Yesterday, Mike and I were able to go to the temple to help clean it. It felt very weird to be wearing jeans and a t-shirt to the temple, but even weirder when they led us to the Celestial Room for cleaning.
When I volunteered to help clean, I imagined myself scrubbing toilets, vacuuming floors, or washing windows. I was surprised to find out that our task was to clean the main chandelier in the Celestial Room. Now this may sound simple, but imagine a 12 foot chandelier with more crystal than...something with a lot of crystal. We were given nifty gloves to dust the crystal with, and then more nifty gloves that we sprayed with pledge in order to shine the gold parts. Also, we switched out all of the light bulbs for new little flame bulbs with a curly, compact, fluorescent bulb inside. The temple is going green!
How long did all of this take, you ask? It took 4 people exactly 2 and a half hours to clean one chandelier! I had no idea that such great lengths were taken for each individual item in the temple. To imagine the time and manpower that it must have taken just to clean all the chandeliers in the temple (most of which is done by volunteers), is mind boggling...
Since we were only assigned to a 3 hour shift, we spent the last half hour moving furniture back into the upper floor of the Celestial Room, and then we were done. I wish we could have helped more, especially knowing that the first session was starting this morning at 5am and the painter wasn't even finished...
It was a neat experience to say the least. If you ever get a chance to volunteer for temple cleaning, I highly recommend it. And if you ever get a chance to go to the Portland Temple, check out how clean the main chandelier in the Celestial Room is. :)
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5 comments:
You'd think being in the temple my mind would be on more spiritual things but I have actually wondered how they clean those things.
As you were describing the chandelier I imagined the one in the Celestial Room here in Rexburg. That thing would totally intimidate me! I would be afraid of breaking it or having it fall. And it is huge . . I don't doubt the time you spent cleaning it.
I have had the opportunity to clean in the temple and yes it is weird going into the temple in levi's but it was a great experience. I got to clean the spiral staircases that lead to the upper rooms in the Logan temple and then see all the rooms. We as a group also cleaned all the lockers in the women's locker room.
What a neat experience. I had no idea that that kind of effort went into every detail.
Wow! I hope they lowered the chandelier somehow. If I had to be up on a ladder doing that, I think I'd have to request a different job...something on solid ground! What a cool experience.
Sounds like a neat experience. Thanks for sharing. Now I will think twice before passing up the chance.
I think I would want to sing Phantom of the Opera while cleaning a big chandelier.
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