Life is...Vegas! Well....in a manner of speaking

So last weekend, I went to Vegas with a few friends.  Now when I say we went to Vegas, yes, we did spend some time on the strip...in the car...in traffic.  It was probably the worst hour of the trip.  No, when I go to Vegas, I go to the temple.  There are several things that I have learned from this temple specifically and it has become one of my favorites.  It also has a special place with my family as my great uncle (I think, my grandmothers' sisters' husband?) was the contractor for the temple, finished it, turned over the keys and passed away a few days later.  Kinda cool.

Now for the lessons.  Many moons ago, my family was on a vacation in St. George and decided to venture to Vegas. We went to the strip, not sure what we were thinking.  We went with another family, had 8 teenagers total.  Being Utah County sheltered, we were pretty freaked out.  After that, we decided to find the temple.  We got lost, naturally.  We stopped at Arby's to eat, and got directions.  I will never get lost going to the temple now. Find Bonanza Road, and you will find the temple.  It leads straight to it.  The beautiful part, is that as you stand  on the temple grounds, Bonanza Road is the only road that is outlined by lights, all the other lights are scattered.  Hence, you have the Iron Rod and the mists of darkness.  In the distance, you can see the buildings from the strip, the great and spacious building.  And lo and behold, in Vegas, you have Lehi's vision. Who'd'a thunk?!

Next lesson.  I realized this one as I did a Vegas trip by myself several months ago.  As I was leaving the temple, the lights and glitz and glam of the strip at night is quite a site to see. But in the light of day, driving along the freeway from a distance, it is all quite ugly and boring.  Most the buildings are the same brown/tan color.  Light bulb!  In the light of day, our habits or sins that seem so popular and glamorous at night are really not attractive.  Sometimes when we are in the heat of something, we need to step back and take a deep(better) look at what's really happening.

Light.  A lot of lessons are about light.  At night, if you know where to look, you can find the temple, but it isn't bright like a lot of the other temples you see.  There's enough bright lights in Vegas.  It's a different kind of light, one you have to be looking for.  It won't jump out at you, but it is more powerful than the "other lights" of Vegas, to those who know it's power.  A different kind of light, a different kind of beauty.  One from within. 

And then there's the trees.  I love the trees at the Las Vegas temple.  They talk back to you.  There are 3 different spots around the grounds, where there is a circle of bricks on the ground, and a semi-circle of trees with a cement bench in front of them.  As you stand in the very center of the bricks, and talk to the trees, they echo back to you.  Everyone I've taken and shown the trees doesn't believe me until they try it for themselves and they are always blown away.  The lesson on this one....? Well, there isn't one.  It's just one of those things that makes me love the Las Vegas temple.  Each time I go there, I get a "Christmas Eve" type feeling of excitement in seeing my "friends" the trees.

So, yes, I love going to Vegas, but for very different reasons that what Vegas is known for.  I know most of the world doesn't share the same opinion I do, but that's ok.  It's what makes me....well, me!