Fun Facts about the St. George Temple:

 

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St. George Temple is a beautiful, special place, full of history.  Let’s jump in and go over some interesting facts!

-The St. George is the longest operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  There were temples built by the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, before the St. George temple(Kirtland and Nauvoo), but they were either abandoned or destroyed when the pioneers left the East to come to Utah.

- The St. George Temple was the first temple built in Utah.  The Salt Lake temple was announced before the St. George temple, but it took longer to finish the Salt Lake Temple.  When the Pioneers came to Utah they were in a hurry to build a temple, knowing the importance of these buildings. 

-Brigham Young, the prophet at the time, personally oversaw the building of the St. George Temple.

- The Saints of St. George started working on the temple ON THE SAME DAY it was announced!

-People were asked to travel to St. George to work on the temple from different places in Utah. When the Saints were asked to go to St. George they were also asked to bring ALL their own food. This was not for a weekend but for the whole time they would be working on the temple!   

- The St. George Temple is the ONLY temple completed while Brigham Young was a prophet.  Brigham Young was prophet for almost 30 years(29 years and 8 months).  

-The land that Brigham Young designated as the place for the temple was a swampy area, with an underground river.  The Prophet Brigham Young told the saints how to solve the problem. They had to smash volcanic rock deep into the trenches, using a cannon, to make a firm foundation for the temple.  The cannon that was used to smash the rock into place is still in the St. George visitors center at the temple, go see it!

-The temple was originally going to match the color of the red rock, that surrounds St. George.  That switched because Brigham Young wanted the temple to stand out against the red rock and that is the way we have it today.

-The exterior of the temple is whitewashed limestone.

-Brigham Young did not like the spire at the top of the temple, when it was built.  It was smaller than Brigham thought it should be.  Brigham wanted the saints to change the spire, but the saints did not have the time and wanted the temple done, the temple was left with the smaller spire for the dedication of the temple.  Only months after the dedication Brigham Young died, and a couple months after Brighams death the Temple caught fire, only the spire burnt and the saints were able to replace spire the way Brigham Young wanted it in the first place.

-The Founding Fathers appeared to Wilford Woodruff in the St. George temple and asked Wilford to do their temple work.

-The St. George temple was the first temple that did endowments for the dead, before this temple endowments were only done for those living.

There are so many awesome facts about the St. George Temple! The St. George temple is a place full of history and importance for the pioneers of the past, and the same for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ today! The building is truly remarkable, the saints and the sacrifice they made is magnificent.

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