The San Antonio Texas Temple

 

The San Antonio Texas Temple was my 52nd temple

Our son Teancum and daughter Lizzie at the San Antonio Temple in May 2023

Teancum and Lizzie, May 2023

Beautiful flower beds on the grounds of the temple

Perfectly manicured grounds of the San Antonio Texas temple

Beautiful stained glass windows

Cornerstone, 2005

Beautiful view from the temple

The waterfall fountain in front of the temple

James at the temple

That's me standing in front of the temple

My son Micah and his wife Jancy and their two sons Krew and Kyden

My daughter Lizzie and grandson Krew at the fountain on the grounds of the temple

Angel Moroni peering over the trees on our way to the temple

We've almost made it to the temple!

We went to visit our son Micah and his family in Houston, and took a 3 hour road trip to San Antonio to attend my 52nd temple -- the San Antonio Texas Temple.  The temple was dedicated in 2005 and is located at 20080 Stone Oak Parkway in San Antonio.  This temple reminds me of the Snowflake Arizona Temple, partly because of the waterfall in front, and also because of its size.  It is a small temple.  It is filled with beautiful stained glass.  In fact, the sealer who officiated our sealing session told us that this temple had the most stained glass of any temple in the world, until the Rome Temple was completed.  There is beautiful stained glass everywhere you look.  That is my favorite thing about this temple!  We performed sealings as a family, and then Teancum and Lizzie went to the baptistry and performed baptisms as well.  While we waited for Lizzie and Teancum to come out, we enjoyed walking around the beautiful grounds and admiring the view from the temple.  One of the most special experiences while on the temple grounds, was that a friend of ours opened his mission call over Facebook live and he was called to the San Antonio Texas mission!  It was a very special coincidence to be there at the same time that he read his call!

While we were in San Antonio we also went to see the Alamo and drove past the Riverwalk.  We went to eat at Torchy's.  We stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott and had a suite with 2 double beds and pull-out couch, adjoined with Micah & Jancy's room that had one king bed and a pull-out couch, both for a great price.  It was fun to walk around the Alamo, and it was free!  We just scheduled our tour (and were an hour late because the temple took longer than we planned, but they took us anyway!).  San Antonio is humid and warm, but not unbearably so in May.  It is definitely worth the trip, especially to attend the beautiful temple!

The Alamo, May 2023

lit-up trees at the Alamo

Davy Crocket at the Alamo

Torchy's Tacos

The Casper Wyoming Temple

Casper Wyoming Temple

The Casper Wyoming Temple, my 65th Temple

I remember when the Casper Wyoming Temple was announced in general conference in April 2021.  I immediately started getting texts from friends and family who knew how excited I would be to have a temple so close-by!  The Casper temple is about 2 1/2 hours from us!  We watched with anticipation as progress was made on the temple, driving past the site each time we visited Casper.  Unfortunately it took much longer to construct than we expected, but finally it was completed and an open house was held from August 29th until September 14th, 2024.  The original dedication date was October 13th, but it got pushed back nearly a month and a half.

The temple was finally dedicated on November 24, 2024 by Elder Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  It is located at 3011 Independence Court in Casper.  My favorite thing about the Casper Temple are the paintings in the foyer of Devil's Gate and pioneers crossing the planes.  It makes me happy to know that our pioneer heritage in Wyoming is being commemorated in the artwork of our temple.  I also love the painting of a woman in the women's dressing room, that I think may be Rebekah.  

The temple is only 9.950 square feet.  There is one endowment room, one sealing room, one baptistry, 2 initiatory booths in each dressing room, and one Celestial room.  There is no chapel, so patrons go directly into the endowment room when going on a session.  The sealing room can double as an endowment room if needed, but I've never seen it done.  Also, it is probably the only sealing room I've ever seen that doesn't have the "eternity mirrors" in it.  

The completed temple in January 2024 

 These photos were taken in April of 2023 during construction:

We visited the temple again in February 2024 and saw what appeared to be a completed temple:

The completed temple in December 2024, the first time we attended the dedicated temple, my 65th temple!

Location of the Casper Temple

Visiting Casper

Casper does have a small airport.  I've never flown out of it, but my son did fly into it once.  Flights are limited.  There are a lot of places to eat in Casper, my favorite being the Olive Garden.  There is also a fun diner in Casper called Johnny J's Diner.  Its google maps location is here:  Johnny J's Diner