Temples in Oklahoma, Houston and Dallas

As you know if you’ve been following my adventures for a while, I have in addition to visiting Frank Lloyd Wright buildings on my bucket list to visit all of the temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are only around 140 throughout the world, and I consider them very sacred spaces. (you can see the list of temples I’ve visited here and see other religious sites I’ve experienced here)

While home for the holidays I made it to three temples, one I know very well and two for the first time.

Oklahoma City

Northeast of Oklahoma City is one of these special places. It is one of the small temples that was built in the early 2000s to give more people better proximity to temples making it easier for them to visit and serve in them. Because of this, the design isn’t anything new. It’s the same design of the Reno, Columbia, Birmingham, Nashville, Raleigh, Memphis and others I’ve written about.

Houston

The Houston Texas Temple is nicknamed the castle by locals because of its architecture. I visited with my friend who is from the area and could show me the best angles for pics. This temple has lovely large gardens anyone is welcome to meander through. Though it was beautiful when I was there, I would love to see it when the crape myrtles are in bloom. I love crape myrtles. They remind me of home.

Dallas

This would be “my” temple. It’s a Mormon thing. The first temple you go through as a young adult or the temple you get married in or grow up around is “your” temple. I’d prefer if the Manti Utah Temple were mine or the Phoenix or Gilbert Arizona Temples as I find their architecture more appealing, but Dallas will do since what goes on inside is the same at any of them. It is in a quiet neighborhood tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Big-D. The architectural design is very similar to a few other temples built in the early 1980s in various corners of the world like Buenos Aires, Taipei and Boise.

I’ll continue my quest to visit all of the LDS temples around the world slowly but surely, and I invite you to as well. Some of them, those in larger cities or at historic church locales have visitor centers. The center in Washington, D.C. just unveiled a fantastic new exhibit similar to one in Salt Lake with a model of the temple cut open so you can see inside the spaces. This gives curious visitors a chance to see inside the beautiful structures they generally can’t go in. I’d encourage you to visit the temples near you as the grounds are always beautiful and very peaceful.