It was a last-minute deal. Neat experience, though. It's been 8 or 9 years since I had the chance. They have you wear whites now (scrubs or shirt/pants), which is different from last time. I got to see the mens' dressing rooms. :)
It is a priviledge to clean the Lord's house. I had some neat thoughts and feelings while I was there. My primary job was dusting baseboards. There are 7 miles of baseboards and other woodwork in the Boise temple. I believe it.
__________________
"There is order in the way the Lord reveals His will to mankind. . .we cannot receive revelation for someone else's stewardship." L. Tom Perry
That's cool. It's been a bit of a time since we went to the temple before we went this last time... parents' health problems, who are our usual babysitters and stuff... Anyhow, I had a weird thought about the whole decor of the temple which I'd never had before. The word "cheesy" came into my mind. I'm like, What's the matter with me?
__________________
Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
Did you know that the Church has interior decorators that come and give the temples a score? Ours is being inspected next week. Apparently they've gotten superiors on cleanliness, but the decor scores haven't been so perfect. Our temple is being remodeled in July. I think it's beautiful, but maybe starting to get a tiny bit outdated. It will be interesting to see what they do. I hope they don't change the sealing room or celestial room much, I don't think they need it. Plus some carpet sculptor guy came in and made the carpets in those rooms really gorgeous with vine and flower patterns.
__________________
"There is order in the way the Lord reveals His will to mankind. . .we cannot receive revelation for someone else's stewardship." L. Tom Perry
we don't have to wear scrubs when we do it. Maybe seattle is weird. :) I always end up scrubbing down lockers. And there's never a shortage of open slots out here for volunteers... cuz we're not in Utah.
--Ray
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
When we lived in Edmonton we got to clean the temple on a regular basis - what a fabulous experience that was. It sounds funny, but I feel sorry for those who've only ever lived near a large temple because they're really missing out.
The policy for the clothes you wear changed during the years we cleaned. Initially, we had to be all in white, and the women had to be in a dress or skirt. Basically, most of the women cleaned in their temple dress. Then we as women could wear pants, but everyone still had to be in white. At the time we moved, you could have a white shirt and khaki pants - as long as they weren't denim.
I can't speak to the Edmonton policy anymore, of course, but the upside for me in moving is Cardston has a great cafeteria - and I have wonderful memories from my youth of meeting both sets of grandparents there for lunch after doing baptisms for the dead. As far as decor... it RAWKS. Which is probably a little blasphemous to say regarding a temple, but Cardston is done in the Mission style, which I fell in love with the very first time I walked through the doors after the renovation. So now that's the style I'm decorating my home in as well.
In an attempt to keep my posts a little shorter, I'll share my "sculpted carpet" story a bit later.
-- Edited by dianoia at 14:08, 2008-04-16
__________________
They might not look it, but bunnies can really take care of themselves.
I went in Feb to help clean our temple and we were told that starting this month everyone who came to clean would be changing into white scrubs type clothing.
Dianoia, has Cardston always been in the Mission style? The only time I have ever been there was July 1982, just before it closed for remodeling, for my brother in law's wedding. They were closing just after he got married to switch it over to the movie, we did one of the last "live" sessions there. Anyway, I was just fascinated by all the hand craved details and the gorgeous windows. I also remember in each of the ordinance rooms we sat on benches. I remember the benches squeaked and groaned as we got up and down and they were not padded. Did they take out the benches?
Crazymom, I don't know how the Cardston temple was decorated in the years preceding the renovation, because I hadn't been inside yet - except for the baptistry - and hubby doesn't remember. I'll ask my parents.
But I'm pretty sure it was originally decorated in the Mission style, because that's the time period in which it was built. Actually, the Cardston temple is now a historical site because it's considered to be such a beautiful example of the style of that time period.
I do know that when they did the renovations the later-installed false ceilings were removed to reveal the original ceilings, which are immensely cool and geometric and colorful - lavenders and sage greens and golds and such. There are still benches, but they're padded now, and don't make any noise anymore.
And yeah, the windows and woodwork are amazing. For me it was a love-at-first-sight kind of thing, and it wasn't until several years later when I first saw some Frank Lloyd Wright and said, "Hey, that looks just like Cardston!" that I discovered it was a style of architecture and furniture.
Which means I also love the architecture of the new temples, since they're sort of a neo-Misssion thing.
__________________
They might not look it, but bunnies can really take care of themselves.
I'm like, What's the matter with me? 
