Temple Square

Hi All,

Today we drove about an hour south to visit the heart of the Mormon Church, Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

In a word association test for "Mormon", the most common response would be "Tabernacle ". This is it, completed in 1876 as a meeting and worship center. The oval shape and domed roof create outstanding acoustics .

The perfect setting for this magnificent organ with 11,623 pipes and the world famous choir that performs here. We did not get to hear the choir but we did attend a 30 minute organ recital- awesome!

The initial assembly space for the Mormon settlers was this building, not surprisingly, named Assembly Hall.

The organ here is a not too shabby 3,456 pipes.

At the corner of the 35 acre Temple Square Complex we visited the home of Brigham Young.

On our tour of the house we saw original furniture, garments and the first typewriter in UT. Most interesting, at least to Carl, was this entryway desk where visitors coming to see Brigham Young signed in; all 6,000 of them including President Garfield and Susan B Anthony. Those are replicas of the original guest logs.

Next stop was a tour of the LDS Church Office Complex that culminated with a visit to the 26th floor observation deck. The huge Temple hides parts of the Tabernacle and Assembly Hall behind.

Most of our tours were provided by young women on their 18 month missionary service. The one's we met were from Japan, Wales, Brazil and Nigeria. At least one said she had learned English by reading an English version of the Book of Mormon.

A very interesting day. We learned a lot.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

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www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

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