Anniversary Utah Getaway: Draper Temple

A few years ago we made a bucket list as a couple, and it’s been really cool to tackle so many items on that list already! One item we knew would be a lifelong project. We’re members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and there are a lot of different levels of worship and involvement as a Mormon. Perhaps the highest is attending the temple, where we do work for ourselves as well as the deceased, sealing families together for eternity, and learn about the nature of God.

I get asked a lot what we do by those not of our faith, and why we go often to Mormon Temples. The main answer to what we do I just mentioned, and why we go often has a lot to do with the fact that the temple comes from Solomon’s Temple in the Old Testament, and there are ancient rituals and customs we learn about. It helps us understand God, and our relationship to him. It takes a lifetime to understand all pieces, to understand symbols, and to come to terms with how these ancient customs apply to modern day people.

My personal main reason for going is I feel a peace here I don’t feel other places. It helps me focus on eternity and not just my day-to-day worldly problems.

Jacob and I decided we’d like to attend 50 different temples together before we die. We knew this meant we’d need to squeeze in some time anywhere we traveled to try to go. When our anniversary came around and we talked of a quick weekend trip, Utah came to mind since we’d just been to California, and because we were ready to knock another temple off our list.

Temple #14 is a newer temple, the Draper Temple, located on top of a mountain in Draper, Utah, just South of Salt Lake City.

It’s beautiful, it’s huge, and it’s well attended! We loved looking at the Angel Moroni on top from every angle, it’s truly a beautiful Mormon temple!