Good morning, Provo, Utah!

"Good morning, Provo, Utah!"
Darrel L. Hammon


"Good morning, Provo, Utah!" Joanne and I are here in the great cities of Provo/Orem, Utah. We are visiting our children and babysitting our granddaughter while our oldest daughter is spending time at Young Women's camp. She was excited to be with her young women, and we were excited to be with our granddaughter.

Our granddaughter is growing up too fast, just like any other little one. She is going to be two on July 10th. Two!  Where have the two years gone? She is very smart, just like her mother. She recognizes all of her letters and makes it a habit to call out the letters of anything we encounter. Amazing! Are children smarter these days or what?

Provo and Orem are wonderful places! Probably one of the best things is that you can grow almost anything. On our walks in the mornings, we are amazed at the roses--red ones, yellow ones, white ones. Some are tall and gangly, and others are low to the ground and spread out in shrub-like stances. The deep reds are impressionable in the yards. The day lilies are in full bloom and plentiful in almost every yard. People here like ornamental grasses in their yards and in the flower beds of corporate offices.

Everyone has an extraordinary view of the Wasatch Mountains. Whether your back door or your front door faces the Wasatch, the elegance and the majesty of these mountains almost takes your breath away. On our walk this a.m., clouds hovered over the Wasatch while the sun slowly rose in the east. At one point, shafts of light streamed through the clouds in Provo Canyon. It seemed to me that the shafts of iridescent light grew larger and larger. I could see in my mind's eye the light hovering and eventually penetrating Bridal Veil falls as it spews down the steep face and then clamoring into the Provo River. It was just gorgeous and spiritual simultaneously. I wanted to continue the walk east toward the canyon to see if the shafted light would engulf us. But, alas, tall weed patches, houses, malls, and subdivisions, and ultimately I-15 loomed in our path and beyond. Perhaps another morning will bring us into the light or the shafted light will encompass us as we stand and view the gorgeous Utah Lake.

I don't know if Utahans appreciate the Wasatch Front. I supposed they do. Their magnificence illuminates the good in all of us or the good that should be in all of us. The words "In these mountains, I will establish my house, the House of the Lord" permeates this valley and others along the Wasatch and beyond. The Lord definitely loves these people who reside along the great mountains of the west.

And, yes, temples dot the Wasatch Front and into the valley--the soon-to-be Brigham City Temple, the Bountiful Temple, the Salt Lake Temple, the Draper Temple, the Jordan River Temple, the Oquirrh Mountain, Temple, the Mt. Timpanogas Temple, the Provo Temple, and the soon-to-be Payson Temple. Of course, you have to include the Logan Temple and the Manti Temple have to be included in the mix. They are all glorious temples.

I will add a few of the ones here:

These are just a few of the magnificent "Houses of the Lord" along the Wasatch front.

Thanks, Provo and Orem, for your beauty, for your inspiration, and for your courage to live standards the world doesn't understand but should understand and accept willingly. We enjoy being here.