Reflections of a True Millennial

Wow, these past few months have been pretty incredible, and I have hardly blogged. Of course I was super busy with robotics, and I have already written recaps of that on our team's website here , here , and here . But, something else I have been busy with is the opening of the new Mormon Temple in Ft. Lauderdale. Since February, we have been working hard on several events related to this, but it all started long before that. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints first started appearing in Florida in the late 19th century. At that time the closest Temple was in Salt Lake City, Utah. Temples are separate from regular meetinghouses, and serve as places to be close to God and perform sacred ordinances. I have written more about their function here . In 1927, the closest temple became Mesa, Arizona. Then in 1974, the Washington D.C. temple became our temple. By the time my parents moved here in the late 80s, our closest temple was in Atlanta. In 1994, a temple was bu...

     For many South Floridians who frequent I-75, a new construction site has popped up between Post Road and Griffin. It's kind of a peculiar design. The construction site was even featured in a contest of a local magazine asking reader's what was being built on this site. Photo Credit: Derek Hernandez 6.23.12      Behind the gray Ford and white crane is the said construction site. Well the site is one for a Mormon Temple. Now why would I be writing about a new Church building, like who cares? There's Jewish Temples on every other street corner, so what's the big deal about a new Mormon one? Well our Temples aren't exactly the same as standard meetinghouses. Perhaps you've heard of Mormon Temples and their personification as places of mystery where only Mormons are allowed and secret activities take place. Well the cloud of mystery surrounding these buildings is often misguided. Let me explain.       In the Temple, only faithfu...