Utahn creates app after traveling to 65 LDS temples

Utahn creates app after traveling to 65 LDS temples

(Murry Dalton)


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SOUTH JORDAN — A Utah man decided to take on a personal venture to travel for a year across the U.S. and compile video and pictures of all the LDS temples.

Murry Dalton of South Jordan is a videographer, and he decided to put his talents to use in a unique project. He said he was inspired to do the project to give people the opportunity to see the LDS temples across the U.S.

“People have an excitement about temples. People from all over want to go visit these temples,” Dalton said. "I just had this feeling come across me like I've never had before that I wanted to go and videotape the temples. Sometimes people can't afford to go there, so basically I just went out and did it for people."

Dalton went on several trips and traveled for a year to film and take photos of 65 of the 68 operating LDS temples across the U.S. Dalton said he tried to travel to every single temple, but that he wasn't able to travel to two in Arizona and one in Kansas City. He has plans to go to those three temples this year.

"It took over a year to travel to all of the temples," Dalton said. "For a year, that's all I did. I was totally dedicated to doing that."

To conserve on traveling expenses, Dalton did much of his traveling in his van and would stay at KOA Campgrounds along the road. He said he packed his own food in coolers and often lived off of tuna fish sandwiches. He also used buddy passes to catch flights to some of the far-away temples like Hawaii and Alaska.

Dalton said on one trip, he drove for 18 hours straight from Billings, Mont., to his home in Utah because the campgrounds were all infested with mosquitoes.

"I said, 'I am not going to stay in Montana or any place to get eaten by mosquitoes,’ ” he said.

Dalton said he planned each of his trips to see all the temples in the region he was visiting but that he had to go to Washington, D.C., twice because the temple was under renovation during his first visit. He also said he went to the Atlanta Georgia Temple twice as well because during his first visit, the grass was dead looking. But he said he didn't mind visiting the Washington D.C. Temple several times because of its immense beauty.

"Washington, D.C., is the most breathtaking temple," he said. "When you see it, you just have to sit there and you just have to say, 'Wow.' I can't imagine finding anything more beautiful. If anybody was going to see any temple in the United States, I would say that is the one you need to go see."

Dalton created an app for iPhones and Androids showcasing the compilation of his videos and pictures of all the temples. He set the video to music from renowned LDS composer Janice Kapp Perry. Dalton said that the project was a fulfilling one that he felt compelled to finish.

“I had a drive in me that I haven’t had before, I couldn’t quit til I was finished. I could not quit,” he said.

Dalton said now he would like to go film and photograph the LDS temples outside the U.S.

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Faith Heaton Jolley

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