The House of the Lord

Yesterday morning, after waking up at 3 a.m. and not being able to return to sleep (I worked the 5 p.m. - 7:30 a.m. shift this last week so sleeping at night was not on my mind's To-Do list), I prepared myself for a trip to the San Antonio Temple. I count myself fortunate to have visited 8 other temples before this one:

1. San Diego, CA

2. Salt Lake City, UT

3. AF (Timpanogos), UT

4. Provo, UT

5. Manti, UT

6. St. George, UT

7. Washington D.C.

8. New York City, NY

So I jumped in the car expecting a typical temple experience. By saying this I do not mean to minimize the temple attendance and label it as something ordinary. On the contrary, attending the temple is always a unique, strengthening, and humbling experience. Still, I was not quite prepared for what awaited me.

When you drive to the San Antonio, TX temple, you will most likely be coming from the South. Like all other temples, this one was built in a prime location: On a hilltop.

This picture and all subsequent pictures are brought to you by the Samsung SCH-U620 phone, as such, they are not the best and do not capture exactly what I experienced. As such, I added an arrow to draw your attention to the indicated spot. What I could see was clearly the temple as it was reflecting the sunlight with its marvelous stone and shinning golden Moroni on top. As I drove on this hill towards the temple, I pondered on Matthew 5:14/3Nephi 12:14. I could not remember the citation to those verses so I had to look it up once I was home. As I did, I found a better scripture that describes how wonderful it was to see the temple yesterday morning from the valley looking up: Pslams 43:3-4:

3) O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles. 4) Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

Built in 2005, it is one of the "Mini-Temples" that resulted from President Hinckley's push to bring more temples to more people. So what makes this temple unique?

The Stained Glass. I first noted the glass as I walked around the temple and was very impressed. When I entered the temple, I told the Brother checking my recommend that I did not have the needed clothing to participate in the services due to my traveling but asked if I could participate in something else (I assume most everyone who reads our posts is LDS and temple goers, but in the event that there are some out there who have not entered the temple, I'll leave it at that). He smiled and said he'd be happy to help me out. In fact, though they do not rent clothing there, they do keep a small amount of clothing there for folks who are TDY (Temporary Duty in the Military) or are missionaries. Well, guess what! I am TDY so that means me! :) He noted my admiration of the glasswork in the temple and on our way to the men's changing room (yes he escorted me back), he gave me a little tour of the temple (that did not take long in that it is a mini-temple) and told me a bit about the temple there. It turns out that the San Antonio Temple has more stained glass in it than any other temple in the world. While it was being built in 2005, another mini temple of the same design was being built in California. However, President Hinckley noted that the stained glass cost so much, that they told California they could not have any more because they had spent all their money on the stained glass in San Antonio! What this all means is that the temple is full of beautiful glass which brings such a sweet spirit to the temple. While this was only temple number 9 for me, it instantly earned its place as one of the most beautiful temples I have seen.

The outside of the temple is no different.

The stonework is amazingly beautiful like all the temples built around the world. So simple, yet rich and handsome.

And check this out - even the flowers get their own basin of granite to grow in!

I guess what struck me the most was that after all the money I have watched the government spend on new Hospitals (USUHS just happens to be located behind the National Naval Medical Center which was just expanded to become the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and now Wilford Hall of Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio nearly being closed and moved Brook Army Medical Center into a large new facility), nothing can compare to this simple building. The peace that is evident as you walk around it, and the love you feel when entering it can find no comparison. Mankind builds skyscrapers, 5-Star hotels, resorts, etc. but can they compare to these buildings?

So today I am grateful to those who have gone before me who have built these structures for the Lord. By them, I have been and will continue to be blessed. I know that we all get busy. Sometimes I feel like I don't have time to go to the temple. Yet experiences like this past weekend serve as a reminder that even though I don't have the time, I must somehow make the time to attend the temple. Otherwise, time will pass by and I will have missed out on this important element of worship. So in closing, I hope that in the next few weeks and months to come, I can make myself less busy so that I can return to the temple.