Provo City Center Temple (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Scott asked me to drive he and Chantel to the Provo City Airport to catch a plane to Tucson for their house hunting trip.  I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and headed over to the Provo City Center Temple as I had not attended a session there since its opening.  It was originally called the Provo Tabernacle and was a place where stake conferences and other larger meetings were held for people in Provo and the surrounding areas.  A number of years ago, it had a major fire which destroyed much of the inside.  At that time, a decision was made to restore the outside of the building as much as possible and keep the basic footprint of the building but make it into a temple.  I read during that time that they numbered the bricks so that they could put them back in the same place as near as possible.  It is a beautiful building, inside and out and you could feel the labor of love that went into the building.

 And, of course there are flowers......

This is a pavilion in the center of the gardens to the south of the temple--a place to be when there is rain and storm on those wedding pictures, I guess.  I actually don't know what they use it for.

The Angel Moroni on the spire is an addition from the original building.

And there is a fountain---the sound of water flowing is one of the most peaceful sounds in the world.

My sweet friend, Sandy Lai, joined me for the session and as an added bonus we spend the afternoon together at her home.  Sandy and her family moved to Hong Kong just a few months before we did back in 1987 although they stayed many years after we left.  Our friendship is one of the many gifts that I treasure from our time in Hong Kong.

Every day can't be spent just in the temple and with friends, but I do plan to spend a few more (hundreds) days doing this type of thing in the future.  This is the type of thing that fills my bucket and enriches my life beyond measure.