Temples, Desert Lilies, and Las Vegas

I recently attended my nephew’s wedding in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was so much fun to be there and share in the day with family. My husband’s siblings are strewn across the US—from Georgia to Hawaii—but they are all very close and do their best to support each other in big events like marriages. So with some degree of sacrifice, they were there, all seven of them.

I do not, however, love being in Las Vegas. I know there are a lot of good people who live there and some great shows that are fun to see, but it is still hard for me to drive around the streets and see billboards that say things like, “Biggest Selection of X-rated Actors Here” There were many other similar billboards and signs, all advertising one form of evil or another and each promising thrills and happiness for those who partook.

My daughter Kathryn made an interesting observation. She commented on how fake everything in the town is. You can pretend to be in Venice, Rome, New York City, or Egypt, but you are not really there. That seemed to me to be symbolic of the message of the city in general. People go there to find riches, short term happiness and an escape from reality. But the reality is that true wealth and happiness will never be found in evil. No one involved in prostitution, gambling and pornography will find the joy they are seeking. So the city is not only pretend, it is also on some levels a lie, and a perfect example of how Satan operates.

Our morning at the temple was in stark contrast to our evening in the city. The man who performed the marriage ceremony told us something about the construction of the Las Vegas temple that I found interesting. Aware of the spiritual dearth in the area in general, the architect of the temple incorporated the desert lily into much of the temple décor—including down the sides of all four corners of each marriage altar. He had gone into the desert once and amidst the brown dirt and cacti, found a beautiful green leafed desert lily in full bloom. To him it represented the life the gospel brought to an otherwise spiritually barren land.

So if you ever get a chance to attend the Las Vegas temple, be sure to look for the lily, a symbol of spiritual life.

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Now on a completely different subject. . . . I wrote a post about my mother in honor of her birthday but here are a few things I wanted to add to it. As I mentioned, my mother is a farm girl, born and raised, and so she learned to be resourceful, as well as brave. Here are two examples.

First--brave . . . Mom loves animals and does her best to care for them, although I have thought she has been a bit extreme at times. Like the time their doberman became diabetic and mom would go out every morning and get a urine sample from the dog to test his sugar levels. Seriously!! I am sorry to say, that is where I would have to draw the line.

Second--resourceful. When I was in fourth grade I broke my arm and had to have a cast. Back then the casts were plaster, not fiberglass like today. When my six weeks were up, and I could have the cast removed, my mom did not want to spend the money to take me to the doctor so she took me into the back yard and got out a saw and sawed it off! The honest truth.

Ahh, so many stories! :-)