St. George, Utah

Before I start, let me point out that I don’t own any of these images. The exterior photo is from the Church website at lds.org. The interior photos look like they were published in a magazine, so my best guess at the source would be the Ensign following the November 1975 rededication of the St. George Utah Temple. These photos have cropped up on various blogs and other sites over the years, and I honestly can’t remember where I found these items in particular. A reverse Google image search revealed about a dozen candidates for my original download, so I couldn’t tell you where I found it. But we can safely assume that all of these images are copyrighted and owned by Intellectual Reserve, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Generally, I have higher-quality photos than these. But I rely on Church publications for images of the temples, and as most of these older temples haven’t had an open house recently, I am fairly limited in my photo options.

The St. George Temple

What strikes me immediately is how much this temple resembles the Nauvoo Temple of old. Of course, to the Saints of St. George who built this temple, Nauvoo was abandoned not even thirty years ago. The similarity to the Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples went deeper than just the exterior—the original building was of the same design on the inside as well, with a great solemn assembly hall. When Endowments were performed, partitions were lowered over the hall as had been done in Kirtland and Nauvoo. When it was remodeled in the late 1930s, the hall was transformed into the current five-room layout, which might explain some of the aesthetic similarities of these rooms to Salt Lake’s interior.

Additionally, that tower is relatively new. Now, an old Mormon Myth about that tower: the original tower was much more squat and, to be honest, was not very appealing.

(Actually, I’m not sure about the photo credit here—but it’s definitely public domain by now)

According to the story, Brigham Young was never too keen on that tower, and wished that it had been different. Shortly after his death (and this part is actually verifiable), lightning struck the tower, starting a fire that damaged it so badly that it became necessary to reconstruct it. The new tower, as I think most of us will agree, is much prettier, so I guess Brother Brigham got his wish.

On another, more important note, it was in the St. George temple that, according to Wilford Woodruff, the following occurred:

“The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, ‘You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we … remained true to it and were faithful to God.’ These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights” (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff).

The Solemn Assembly Room

Though the picture is tiny, you can see that there are a series of tiered pulpits that mirror the pulpits of the Kirtland Temple. This room is not present in most Latter-day Saint temples. In the words of Elder David B. Haight: “A solemn assembly, as the name implies, denotes a sacred, sober, and reverent occasion wen the saints assemble under the direction of the First Presidency.” He goes on to explain that they are generally only held for the dedication of temples, giving instruction to priesthood leaders, and when it becomes necessary to sustain a new President of the Church (General Conference, October 1994). Although the sustaining of the First Presidency usually takes place in the Conference Center, I suppose it could also theoretically take place inside these solemn assembly halls (there are several—here, in Logan, Manti, Salt Lake, Los Angeles, and a whole slew of other temples that I can’t remember at the moment).

 The Celestial Room

The three arches in the center of the photo remind me of Salt Lake, where there are three arched mirrors, one of which is actually a sliding door that leads to a sealing room. I just love those interesting little touches. It appears, here, that only the center arch is a mirror and the other two lead into another room. I have never been to this temple, and I will update this as soon as I learn more about it.

The Garden  Room

I’m guessing here. But it does appear to be a garden room. I’m again impressed by how much this resembles the Salt Lake Temple, especially with the half-circle above the door set with what appears to be a simple metal latticework.

The Telestial Room

In more modern temples, the Creation Room, Garden Room, Telestial Room, and sometimes the Terrestrial Room are combined into one room.

Hallway … somewhere in the temple.

The beveled archways again remind me a great deal of the Salt Lake Temple. I’m not sure where this is inside the temple, but in my experiences, these hallways or staircases are usually encountered near the front of the temple. I will update when I learn more of this.