Atlanta Temple Celebration and Dedication

This past weekend we had the opportunity to join with over 70 thousand Latter-day Saints in celebrating the re-opening and re-dedication of the Atlanta Temple. Though our lives have been fairly busy lately, we had the opportunity to attend the Open House the weekend before. Though I had seen temples, I had never attended an Open House, where anyone and everyone is invited to come tour the inside of a temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This one lasted for three weeks, and apparently over 60 thousand visitors toured the temple.

If you missed the tour and want to see what we did, check out this link from the LDS Newsroom and scroll through the pictures. The rooms are absolutely breathtaking in these pictures and even more so in person.

Once the Open House was over, the youth in the area, around 2,500, were able to participate in the Youth Cultural Celebration. We knew several of the youth who had been practicing for a very hectic two months, and it ended up being absolutely fantastic--they did a great job! What an exciting opportunity, to be a part of such a huge celebration. Again, if you're curious, pictures are here.

And then, yesterday, the temple was finally rededicated--set apart again as a place to worship and draw closer to God. We feel so blessed to again have a temple close by. In fact, this will be the closest we have ever lived to one (about an hour away). We look forward to several more visits to the temple over the months to come.

This photo by Lou Williams