Sunday, November 10, 2013

Let there be light!

 

Tis the season for celebrating Jesus Christ, the Light of the World!  The lighting inside the temple is designed to remind us of the Light of Christ, especially in the Celestial Room.  We love to be in there to feel and ponder His light and love.  And now we are getting very excited to see the temple grounds all lit up for the holidays.  They call it the “Festival of Lights,” and it begins when the lights are turned on December 1!  The Visitors Center will also be elaborately adorned with lots of huge trees decorated in various cultural themes and an amazing crèche display. 

On Monday November 4, all of the temple missionaries got to play a small part in all of this by stringing lights on bushes and shrubs.  We did bushes and shrubs, because they didn’t want us up on ladders.  We strung thousands of lights.  On the taller bushes, the lights are 6 inches apart and on the shorter ones they are 4 inches apart.  The day started out cold but it warmed up by the time we were done.  We put up just a few of the 600,000 lights that people will see.  Most of them are put up by the grounds crew.  Stay tuned for pictures when the lights are turned on! 

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This is the 36th year for the Festival of Lights.  It goes from December 1 to January 1, 2014.  Every night there is a performance in the Visitor Center Auditorium by a well-known local group or individual.  Some of those performing this year are the Capital Carillon Bell Choir, the Mormon Choir of Washington DC, McDonough High School Madrigals, the Washington DC Temple Orchestra, Olney High School Concert Band, Jenny Oaks Baker, Rockville Swing Band, and Chinese Children Dancers.

2 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see the pictures at Christmastime!

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  2. Hi EdnJudy! Just got your Christmas card and checked your blog. What a great mission! I love the DC temple! It used to be our temple when we lived in Kentucky. It was dedicated as I was in the hospital having Matt (who is now a stake president). I have always loved the beautiful blue chunky glass that goes up the sides of the temple.
    David and I are temple workers in the Winter Quarters Temple here in Omaha.

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