Oklahoma ward members travel to Conference

This is a guest entry submitted by Carissa M:

“We have been so blessed to have had the opportunity to go to Conference twice now. Once in October of ’09, and again just this past April. My husband is the bishop of our little ward in Durant, OK, and I am the Seminary teacher. We have lots of stalwart youth and some who struggle internally with things of the world (don’t we all?). My husband came up with the idea of taking them to see the prophet speak live in Conference to give them the opportunity not only to hear and see him, but also to allow them another opportunity to strengthen their testimonies (and who doesn’t need that?).

Once the 25-hour journey by car was successfully accomplished, despite a freak snow storm, we started by going to Temple Square and taking in the peaceful feeling of the Spirit that resides there.

Then, we took a tour from the lovely Sister Missionaries through the old Tabernacle and the Visitor’s Centers. They did such a good job keeping all 7 boys’ attention!

After lunch, we decided to tour the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and while there watched the Joseph Smith movie. It was moving, and our eyes were wet to say the least. I think I can say on behalf of all the youth, we walked away with a more unshakeable knowledge that Joseph Smith was TRULY a prophet of God.

Conference was, as it always is, amazing! It always feels as though those inspired men and women are speaking straight to my soul. The pen I was holding could barely keep up with my fingers pushing it along, trying to record as many memories/notes as possible.

Then, we headed over to Deseret Bookstore where they were having Liz Lemon Swindel painting LIVE in person! I could hardly contain myself. Watching her paint was like watching a ballet dancer. She was so thoughtful and her every move was so graceful. It was all I could do to muster the courage to ask her if I could photograph her. Both she, and her talent, are amazing! Plus, we had to get some of those yummy goodies from the Lion House Pantry while we were there! Those amazing little treats were at least half our diet intake for the 3 days we were in Salt Lake!

All in all, I think I can say we walked away from this place stronger, better, and with a desire to become more perfected in Christ. I hope it’s an experience we won’t soon forget!”

Christmas at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

This is a guest entry submitted by Katie:

We had some time to spare when we were on our way to the Conference Center for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. We wandered through the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and look what we found! There was no better way to pass time than walk around Temple Square and feel the spirit of Christmas!

Family from Colorado visits Temple Square

This is a guest entry submitted by MaryAnn M.:

“We are Utah natives, but we’ve been living in Colorado for the past 12 years.

When we come back to Utah, we try to take our children to Temple Square so that they can learn a little about their own history and their ancestors.  Our kids recently mentioned to us that they were wondering why we hadn’t taken them to Temple Square in a long time :)

We traveled to Utah two weeks ago with some friends from Colorado who brought their family to be sealed.  It was an amazing experience as their mother is not a member of the church and they had never spent time in SLC.

We toured the Conference Center and then had lunch in the Nauvoo Cafe where we coincidentally ran into my sister-in-law and nephew.  We loved the food in the Nauvoo Cafe, as well as the prices!  It was perfect.

We then watched the Joseph Smith movie and everyone with us was deeply touched.

Our friend’s mother, who is not a member, was thrilled to meet a sister missionary who was also from Taiwan – her homeland.

Our children loved spending time in the family history library.  We’d never actually done anything there, but our daughter wanted to work on her Faith In God project and so she spent time there working on a family tree and doing some family research.”

***We love guest submissions to our blogs! If you would like to submit pictures of your family or friends on Temple Square or in one of our restaurants, please e-mail them, along with a 1-2 paragraph explanation, to JBarnes@templesquarehospitality.com