First off I would like to say sorry for this late post. I have been super busy with school, work, sickness (cold), family functions, and wedding planning. Now with that said, I will continue to post on our latest temple that we have visited. On September 4th, 2010, Tyler and I drove to Monticello/Moab area for our Labor Day Weekend. We also went with my roomie and good friend Melissa. We dropped her off in Moab as we went on to Monticello to go to the temple for the 12 o'clock session. Then afterwards we spent the rest of the weekend at Arches National Park (hiked Delicate Arch), Dead Horse Point State Park, Canyonland National Park, and eating the amazing and cheap burgers at Milts Dinner in Moab. We also had a great time camping:) In all a great Labor Day weekend. Enough about the non-temple fun and lets focus on the Monticello Utah Temple.
History:
The Monticello Utah Temple was announced on October 4th, 1997. The ground breaking and site dedication was on November 17th, 1997. The first open house was on July 16th-18th, 1998. Then dedicated on July 26-27, 1998 by Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley. This temple was the first of the small temples. It was actually the smallest temple until an an expansion project. The temple was then rededicated on November 17th, 2002 after an open house from November 2-9th, 2002. Another interesting fact about this temple is that the Angel Moroni was originally white but due to it being hard to see when it was cloudy the statue was replaced by a gold leafed Moroni.
Architecture/ Decor:
The Monticello Utah Temple is interesting in that unlike the other Utah temples this one is really small. It seems more like a temple outside of Utah. The temple grounds seem like a little green park next to all the dry desert landscape. The temple does have a really cool mural of the Monticello landscape. In all its a nice little temple.
Helpful things to know when visiting this Temple:
Location:
The Monticello Utah Temple is on the North West corner of the town. It was hard to miss because Monticello is incredibility small. I think you could probably walk the whole Main Street in 10 minutes.
Scheduling and Temple Clothes:
Due to this being a small temple there are no clothing rentals and there are also a limited number of sessions. You don't need to call in though because the sessions aren't overly busy. In fact when I called ahead (which I did due to it being a small temple) the lady kind of thought I was crazy for calling ahead (I guess small temples in Utah aren't like visiting small temples in other states).
Other things to Note:
If you are hungry Monticello has two food places: Taco Time or Subway. If neither of those seem up your alley stop in Moab before heading out to Monticello. While in the area try to go to the awesome National Park.
The site I got my info and if you wish to learn more:
Monticello Utah LDS Temple: http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/monticello/
