Back this March we went to visit Grandma in Illinois. We flew into St. Louis. This was the second time we visited Grandma. The last time was back in 2010 (see post here).

Here is a picture of the famous arch. When we were driving around the arch I received the idea to create the WordPress Ward which is finally a reality. The WordPress Ward recently was awarded Honorable mention at the 2014 LDS Tech Conference! This motivated me to find my St. Louis pictures because I remember distinctly that right next to the Gateway arch is where I received the inspiration from the Holy Ghost to create the WordPress Ward.

At the St. Louis Gateway Arch Visitor Center, we ran into a group of Sister Missionaries on their P day (Preparation Day). We had to take a picture with them! It was so random.

The arch is a monument to Thomas Jefferson and the pioneers who went west during the  Westward Expansion between 1830 and 1870.

The Mormon Pioneers were among the first people to trek across the terrain to find a place to safely practice religion because of persecution.

In 1847, Brigham Young lead the first group of pioneers to Utah where President Young declared that, “This is the right place”.  Salt Lake City is now where the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The church membership is now 15 million and there are currently 141 operating temples.

This time when we were at the St. Louis Temple it was closed for cleaning but I decided to take pictures anyways! 🙂

I’m so grateful for the pioneers who suffered much to get to Salt Lake City! Their example and sacrifice is a blessing to us all. The church has been blessed because of the great faith of the Mormon Pioneers.