I Love the Temple

When I was prego (and laid off) I volunteered at the Temple in the office mostly answering the phones and filing. I loved to be in that peaceful setting with all the wonderful people there. I had told the ladies I worked with that I would come show Gemma to them after I had her. Well, I finally made it! Gemma was so cute ~ she didn't make a peep and kept smiling while looking at the pretty chandeliers and the plants in the atrium. I am thankful to have a Temple close by and that I was married to my sweetheart there.

I found some fun facts about the Temple:

* Exterior Finish: Marble walls and slate roof

* Site: 7.3 acres

* Total floor area: 79,220 square feet

* Public open house: 15 June - July 1989 (The only thing I remember about going to this is that either one or both of the twins were freaking out because they didn't want to put the "booties" over their shoes to help keep the carpets clean. I can't remember if they ending up wearing them or not.)

* Dedication: 19-21 August 1989 Gordon B. Hinckley

* The Portland Oregon Temple was the first temple built in Oregon.

* The Portland Oregon Temple sits on land originally purchased in the 1960s for a Church junior college. Later when that decision was reversed, 7.3 acres were retained for the temple.

* The two-story Celestial Room of the Portland Oregon Temple features three chandeliers, long wall tapestries, and a grand staircase.

* On the top floor of the Portland Oregon Temple are a collection of sealing rooms with white marble altars and a large assembly hall.

* The floor plan created for the Portland Oregon Temple was adapted and used for the Las Vegas Nevada Temple.

* On May 11, 1988, the gold-leafed statue of the angel Moroni was set into place atop the 170-foot eastern spire to an audience of television cameras, newspaper photographers, and beaming Church members.

* A whopping 314,232 visitors toured the Portland Oregon Temple during its public open house. At the time, it was the fifth highest number of temple open house visitors in Church history.

* President Ezra Taft Benson presided and offered remarks at the first three dedicatory sessions of the Portland Oregon Temple, though he extended the responsibility of offering the dedicatory prayer to his first counselor, Gordon B. Hinckley.

* In 1994, the Portland Oregon Temple was awarded first place by the Royal Rosarians of Portland, Oregon, in the category of commercial rose plantings. Portland is known as the "City of Roses."