The first temple my church built in Europe was in Bern, Switzerland back in the 1950s.
Lucky for me, I happen to be in Switzerland this week, and the temple was right on the train route from the airport to the conference I will be attending. So, I took a brief detour.
Now for some rambling thoughts.
I was pleasantly surprised at how many people were at the temple. My session was about half full (25ish people), despite it being at 1pm on a Tuesday (not a very convenient time for most people).
I was the youngest person in the session by at least 20 years. Most people looked to be over 65. Hopefully that’s just due to the middle-of-the-day visit and not a broader reflection on church demographics.
This was the first time where I felt “dirty” at the temple. I had got up at 5:20 this morning to catch my flight out of Amsterdam, so I hadn’t showered. Furthermore, I wasn’t in a suit but rather than pants, a white shirt and tie, a fleece sweater, a coat, and sneakers. I was trying to pull off a mix between “able to do 8 hours of traveling including a lot of walking in the cold” and “dress nice for the temple.” I don’t think I really succeeded at either.
I also had a suitcase and a backpack with me. First time I’ve taken luggage into the temple, but no one seemed to mind.
In the celestial room I noticed they had scriptures in at least 4 languages! There were at least 3 different languages being translated to in my session (French, German, and English). As a side note, a large portion of Switzerland speaks French. I didn’t know that.
Now on to Grindelwald for a conference and skiing in the Alps!
Dutch Bentleys 