ON BEING ELEVATED

Guest blogger: Elder David Ames

In the Bible Isaiah says “… let us go up….”  (Isaiah 2:2-3)

Since coming to the Church Headquarters mission we have done a lot of going up – particularly on elevators.  

We started with the freight elevator up to our apartment from a secure parking area.  To get into the freight elevator wave at a red light on the wall. The door opens and freight can be taken in.  After a few seconds the door closes – hopefully after you are in.

Now look for buttons to push. SURPRISE - you're not even on the elevator.  Looking around, you find a light on the wall, a red one.  

A security fob turns the light green to allow a choice of up or down.  Doors open and you enter the actual elevator, hopefully with freight.  

Security fobs (yes, again) allow the choice of which floor. We live on the 3rd. We were successfully lifted up - with our first load of furnishings. Repeat as necessary.

Across the street from our apartment, other elevators descend underground to an extensive maze of secure walkways and parking.  Many elevators within the maze, all requiring secure access, transport workers and escorted visitors to assigned locations.  

After crossing the maze to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB),  a security guard watches us pass security gates, and if asked will kindly give directions to the next bank of elevators - I think there are 6 total here. 

Destination Dispatch 

Occasionally these elevators are stuffed!  Destinations – third floor please – are selected before getting on.  Having chosen your destination a voice announces which elevator you will take and a letter (A through F) above the designated elevator will chime and light up.  Inside there are no buttons to push (except for emergencies - that’s another story), and up you go. 

Of course there are stairs near all the elevators. 

You can choose to go up or down. 

I have thought a lot about being elevated, a lot about ‘going up.’ 

I’ve thought about that scripture in Isaiah 2:2-3. It invites readers to  “go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.”

I looked up the elevation of some temples I have been to.  The temple in our home town of Moses Lake is at an elevation of 1,157.7 feet. My wife grew up near Cardston, Alberta, Canada. Her maternal grandfather painted many pictures of the temple there. It is at 3,780.2 feet. Here we can see the Salt Lake Temple, elevation 4,335.2 feet. 

That is going up. It has been amusing to watch the crane working from our third floor apt (and our JSMB third floor work stations). This week most of the rennovation scaffolding and the crane are removed.

Bountiful, Utah has a temple on the side of a mountain. It is at an elevation of 5,160.8 feet. We like to go there because before or after temple worship we can also visit nearby posterity.) 

OK!  I got curious!  Arequipa Peru – 7,970.0 feet; Bogata Columbia 8,371.6 feet; and La Paz Bolivia 10,680.1 feet.  That is really being elevated. 

Each temple is a house of the Lord - the mountain of the Lord where we may go to lift hearts, minds, and spirits. Each day we work to help others have that opportunity.

As I was closing my search site I noticed one more – Cusco Peru 11,333.2 feet! That is a sharp contrast to one more that caught my eye – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at 9.4 feet.  (I spent a couple of hours in Rio about 50 years ago.  But that, also, is another story.)

As we proofread this post, Sister Ames asked if any temples are below sea level. What do you think? Can you identify any?

Stairs are yet another story! One of our mission saftey rules is "Don't Fall!" So, we take elevators.

Good news.  If you are on an elevator that lets you choose your destination, you can go to the main floor (identified by a star) without security. Is that fire code?