E R Haroldsen

I had the opportunity of spending time in the Pittsburgh Temple and watching paint dry. That sounds like a joke, but it is literally true. ‘
The Temple is in a two-week shutdown for maintenance, cleanup, and minor repairs. And they needed someone to Shepherd a worker. I had wondered what is done when the Temple people need somebody from the outside, somebody that is not a church member. Now I know.
They are escorted.
I’ve have done similar things while working at the Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho, so I had a good idea of what was required.
I got to escort Joe, a painter, a friendly and dedicated worker. Easy to talk to. He was doing touch-up and repairs. He would do some painting, move to another area, do a little more painting, then go back and do the second coat at the first place.. And I got to watch the paint dry.
I love it. I love being in the temple—regardless of the reason. To keep my mind occupied, I drew a picture to help me remember this event

Today (9/15/2024) was the dedication of the Pittsburgh Temple by Deiter F. Uchtdorf. While speaking, Elder Uchtdorf mentioned that Pittsburgh was known as the City of Bridges with 446 Bridges and suggested that the walking bridge going to the temple was a bridge to a more spiritual world.

I like that idea.

Walking Bridge to the LDS Pittsburgh Temple.

By far, the biggest and most important event in the North Pittsburgh Stake for 2022 is also the one that members are least involved in—namely, the construction of the Pittsburgh temple.

January 2022, Pittsburgh Temple Construction site

Gone are the days when members put their physical strength into the construction of the mightiest and most significant buildings on earth. Today, buildings are highly technical creations and workers must be highly trained. To bad that the workers who get this privilege don’t understand the significance of what they are doing. For that matter, I don’t fully understand the significance of the temple, but I know this is a really big deal.

January 2023, Pittsburgh Temple Construction site

If you sit in the Cranberry parking lot for any significant time, almost surely, someone will pull in, stop, take a few photos and drive on. I saw this on multiple occasions when I was there taking pictures.

 Or you might meet an old friend from another stake. In this case, my former Stake President Brennen Murray and his wife, Kimberly.

       I love to see the temple site when the clouds are black and turbulent. It reminds me of what Vaught Featherston said, “As the evil night darkens upon this generation, we must COME TO THE TEMPLE FOR LIGHT AND SAFETY. In our temples we find quiet, sacred havens where the storms cannot penetrate to us. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. Angels attend every door. As it was in the days of Elisha so it will be for us, “they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2Kings 6:16).”

One day I went extra early, while it was dark, just so I could watch the first rays of morning strike the stop of the temple.

I was not disappointed.

In July, workers started covering the frame

The Cranberry Stake building is beautiful but it will soon be overshadowed by the temple and that’s the way it should be.

My telephoto lens won’t let me see what is happening inside. I wish I had x-ray vision like Superman.