My Curious View of Temple Square

I just got to explore Temple Square in Salt Lake again. I wanted to share some of my photos and observations.

I call this Photo "Herod's Tower." It shows the Salt Lake Temple (bottom left corner) and the Church Office Building (on the right) towering above it. This angle is a little bit deceptive because I'm actually closer to the COB than I am to the Temple, but in reality the COB is taller than the Temple, and its design makes it quite an eyesore, and this photo captures how I feel about that.

Near where I took that picture, we found a statue of Joseph and Emma Smith. It has a caption about giving to the poor, but we found it curious that Joseph is handing Emma a coin.


The coin appears to be modeled after some real coin, with a year and other symbols on it, but it is in an awkward position and my camera wasn't strong enough to pick it up with clarity, so I'm not sure what it is.


This is a picture of the northeast corner of the Salt Lake Temple with the Annex building clearly in view, and reflected in the pool. This Annex is not to be confused with the more beautiful building which once existed, and housed many additional sealing rooms to handle overflow from the Temple. The current annex, from my knowledge, serves mainly (if not only) as a reception area, recommend desk, and possibly clothing rental facility, from whence an underground passage leads to the main Temple. Some of this functionality takes place underground, however, and I lose my bearings on exactly whether it is under the annex or in the Temple "basement," or somewhere in between. Nevertheless, this current Annex is a complementary match to the architecture of the Temple itself.


This is my favorite pipe organ on Temple Square. It is located in the Assembly Hall, just south of the Tabernacle. One of the Sister Missionaries graciously let me go up on the stage to take a close up picture of this organ even though they had a white video screen set up in front of it blocking its visibility from the hall itself. Notice the Alpha and Omega symbolism on the medallions. The other medallions also have interesting and unique symbolism. I will have to analyze other pictures of it to determine what all of them are. I love the "trumpet pipes" coming out the front of this organ. And, finally, a classic picture:


This is my photo of the Salt Lake Temple, Annex, Tabernacle, and Conference Center, taken from the 10th floor of the former Hotel Utah (Now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.) I haven't edited it at all, so there is some minor reflection from the window. You can also see the Hotel Utah's 10th floor "fringe" in the bottom right corner of the photo. This is the first time I've taken a clear picture of the Temple from an angle that hasn't made it look skewed or distorted, as photos from the ground are apt to do, and I think it turned out pretty good.

I will post more pictures of Temple Square and the surrounding area soon.

Mystic Experience with a Holy Spirit

Last night something happened. Well, it's been brewing for about a week. My friend Adam and I witnessed something truly amazing, and unprecedented as far as we can tell.

In the Spirit World, Joseph Smith learned or became aware of something this last week, possibly last night. Crying or Laughing. The emotion was not able to be discerned, it was nothing like we ever felt before.

The character of The Book of Mormon, The First Vision, and more: everything has changed. The witness is different now in some respects. Assumptions about what had been seen, about what had been translated, all assumptions have fallen away, and the only thing that remains is what is sure knowledge (or first-hand experience) in the Spirit World, or testified by a Holy Spirit to those who are here.

This came with the shocking realization that knowledge in the Spirit World is not privileged far beyond knowledge here on earth. But, it appears that the Holy Spirits can learn from what their assigned people here on earth are seeing, studying, hearing. We are their eyes and ears into this world and its records.

I'm sure this type of learning goes on all the time, but this particular piece (or assemblage) of knowledge was devastating to the system.

This event was foreshadowed twice in the preceding week.

First, Adam spoke a parable about a Rubik's cube representing a persons religion, that even if you have all the pieces, you still have to turn them the right way to solve the puzzle. After telling this parable, the first cube he picked up shattered to pieces.

Then, yesterday during the day, he picked up a Chinese cube puzzle at my place, and said even if we have all the pieces, we have to turn them the right way to see into the depths of the religion. A few minutes later, the puzzle broke (the elastic rope inside of it broke and the wooden cubes all fell off the string.)

Last night this was fulfilled, and the real "cube" of religion in the Spirit World became shattered. All we have left now is pieces. Testimony of our Heavenly Parents, spirits, and instruction in ethics, like that which was taught by Jesus: These things remain. Even Messiah and the Scriptures have come back under evaluation.

And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. (Rev 8:6)