Arizona Temples

 About 5-6 years ago, I made a goal to visit 50 temples by the time I turned 50. Sadly, I did not make it. It was an overly ambitious goal for that time in my life. But I kept plugging away. And then COVID hit and I couldn't go to any temple at all for well over a year. But this last fall, I decided to go for it. In November, Scott and I went to Colorado to visit two temples there. Then last week, we went to Arizona to visit 4 temples in 2 days. That gave me my 50! It has been interesting to think about how my temple experience has changed over the years and become much more meaningful to me. I so appreciate my husband coming with me--that made it even better. Because he sometimes stayed with our children instead of going into the temple with me, he has only been in 46. But soon we'll get his 50.

It was an amazing trip. I enjoyed it so much. Here are some pictures of the temples we visited and the beautiful gardens around them. I loved seeing the landscapes created around the temples that very much fit the climate and environment.

We arrived on Thursday night and stayed in Mesa. The next morning we went to the Mesa Temple which was very recently renovated and rededicated. As I sat in the chapel, I remembered that my 2nd great-grandmother had worked in this temple. She is one of my heroes and I loved feeling this connection with her.  According to her biography, she spent 14 winters at the end of her life, working in this temple.

The next temple we went to was the Gilbert Arizona temple. It was about 45 minutes away. 

After Gilbert, we drove to Tucson and spent the night there. The following morning, we went to the Tucson temple. Here is a nice picture of it from the church website:

Those spiky sticks are the ocotillo plant. I really want to go back to Arizona when they are blooming.

That afternoon, we visited the Phoeniz temple.

A motif in this temple is the ocotillo plant which you can see in the stained glass windows.

If you ever have a chance to do a temple "blitz", you should take it.