being used for the lords prophets to speak to us.

here we have it. the stand used for the choir during conference

and the view from the front to one side showing just how big the building is! it is the largest theatre auditorium in the world!

on one of the floors there is an area where all of the paintings that are used to illustrate the book of mormon hang. this was especially cool for me to see. paintings that i am so familiar with, originals! right in front of my very eyes!

my favourite one, the stripling warriors.

near the end of the tour, our guide stopped in front of this statue and started to tell the story of joseph smiths version to us. my little madeline jumped in "joseph smith went to the woods to pray, to ask heavenly father what to do. then heavenly father and jesus appeared to him and he said, this is my beloved son, hear him!" oh my goodness, my mother heart was so full hearing her know the story and being able to tell it to someone without missing a beat. i am so grateful to be able to raise her in the gospel!

on the top floor facing the temple is a sculpture of the savior. facing toward him are busts of all the presidents of the church. what a beautiful sight!

what a day, with so much emotion to finally be here and experience the sights that show a physical representation of the faith of the members of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. i felt full of the spirit and right at home. it was a wonderful feeling and a perfect day! ♥