Mostly about Utah
In October 2008 I visited all thirteen Utah temples. It was then that almost all of the photographs were taken that appear in this series of posts. To download a photograph click on the image to obtain the full resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels with a file size of 3 to 4Mb.
This is one of two temples still employing live acting for presentation of the endowment
In October 2008 I visited all thirteen Utah temples. It was then that almost all of the photographs were taken that appear in this series of posts. To download a photograph click on the image to obtain the full resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels with a file size of 3 to 4Mb.
The temple is visible for miles throughout northern Utah's Cache Valley
The temple was the second temple built in Utah
Announced: 18 May 1877.
Site: 9 acres.
Exterior finish: Dark-colored, siliceous limestone, extremely hard and compact in texture, was used for the major portion of the temple. Buff-colored limestone, more easily carved, was used wherever intricate shaping was necessary.
Temple design: Castellated style.
Rooms: Baptistry, celestial room, four endowment rooms, 11 sealing rooms, five stories.
Total floor area: Originally 59,130 square feet, 115,507 square feet after remodeling.
Dimensions: 168 feet by 224 feet; 86 feet high. The east tower is 170 feet high; the west tower is 165 feeet high; there are four octagonal towers, each 100 feet high.
Groundbreaking, site dedication: 17 May 1877; site dedicated by Elder Orson Pratt, ground broken by President John W. Young of the First Presidency.
Dedication: 17-19 May 1884, by President John Taylor.
The temple was built entirely by volunteer labor over a seven-year period
My wife’s parents were married in the Logan temple. I have visited the grounds before but this is the first time I have been inside the temple. On my last visit in October I arrived in the early morning and you can’t miss the temple in the dark. It is on a hill and well lit.
After leaving the temple there was a cold wind blowing as a storm moved in. It is always interesting to view a temple with a backdrop of storm clouds.
The exterior was originally painted an off-white color to hide the dark, rough-hewn limestone
This is the only temple to be completely gutted and rebuilt inside
Bountiful Utah Temple
Draper Utah Temple
Jordan River Utah Temple
Manti Utah Temple
Monticello Utah Temple
Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple
Ogden Utah Temple
Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple
Provo Utah Temple
Saint George Utah Temple
Salt Lake Utah Temple
Vernal Utah Temple
In October 2008 I visited all thirteen Utah temples. It was then that almost all of the photographs were taken that appear in this series of posts. To download a photograph click on the image to obtain the full resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels with a file size of 3 to 4Mb.
The Jordan River temple entrance
In October 2008 I visited all thirteen Utah temples. It was then that almost all of the photographs were taken that appear in this series of posts. To download a photograph click on the image to obtain the full resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels with a file size of 3 to 4Mb.
Draper temple nearing the end of construction
In October 2008 I visited all thirteen Utah temples. It was then that almost all of the photographs were taken that appear in this series of posts. To download a photograph click on the image to obtain the full resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels with a file size of 3 to 4Mb.
The Bountiful Temple in August 2008
Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s thirty third email from the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission. If anyone wishes to send Daniel a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.
This week was great! My birthday was awesome. It was also my old companion’s birthday, Ganbileg. The whole zone came in the morning and we had cake. It was good. They sang happy birthday etc. Then I went on a split with Elder Warner (on the left in the photograph), he was in my MTC group. We went and taught English where they also sang to me. It was really fun to teach English that day because the class simply talked to us and we didn’t have to teach much. It was fun teaching lessons with Elder Warner as our language is close to the same. It made both of us happy to do more of the talking during the lessons.
[Read more…]
To access Waterfall Canyon, begin at the 29th Street trail head and take the trail to the left at the shelter and follow the sign. This is a moderately difficult trail with some scrambling for hikers and bikers.
Hardly anyone works on a Friday, including me, so yesterday I went on the Waterfall Canyon hike with family. Left to right below is Connie (niece), Jill (wife), Adelaide (daughter-in-law), Steven (son), Aurora (granddaughter), Susan (sister-in-law), Shauna (niece), and Rick (myself). Click on a person’s head and a photograph from the hike will appear. I had no suitable photos of Susan so hers is from a recent Parrish Canyon hike.
Watch the expression on the face of Steven (the one carrying the baby). If you ever get a decent photograph of him you should win a prize.
The rocks were not nearly so bad as it seems from this video.
It wasn’t a long hike, just under an hour. The day was not too hot so the walking was pleasant.
Adelaide, Jill, Rick, and Steven.
The following is from the Mongolia Mission Moments July 2009 edition. President Andersen wrote that “Perhaps we should stop more often to recognize the significant accomplishments already accomplished, that we might have faith to continue to improve.”
If Utah was a country it would have a GDP of $105.7 billion. This would place Utah above Qatar’s GDP of $102.3 billion but below 32 other states and 55 other nations. But what is GDP and how is it measured?
The gross domestic product (GDP), a basic measure of an economy’s economic performance, is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a nation in a year. The most common approach to measuring GDP is the expenditure method. This method states that GDP is equal to the total expenditures for all final goods and services produced within the country in a stipulated period of time (usually a 365-day year). Goods and services are consumption plus gross investment plus government spending plus exports minus imports.
For a state the counterpart to GDP is Gross State Product (GSP) and is a measurement of the economic output of a state or province. It is the sum of all value added by industries within the state. Bear in mind that flows of goods, services, labor, and capital across state boundaries are not measured very accurately as compared to nations.
If Utah was a country its population of 2,736,424 would rank it above the nation of Jamaica with a population of 2,719,000. Utah ranks 34th among the states in population. If Utah were a country, and no other U.S. states were, it would be positioned 139th in population among all nations.
Fertility rate is live births per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years. The TFR (Total Fertility Rate) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime. Bear in mind that the replacement fertility rate is roughly 2.1 births per woman for most industrialized countries.
If Utah was a country its fertility rate of 2.63 would rank above Ecuador’s 2.59 and would be higher than the world average of 2.61. If Utah were a country it would be 91st among the nations for fertility and ahead of all other U.S. states.
You can probably think of many more comparisons of Utah with other countries. Because the United States is such an economic powerhouse the GDP comparison is the most impressive, especially when comparing a larger state. The GDP of the United States ($14,264,600,000,000) is almost as great as the next four largest economies combined, which are those of Japan ($4,923,761,000,000), China ($4,401,614,000,000), Germany ($3,667,513,000,000), and France ($2,865,737,000,000).
One last item of note. If Utah was a country it would have a balanced budget.
Wikipedia: List of U.S. states by GDP (nominal). I used the 2008 GSP.
Wikipedia: List of countries by GDP (nominal). I used the 2008 list by the International Monetary Fund.
Wikipedia: List of countries by population.
Wikipedia: List of U.S. states by population.
United States Total Fertility Rate Increases. I used the 2006 rates.
Wikipedia: List of countries and territories by fertility rate. I used the 2008 CIA TFR rankings.