Had a good night at the KOA, enjoyed the pool & hot tub before heading off to bed, very quiet except for a couple of trains passing thru. Turns out the shuttle from the KOA is run by the Mormons so we get a bit of history & orientation to Temple Square on the ride down.

Temple Square is huge – 35 acres located in the middle of Salt Lake City. It is very clean, well manicured with lots of fountains, gardens, and buildings.  We learn a lot about the church as every tour is led by 2 young people doing there year of service for the church.

The Salt Lake Temple is one of 187 temples worldwide and is only open to members of the church. It is used for weddings (we saw lots fo bridal parties during the time we were there) baptisms and other ceremonies.

Sunday services are held in the Tabernacle – a large building built without nails. The roof is held together with rawhide strapping. The pipe organ is huge, we listened to a 1/2 hr recital put on special for us tourists.

There are 15 buildings to visit – some dating back to the 1800’s every building you visit requires that you take a tour given by two sisters who are eager to share the history and teachings of the church, no self-guided tours are allowed.

Pioneers traveled 1300 miles to Utah by Ox cart or handheld carts to follow their prophets teaching. He translated the Book of Mormon to supplement the Bible. It was translated from gold tablets that have been lost.

The next prophet was Brigham Young who was also the governor of Utah and also the head of the negotiations/treaties/relations with the Indians – 3 jobs!!

This weekend is the bicentennial conference – we view the 21000 seat auditorium where this will be held as well as a fantastic rooftop patio complete with gardens and fountains. There is a great view of the mountains & Temple Square from here it’s hard to believe you’re actually standing on the roof of a building!!!

It’s been a very busy day but we still have 2 more stops to make, up first the capital building with its marble and opulent interior murals. The sun has gone down as we head to our last stop of the day, watching the Morman Tabernacle Choir practice for weekends events, and it’s really a practice as the interrupt the song multiple times so not as nice as we had hoped.

Choir practice ends at 10:00pm and we catch the last shuttle back to the KOA, it’s been a busy but fun day.