USLCHMission 18
Sitting comfortably in the living room of our third-floor apartment
I gaze out the balcony and see spires.
To the south, down State street, are a couple of skyscrapers. I can’t see the tops of them and I don’t
bother to get up and look – they are not historical.
Just north of those, across the street and a little west from our apartment, is a building just a little higher than our balcony window. It is being renovated. It is topped with an historic golden beehive. It is the Beehive House.
Behind it, also being renovated, is the Lion House (with the lion statue lounging unseen to us above the door on the south). We mostly can only see northeast corner of the Lion House from our balcony because it is west behind the Beehive house, but we often see machines and workmen coming and going between the buildings.
The next spire is straight out, on the Joseph Smith Memorial
Building (which in the past was the Hotel Utah) also topped with a beehive, but
its many times larger than its neighbor.
Historic building? Yes. Being
renovated? Yes. It is where we spend our days and is just southeast of the Salt
Lake temple.
The temple is glorious.
To the west I see only two of its six main spires peeking out from
behind other buildings. The central
spire is topped prominently with a golden statue of the angel Moroni blowing
his trumpet.
Poking up, a bit further north and west, is a crane on
something being built or renovated.
Miles beyond that is the control tower for the airport. The last spire I can see to north is the top
of the conference center. I cannot see
the conference center itself because it is covered by the lower 14 floors of
the Church Office Building.
The Church Office Building is the northern frame to the
picture in our balcony window. It is 28
stories high and, like the first building, the top is not within my view.
I return to my reflections.
The spires, some topped with flags, are there to be seen. We can orient ourselves not only to the
particular structure with a spire but with the spire as a landmark, we are helped
get to any place in the general vicinity. What are your
Sister Ames and I wear name tags. They are our spires. People who want to be oriented in some way –
either spiritually or physically – will stop us with inquiries.
I reflect further on the renovations. All these buildings built in the mid 1800’s are putting on their Sunday best. The streets themselves are being torn up and repaved. Everything is being made new for the Salt Lake Temple celebration – a celebration of Jesus Christ. Its 7 year renovation project is nearing completion.
The whole world is invited to come to The House of the Lord
- to better know Him. Check your
calendars and save the date. Reserve your temple open house tour beginning
September 1, 2026
Salt Lake Temple
Celebration - Open House Tours | templesquare.org
And when you come, we will be here. We hope you find us. We
invite you to notice every spire and to consider the invitation being extended
by each one. We look forward to sharing
this experience.
