Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Temple at Christmas

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While on our tour of Los Angeles, we started wanting to use a bathroom. Jen and Steve were actually looking for a stake center, but then we found that we were right near the Los Angeles temple.

This was kind of cool for me. When I was on my mission in Fresno, we could go to either the Los Angeles or the Oakland temples, because it was about the same distance, but everyone always went to Oakland because the traffic around Los Angeles made it take longer. (Fresno now has its own temple.) Without any prior expectation of seeing it, here it was.

We went into the visitors center, and though we felt somewhat guilty only coming for the bathrooms, Elder Ashton told us that we were not the only ones to do so, which I totally believe.

While we were driving up, I saw some statues, and I was confused because it looked like a nativity scene, and I wondered if it was always there. As we parked and got out, I noticed lights on the bushes and realized that this was Christmas decorations.

That threw me off. It felt really early for that. Part of that may have been the warm weather, though if you live in the area you probably get used to that, but also, it was only November 9th. However, there were Christmas decorations everywhere else we went, and by the end of the week I had Christmas carols playing in my head.

So, instead of writing about our trip in strict chronological order, the next few Saturdays are going to focus on Christmas things. It is the season, and I saw some pretty cool things.

The temple grounds were really lovely. The decorations were good, but it was clear that the landscaping would be beautiful at any time of year. I would have liked to see how it looks lit up at night. That happened last night, November 28th.

At the visitors' center they are friendly and helpful, and will not make you feel bad if you only use the bathrooms, though there are other things you can do. There are films you can watch, and there is a peaceful feeling inside.I think the combined peace and beauty is something that would be good for anytime, but especially appropriate around Christmas.

Many of the plants were unfamiliar, so I would love it if someone can tell me what the tree with the large tapering fruit is. I saw others in the area, so it is probably native, but it looks completely unfamiliar.

The Los Angeles Temple, and the Visitors' Center, can be found at 10741 Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.