Provo City Center Temple Open House

We had the amazing opportunity to attend the Provo City Center temple open house. This temple used to be a tabernacle in Provo where Mike and I used to go to stake conference. Emma and Anya had both been there as young children as well. In 2010 it tragically caught fire and most everything in the building burned. We were so grateful to be able to take our kids through to see this marvelous buidling and to teach them of eternal covenants and families.

We were able to attend a fireside of the missionaries in charge of rebuilding the tabernacle and converting it to the temple. He shared some great stories about the build. When it first burned, the stake president in charge was walking around the ashes feeling very miserable. He was mourning the loss of this historic building when he heard a voice, "Who's house is this? Why do you care if I want to redecorate?"
  As they were building it, the dug really deep down. It was neat as he shared the process of how they made the foundation with layer upon layer of materials in order to make it safe. They dug below the water table, so there are pumps that have to constantly pump water away from the foundation. President Monson tasked them with the challenge of making the foundation secure enough that if the pumps fail, the building will still withstand the water. In order to do this, they had to come up with some pretty amazing innovations that use layering and layering of different materials. He also said that they were amazed as the Lord blessed them with insight and innovative ideas that hadn't been commonly used before to help them create this unique building. It made me think a lot of Noah's ark and Nephi's boat.  President Monson challenged them to use the original materials as much as possible and the techniques they had to use to strengthen the walls, remove then reattach the towers, and preserve the bricks was really inspiring. He even showed us pictures of the pipes and electrical conduits inside the walls that were done with such beauty, organization and skill.
  Each temple has a theme usually related to the surrounding area where it is build. The missionaries said the theme for this temple was the tabernacle. They tried to stay true to the original woodwork and design as much as they could. It is truly a beautiful building inside and out.