Episode 128: Ft Collins Temple
On September 10, 2016 I visited the Ft Collins Temple with my friend Chad. This is our audio diary.
Official Ft Collins Temple photographs are here – https://www.lds.org/church/news/see-inside-new-fort-collins-colorado-temple-opening-for-tours-august-19?lang=eng
To read more about the process used to build a Mormon temple, read this article – http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-temple-building-process
The George W. Bush presidential library is in Dallas, TX. Much like touring a Mormon temple, pre-game before you enter. https://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/
Napoleon’s Sarcophagus is at Les Invalides in Paris. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Invalides
New Belgium Brewing are the makers of Fat Tire Beer. http://www.newbelgium.com/Brewery
Casa Bonita is a Mexican restaurant in Denver. www.CasaBonitaDenver.com
Become a patron at Patreon.com/MyBookofMormonPodcast
My Book of Mormon 
October 2, 2016 at 4:39 pm
A little insight into the lack of crosses: This is (as so much of the church is) a remnant of early 19th Century Protestant culture whose origins have been forgotten and therefore members claim it as something original to themselves. In this case you have Mormonism coming to life in a time where mainstream Protestantism had eschewed the crucifix in an effort to separate themselves from the Catholics. This continued through the 1880s when Potestants began reintroducing the cross -sans gory Christ – into their iconography. The Mormons, having already thoroughly removed themselves physically as well as ideologically from any sense of mainstream Protestantism, continued in their refusal of the crucifix or cross. Today most Mormons would tell you it is the avoidance of idolatry that is at the core of it.
October 3, 2016 at 1:20 am
Part of why I go into these things completely blind is that people like you know your stuff and have well-written answers for everything. A tip o’ my hat to you, sir. This is fascinating.
October 2, 2016 at 11:24 pm
No children are allowed in the temple, unless they are being sealed to patents who were not married in the temple. Teens 12+ can go into the temple to do baptisms for the dead, if they are worthy. Adults get to do the washing and anointing, endowments and sealings when they go on a notation or get married themselves.
October 3, 2016 at 1:24 am
So, hypothetically, if you’re 11 and your older brother is getting married in the temple, you couldn’t go?
October 3, 2016 at 1:30 pm
If your 17 and your older brother is getting married in the temple you couldn’t go. 12-17 year olds can only get baptisms for the dead in the temple.
October 7, 2016 at 2:42 am
Most mormons never see a Mormon wedding until they go to their own, especially young women.
October 8, 2016 at 6:57 am
Yep. Being the youngest in my family, I haven’t been to any of my siblings’ weddings.
October 2, 2016 at 11:26 pm
And the celestial room is for the end of the endowment. Did you ever watch the videos of the endowment?
October 3, 2016 at 1:22 am
I made it through about 20 minutes of the endowment ceremony hidden camera video. It was SO BORING that I called it quits and stenciled birds on my kitchen cabinets. Nobody during the tour (of which I edited out a bunch of too-faint-to-hear comments) mentioned anything specific happening in the celestial room at all. Instead, they kept saying things like “This room is for pondering the wonder of heaven.”
October 3, 2016 at 1:28 pm
Nothing happens in the celestial. Its is where you go after the endowment session is over.
October 3, 2016 at 3:36 pm
The Celestial Room is always connected to the endowment room, or “instruction room”, I guess they called it. At the end of the endowment ceremony, a temple worker representing Christ will bring each temple attendee “through the veil” into the Celestial Room, which is meant to represent the presence of the Lord. You can leave immediately at that point, if you feel so inclined, but most people stick around a few minutes to bask in the contemplative… whatever… of the Celestial Room.
October 9, 2016 at 6:50 am
People have told me that they’ve kind of gotten the bum’s rush out of the celestial room, that is they were shooed out because there was another group coming through behind them. I wonder if that’s how it is in Super VIP Heaven which sounds like Celestial Disneyland: Keep moving or get out of line so you don’t hold things up.
October 7, 2016 at 2:49 am
And when a woman gets married, she goes to the veil and says her new name to her husband who is on the other side if the veil and he beings her through. So he is basically her god and she never gets to learn his new name.
October 7, 2016 at 1:27 pm
I hate institutional sexism like this. #rage
October 3, 2016 at 1:40 pm
I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around the exclusivity. In the Evangelical tradition it’s all about getting more people to more events all the time. It’s the anti-exclusive. No wonder the sealing rooms were so small.
October 3, 2016 at 8:46 pm
The sealing rooms are where the Temple weddings take place, so not a lot of people can see the actual wedding ceremony.
October 5, 2016 at 3:17 am
Fun episode! I am such a flaming atheist bleeding heart liberal. I’m super curious how the church financial breakdown looks for building expenses vs. humanitarian aid. The building looks amazing, but I can’t quite get past the squick factor at spending that much on a pretty place vs. the amount of human suffering that could be alleviated with that money.
October 5, 2016 at 4:36 am
So much agree. The church building next door was unremarkable, at best, and was drab at worst. The contrast with the temple across the street was striking. Like, I get that it’s there to be a place to get closer to god, but when most people can’t get in, does it really count as a place of worship? Isn’t it just a place for the ‘in’ crowd to congratulate themselves on toeing the line? And why can they spend THAT much money on a building but they can’t pay their bishops and stake presidents?
October 5, 2016 at 10:21 pm
I live a block away from the Fort Collins Temple. I am a former Mormon and also attended the Fort Collins Temple open house. I really enjoyed this episode and hearing the perspective from people that are new to Mormonism. Thanks for doing your podcast.
October 6, 2016 at 3:41 pm
That’s so cool! Did you go to that church back when you were Mormon?
October 9, 2016 at 8:40 pm
Mormon temples provide an almost endless list of topics: why are they built; how are they built; what do they cost; what do all the symbols mean; what do Mormons do there; what do you wear; can you see departed spirits (temple manifestations); does God and/or Jesus visit on occasion; and so on. Reading about LDS temples can offer a fascinating insight into an American born religion or it can make you yawn. After I listened to your episode I had to indulge in a flurry of internet browsing, and thought I would share a few links that I came across:
1) That guy on top of the steeple, Moroni: http://www.deseretnews.com/top/2075/0/20-little-known-facts-about-Mormon-temples-Angel-Moroni-statues.html
2) Seal of Melchizedek: http://www.ldsliving.com/Why-This-Symbol-Appears-10-000-Times-in-the-San-Diego-Temple/s/79150
(By the way the San Diego Temple supposedly cost $24 million, and that was in 1993. Did they tell you how much the Fort Collins Temple cost?)
3) Oxen, White Clothing, and the Mirrors of Eternity (Doesn’t that sound like a SciFi novel?): https://www.lds.org/youth/article/symbolism-and-temple-preparation?lang=eng
4) Symbolism (this one’s a bit dry): http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Symbolism
5) Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple: https://www.lds.org/manual/preparing-to-enter-the-holy-temple/preparing-to-enter-the-holy-temple?lang=eng
6) Preparing to Enter Casa Bonita: http://www.westword.com/restaurants/how-to-survive-casa-bonita-the-worlds-weirdest-mexican-restaurant-5774262
When you gaze upon a Mormon temple and/or have the opportunity to tour one before it is dedicated perhaps you can think or feel that it is a place of worship; devout Mormons certainly do. After all Dallin H. Oaks, one of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “The spiritually enlightened use of property can help prepare us for the higher law of celestial glory.” These temples can cost millions of dollars; I hope the Mormons feel it is worth it.