The story of the Provo City Center Temple HITS DIFFERENT for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It once was a beloved 19th-century tabernacle, where its walls echoed with generations of faith, worship, and community.
But then in December 2010, tragedy struck when a fire reduced it to ashes, leaving only its charred outer walls still standing.
Yet, out of those ashes rose a sacred transformation into a House of the Lord.
The Provo City Center Temple is a story of loss and rebirth, a brick testament to resilience, resurrection, and the divine power to make beauty from ashes.
As I continue with his spiritual series, while sharing my conversion into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Provo City Center Temple has been bookmarked in my mind for the past year and a half.
Rewind to April 2023, I was driving through Provo and spotted a golden Moroni statue perched atop this building.
'Oh, that MUST be a Temple,' I thought to myself. 'I gotta take a look at this.'
I found a parking spot to get a closer look as the late-April snow pelted me. I knew nothing about the transformation story of the Provo City Center Temple at the time. All I remember is getting closer, I saw this statue of a child walking from her mother to her father (with the Provo City Center Temple in the background). A happy family statue. It MESMERIZED me.
At first, my "Protestant Brain" had read comments in the past that "Mormons worship family" and "family is an idol," so that was my first thought. Yet, where else had I seen a statue celebrating... family... especially in today's day and age.
For whatever reason, this statue was seeded in my mind. Through the past few seasons, whenever I found myself back out in Utah, I would pass this spot again and again.
This past summer, I was invited to do my first proxy baptisms in Utah. The question was what temple to choose from.
In this video, I share some of the dark times as a recent convert, the detours in my covenant path, and how the story of this temple and statue inspired new steps to take.
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⛪ 52 Churches in 52 Weeks is a weekly spiritual series that worships at different churches throughout the United States. The project aims to exemplify love, understanding, and bridge the gap between different Christ-focused religious affiliations. If you'd like to see what happens next, LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and hit NOTIFICATIONS.
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▶️ Timestamps:
0:00 Provo City Center Temple
2:58 Story of Loss & Rebirth
3:50 Keep Coming Back
8:32 Proxy Baptisms
10:23 Dark Times
14:42 Sinking on Covenant Path
19:07 Temple's Family Statue
21:24 The Space In-Between
23:43 Refined Steps
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🎵 Music:
Gavin Luke - Greater Than You or I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c3QhSgWDUg
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