Holiness to the Lord -- The House of the Lord

In an effort to continue my affection for Valentine's Day I've decided to blog everyday up to and including February 14th about something I love. Today it's the temple, specifically 3 temples, that are favorites of mine.

The first one is the Oakland Temple.

Growing up in the Bay Area in the 60's gave me the great opportunity to make this 'my' temple. I attended the 1964 dedication, saw the prophet David O. McKay here, and received my own endowment in June, 1971. The view from the parking lot overlooking Oakland and out across to San Francisco is always breathtaking. I used to try for cheap laughs (actually I still do) by saying, "I love the Oakland Temple so much I got married there twice." I have an old tarnished gold charm of this temple I can't bare to throw away, even though it really is unsightly. But it reminds me of my hopes and dreams as a young girl including strength, purity, and forever families.

The next one is the Houston Temple.

I loved serving in this temple. Originally when I was called to be an ordinance worker for Friday nights I told the 2nd counselor of the temple presidency who extended the call that I couldn't do it that night, that was date night at the temple. He asked, "What do you have better to do?" I looked at him with a little bit of shock and said, "You're right...I'll be there!" Those Friday nights were some of my best Fridays ever, even after teaching early morning seminary, a full hectic realtor day, and then breaking away to serve from 4pm or 5pm til closing. Funny, now, how I can't remember when the shift started. All I know is every Friday night in the Houston Temple turned out to be my doorway to wonderful weekends concluding with quiet relaxing Sabbaths. For me the Houston Temple means light, personal revelation, and peace.

And now the Newport Beach Temple.

It has a similar footprint to the Sacramento Temple so it's very familiar. It also has a beautiful mural painted on all four walls in the endowment room. But the scene is of the coast in contrast to the Sierra foothills mural in the Sacramento Temple. Most of the walls are shades of blue with the ocean and the sky. The carpet is the color of wet sand. I was there today and saw something I've never seen before. In the Celestial Room the 6,000 crystals hanging on the 14 ft chandelier were reflecting the most amazing colors--sapphire blue, ruby red, quartz pink, aquamarine, emerald green, peridot lime, blazing amethyst. I couldn't stop staring at it. It was a rainy morning and there was just something about the modified light coming in through one of the windows on one side of the room that was orchestrating a magnificent prism parade. Imagine the most glorious white sparkly colorful Christmas tree hanging upside down from the ceiling. It was hard to tear myself away. This temple brings me warmth, familiarity, beauty, and love and the heart-felt desire that if I ever get a mansion in the sky I hope it's something like what I saw in the temple today.