Before we headed downtown...we did a little research online (this has become routine before we go visit anything now!). I learned that Masonry is not a religion, but a worldwide fraternity of brothers that support religion and encourage each other to be committed to their religion. It doesn't matter what you believe, you are welcome. It kind of reminded me of the Priesthood, but they encourage you to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ. So that was just a little tidbit of what we learned...you can study it yourself if you are curious like we were.
Anyway, we took the train downtown and looked for a place to eat for lunch, and to our amazement, we found a PITA PIT!!!! When Kevin and I were very newly married, we used to live in an apartment over some shops, downtown Rexburg. The apartment was TINY and didn't have a dishwasher, so often we would go down to Pita Pit (Kevin had cut up a bunch of buy one get one free coupons from the school newspaperS) and have dinner. I just hated the hassle of cooking in that tiny kitchen, and then washing everything by hand knowing I still had to do homework! Fortunately, we only lived there for like 2 weeks, and we moved to a much nicer, cheaper place!
So, as you can imagine! We were thrilled to reminisce those first two weeks of marriage by eating at PITA PIT!
After lunch, we walked over to the Masonic Temple to get there in time for our tour. We had lots of time to spare so we walked around the museum for awhile, but did not see any Book of Mormon or anything about Joseph Smith. But we did see some other cool stuff...
An apron George Washington used to wear serving in the masonic temple.
General Tom Thumbs apron. What a tiny guy!
This is a sea shell carved with the nativity scene!
Finally, we started our tour! Our tour guide was very general. He didn't get very specific about their ceremonies, and what things meant, probably because he wasn't allowed to...but it was great walking around the temple! It was gorgeous inside, and there was a TON to admire and look at! The tour guide mentioned that there were only two other masonic temples that even compared to Philadelphia's, (in interior design/architecture) and those are in London and Switzerland! I think that made this tour all the more special to me!
Benjamin Franklin Room!
Ceiling in Benjamin Franklin Room! If you look closely there are cherubs up there!
Oriental Room! Everything was carved...ceilings, walls, EVERYTHING!
Gothic Room! Designed after the Gothic Era!
I can't remember what room this was! But it was one of my favorites!
Egyptian Room
I think this room was Turkish inspired...
Ceiling in Turkish room
Moses and the Burning Bush
Roman Room
Benjamin Franklin wanted our National Bird to be the Turkey!
After our tour, we checked out the gift shop and asked the tour guide if he knew anything about Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon. He told us that they only the librarian in the museum can take it out of the library and show it to visitors, but the librarian was not working that day so we couldn't see it. :( Cool to know that they did have it though. So, after that, we had some fun taking pictures outside the Masonic temple across the street! We went to love park, and played a few games!
The Masonic Temple is behind me by the way!
We LOVE each other! :)
We had a lot of fun going out together, and I can't wait for our next adventure! Going to the Masonic Temple made me really excited for Philadelphia to get a temple! I can't wait to see how the city responds when they start having an open house! i just wish they would hurry and ground break! :)
3 comments:
I am so glad you get to do all these fun things!! What a pretty building. crazy all the little details. I love the picture of you saving Kevin from the dominoes! Hilarious!!
It is beautiful inside! Sounds like an educational activity!
Very cool. There are some very i-n-t-eresting details in those pictures =) You too are cute
Post a Comment