Putting the Temple at the Center of our Lives: Brian Walker's Story - Latter-Day Lights

What happens when one small daily commitment turns into years of sacrifice, faith, and unexpected miracles?

Brian Walker joins us to share the remarkable story behind his time-lapse video documenting the construction of the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple. What began as a simple idea to take one photo each day became a four-year commitment that kept the temple at the center of his life.

Along the way, Brian experienced plenty of challenges—and plenty of miracles.

From sharing the gospel with people who approached him while he photographed the temple to witnessing lives changed and feeling guided to be in the right place at the right time, Brian discovered that using our talents in the service of the Lord can open doors we never expected.

His thousands of photographs are more than a record of a building being constructed—they are a testimony of faith, sacrifice, temple worship, and the blessings that can come when we dedicate our talents to the Lord.

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To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/UW8x_zPGuJk

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To WATCH Brian's time-lapse video of the building of the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sZlCvr4tYI

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To READ Scott’s new book “Faith to Stay” for free, visit: https://www.faithtostay.com/

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Also, if you have a faith-promoting or inspiring story, or know someone who does, please let us know by going to https://www.latterdaylights.com and reaching out to us.

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Transcript

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A Book Gift For Listeners

Scott Brandley 0:00

Hey there, as a Latter Day Lights listener, I want to give you a very special gift today. My brand new book, Faith to Stay. This book is filled with inspiring stories, powerful discoveries, and even fresh insights to help strengthen your faith during the storms of life. So if you're looking to be inspired, uplifted, and spiritually recharged, just visit faith2stay.com. Now, let's get back to the show.

Meet Brian And His Roots

Scott Brandley 0:29

Hey everyone, I'm Scott Brandley.

Darla Brandley 0:31

And I'm Darla Brandley. Every member of the church has a story to share, one that can instill faith, invite hope, and inspire others.

Scott Brandley 0:39

On today's episode, we're going to hear how one man's commitment to take thousands of photos of the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple has helped to keep the temple close to his heart. Welcome to Latter Day Lights. Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of Latterday Lights. We're so glad to hear with us today, and we're really excited to introduce our special guest, Brian Walker, to the show. Brian, how's it going? It's going great, thank you. Awesome. Well, you're coming to us from Oregon, right? That's right. Wow, that's a beautiful place. Have you lived there most of your life? What's what's your background?

Speaker 3 1:22

Yes, I have. I was a missionary in Pittsburgh two years, uh 20 some years ago. But they got the exact same temple as the Laman Valley Temple. So it spared me the trouble of having to go all the way to Pittsburgh to see that temple. But it's just so wonderful to see that to know that they got a temple because it makes me feel like, wow, all that trudging in the snow and in the humidity was not for nothing. Yeah.

Darla Brandley 1:47

That's amazing.

Speaker 3 1:48

You know, I was like, yeah, the church is growing. That's wonderful.

Darla Brandley 1:50

That is awesome.

Scott Brandley 1:51

Yeah. Well, we're excited to hear your story. It's pretty unique and pretty cool. So before we jump into that, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Speaker 3 2:00

Okay. I am a sixth generation member of the church. My wife works for Cimaran Institute. I have two children. One's named Luke Skywalker, and he returned missionary from Leighton, Utah. Nice. And I have a daughter, and her name is Anime, after Japanese animation. My brother works for uh Family Search, and my uncle was a church historian working for President Gordon Hinckley, and he uh did some assigned work for them. So I've been part of uh church culture for a long time. I was University of Oregon graduated of the School of Digital Art, and what got me started in digital art was making videos for church events. So, right? So back when I was really young, I used to goof off with my friends, and it turned into an institute activity, which turned into a career of multimedia. Nice.

Scott Brandley 2:42

It's wonderful. That kind of ties into your story, right?

Speaker 3 2:47

Right. I mean, I've already made dozens of videos promoting the church. In fact, I interviewed the missionaries a few years ago. They taught the first discussion in my other room, and I've made multiple things to uh videos for other events. I mean instructional video for locals about how to do a work council, and the general authorities liked the video so much they remade it with a much bigger budget. But that being said, I got the seed was planted, right? I can't take credit for it, but I got the ball rolling.

Scott Brandley 3:13

Right. Well, hey, that's how it goes sometimes, right? So that's cool. Well, we're excited to hear your story, so why don't we turn the time over to you and tell us where your story begins, my friend?

Why A Nearby Temple Changes Life

Speaker 3 3:22

Okay, well, I'll just tell you that I'm probably the most excited person in my stake about the temple being built. I probably drove everybody crazy. Uh there's a guy in my award, he used to go up to him every single day at work, and I say, Hey, Robert, something it's really important. He's like, Okay, what is it? We're getting a temple. And he's like, Oh, yeah. And I did that every single day for three years. Just tell him, you know, and I tried to find clever ways of sneaking that up to him. Like, oh, there's something important I forgot to tell you. He's like, What? Oh, we're getting a temple. And it's like, oh, yeah, okay. So it became a running thing with between him and I. And I tried to get him off guard. But uh the the folks at the Portland Temple probably got them crazy because I remember um somebody said one of my last weeks there, they said, uh, oh, that's the first I've heard it. And then someone says, Yeah, that's the first I've heard about the temple today, actually. Because I've been telling them all the time about the temple. I was so excited. Um, because the Portland Temple is a hundred miles away. So for me, the temple was always out of reach. It was always one of those things that was kind of peripheral to the gospel, and it really shouldn't be. But it was always just always a full-day commitment. And when I had little kids, it was hard to get there. I mean, it was one thing to ask grandma to watch the kids for an hour, it's another thing to watch them the whole day. Right. And so the temple is now within reach. Um, there's a woman in my ward, she um doesn't have a car, and she says she's never had a car. There's a bus stop literally across the street from the temple. So now it's no longer a burden. She was begging for rights and having to duck her head in shame. She doesn't have to do that anymore. So it's within reach of people, and that's why I'm so excited because so much more work's gonna get done. People will no longer have the temple as a burden, and now it can be central in their life.

Darla Brandley 4:57

I love that.

Speaker 3 4:58

Okay, so let me tell you my story. So um President Nielsen announced the temple, and a lot of people were really surprised. I knew there would be a temple someday. Okay, the Holy Ghost had already told me there was going to be a temple someday, but that I thought, okay, I'll be old. I'll be older than my dad when that happens. You know, I'll be in a wheelchair with two canes and uh and I'll I'll be on an IV and you know, I'll be I'll be old when that happens. And then it happens two years later. Like, oh wow, that I did not expect.

Feeling The Temple Before It Existed

Speaker 3 5:24

So, woman in my ward, she's a real estate agent, she posted on Facebook where the lot was. Like, okay, it hadn't been formally announced, but whatever. So I raced over there and I had my wife took a photo of me in the field. And as I'm walking through this field, it's just a bunch of blackberries and gnarled weeds. My wife kept a nasty old wood, a piece of wood as a memento, but this is what it looked like just a bunch of old dead branches and um blackberries, which, if you don't know from Utah, blackberries have these thorns in them. So it was just nasty. Um there was some old uh pallets that were just thrown in a pile. I think someone tried to camp there. There was nothing to this field. And I was walking through this field and all of a sudden, suddenly, I felt this wall of energy come upon me, and I instantly knew exactly where the temple was gonna be. It was just an empty field, but I could feel a difference. And it was the same feeling I got when I went to the Talik Temple, where, as you know, you have to go down the stairs and then in. And when you're underground, I felt nothing, and all of a sudden I felt the same exact energy. And so I knew exactly where the temple was going to be. So my wife, we come home, and I'd already made several time-lapses, as you know. I'm a digital artist. We made several out of sunsets and so forth. She said, You should make a time lapse of the temple. And I said firmly, no, I'm not gonna do that. That is going to take a lot of commitment every single day for four years. I'm not up for that. No, no, no. I said, you know, Robert, who lives across the street from the temple, he can do that. He takes photos, he's he can do that. No, it has to be you. So I got a job that got me done at three o'clock, and I was like, Oh, she's like, Great, you take the full temple. Like, no. So, anyway, that job was a season job, so that ended. And then a year later, they had to test to see if the soil was dense enough for the temple. So I was humming hawing about this for a full year. And then finally, I got a job across the street from the temple. So now I have no excuse. I have to take a photo every day. Now, my daughter had to wait five more extra minutes to be picked up, but I was okay with that, and she was okay with it. Um, but the first day I got there, they thought I was scouting out the place, they thought I was gonna rob them. Like, you know, the guy as a foreman said, uh, we've got million-dollar equipment here. I'm like, okay. The end of the road is the state police, so it would be the worst getaway in history if I tried to steal your your vehicles away. But um, like that would be a really bad idea. But anyway, so I took a photo and I had a lot of challenges. I had to I had to start and stop because they said, Well, here's where the road's gonna be. Then they put a fence up, then they said, then they put up the visitor center, so then I had to move again, so I had to move five times. It was so awful. And for a time lapse, the camera's supposed to kind of be steady, right? So it's kind of awful. I'm like, oh, this is so awful. But I the worst, also as a photographer, how do you focus on nothing? There's well, there's this empty field, there'll be a temple, but uh you're just so I just chose white angle, and I was hoping I didn't crop the temple funny, you know. That for the first year, I'm like, I don't even know what the the temple's gonna be in the frame, you know. I'm just guessing, right? But uh they actually um there was a guy who was a missionary, him and his wife were missionaries for that lot. He walked me out after hours and showed me exactly where the center of the temple would be, and so that helped. Like, good, I'm in frame. That's

Committing To A Photo Every Day

Speaker 3 8:28

wonderful. So um, yeah, every day. Now I will say what's a miracle, the miracles, some of the miracles I've had were amazing. Uh so I'm taking this photo of this field, and these people who work next door at this real estate agency, they asked me, like, well, why are you taking a picture of this empty field? And they were asking me what was going on here. So I got to tell them about the temple. I got to show them pictures of what it would look like, and so I got to spread the gospel. I think I was one of the very first to do that because they were they're wondering, why are you taking these pictures? And so they said, Oh, it's gonna be a temple. You know, a lot of them were familiar with the church, but it was exciting. You know, I wasn't expecting to be asked about the temple that quickly, you know, it's just an empty field at this point. So I got to share the gospel, which was wonderful, and also getting to see the temple grow, you know, just getting to see it form. One time it was February, and I had to get to work. Sun had just hit the horizon, and it was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. The temple, as you may know, is literally a stone sour from the river. And so there was this heavy fog that came rolling in, and it looked breathtakingly beautiful. It looked like the temple was just floating in the clouds, like it had descended from the heavens. And I couldn't see any of that orange, I couldn't see any of the hard hats or the construction work or any of those traffic cones. It just was the temple. But I had to race into work because I had to go right then. It's like, oh, I'd much rather be taking photos right now. Being the temple in my life every day has made a huge impact on my life. Seeing it every day, but not just seeing it, but having to go there, having to get up. And there were times where I was very tired, and there were times when it was kind of not really raining but drizzling. Like I really don't want to get the camera wet. I really don't want to have to pack up my gear, I don't want to get up, but I have to go to the temple every

Unexpected Missionary Moments On Site

Speaker 3 10:12

day. But doing that kept the temple focused in my life, and it has made such an impact. And because of that, this uh brother who was uh missionary uh in charge of the temple, he said, because of what you have done, we're gonna invite you and your wife to come into the temple, and you get to put on the glass and the chandelier in the main part of the temple. And so I got to put on the glass on the chandeliers. I didn't do all of it, but I did a lot. And that was such an honor to actually build part of the temple. So now the temple is part of my life, I'm part of the life of the temple, and it has made me connected to the temple, right? And I want to add too a quick story. Um, I was um it's I just finished the time lapse. Uh, it was so it was about three weeks ago, and I had this feeling from the Holy Spirit that says, you need to go take a photo of the temple. And I'm thinking, really? I just finished that time lapse. I've got thousands of photos of the temple, I don't need any more photos of the temple. And the spirit said, No, you need to go right now and go ahead and take some more photos of the temple. And I thought, well, you know, I'm sure no one's there, so I probably could get some good photos. It's still summer. And so I thought, okay, I'll take another photo of the temple. I get there, and I had this overwhelming, powerful, powerful feeling of the Holy Spirit of just how much mercy our Heavenly Father has had for us. And just then this guy comes zooming up really fast in his truck. So I think he must be a friend. He must be someone I know. He's not a friend, he's not someone I've ever met, he's not a member of the church. He said that he had this overwhelming feeling that he needed to go to the temple lot right then and learn more about the gospel.

Speaker 1 11:41

What?

Speaker 3 11:42

Yes, and so I said, Well, I can refer you to the missionaries who says, No, you're here now. And I said, You're right. You're absolutely right. I was not expecting that, but I said, okay, we'll talk now. And so we talked about the tabernacle that Moses had. We talked about how Jesus had the temple and how the temple is a central part of the Bible, actually. We had a really powerful talk. He actually came back and we talked again the following week. And then I handed him off to the ward mission leader and the and the missionaries. So he said he took the tour multiple times, and not only did he take the tour multiple times, he dragged out a bunch of his non-member friends as well. So he's already doing missionary work, he's not a member of the church. And so I tell this to the ward mission leader, and he says, Oh, yeah, I've had that same experience. Guy in motorcycle, drove right up to the temple, and he wanted to learn more about the gospel. And I tell this to my wife, she says, Oh, yeah, I hear stories about that. Like, wow. So, yeah, people just are coming to the church. We had over 200 commitments for baptism the month the temple was dedicated. And we've had several people since that have wanted to learn more. And um, people have been reactivated. My nephew, he went to the tour, and actually he flew all the way from Germany to take the tour, which floored me. And he said, I'm so excited, I want to get married now, I want to come back to church. Um, so I've seen miracles like this happen. I want to tell you one quick story. I was a tour guide twice, first the very first day, then I think second and last day as well. And this one woman, she was so giddy. She was like a little girl, was so bubbly, and I keep trying to tell her, like, you know, subtly, like, you know, this is the temple. I don't want to like criticize her, especially in front of her family, but she was so excited, and I'm the end of the tour, so I'm trying to like kind of push things along. But she was so excited, she wanted to linger and show her family everything because the impossible dream happened. She got to bring her family inside the temple, something that she could only explain prior. And so she was getting to show her mother and her sisters the temple, and she was so excited. So I've already seen miracles like that happen. There was a nurse that lived, there's a hospital right next to it, and she took the tour every single day, they say, on her lunch break. Like, wow. So people are being pulled to the temple.

Glitches Setbacks And Quiet Miracles

Speaker 3 13:38

But I want to say though, I did have every challenge you can imagine. My the lens mount, uh, the screw fell off, so I had to order a new one. My tripod broke. Oh no, that's no good. So then I had to take it apart, put it back together. I had and I mentioned I had to move five times. Um, I had I lost three months of photos, but I found it on another an old hard drive somewhere. Oh, geez, that would have been awful. Um, and I had health problems, so I quit my job, but I ended up getting another job that also ended up free. So, oh wow, you know, so I had miracles happen, but I had every single roadblock along the process to get um from here to there, right? I had problems with a computer. My computer crashed twice and I lost everything. Fortunately, I had it off my computer onto a hard drive. Oh, that was a heart attack, too. All that work could have been for nothing, right? So I had so many glitches, you know. Every technical problem happened that could have happened, but it but it's such an accomplishment. And I also didn't realize at the time I essentially was handcuffed to Lane County. However, I was a temple worker in Portland, as I mentioned. It's every day except for Saturday uh on the time-lapse. But uh and but I and it was so funny, I couldn't go to the groundbreaking to go to the temple because I had to go to the temple, right? So I know. So it's been exciting. I hope I'm not being too bubbly. I'm probably the most excited guy in the state.

Darla Brandley 14:50

Oh no, that that it is so exciting.

Speaker 3 14:53

It is, it it is. I've seen miracles happen. I have, I will tell you this. I hesitate to share it, but I'm gonna go ahead and share it anyway. Um, and if it's too personal, you can just stop me, okay? So I was in the temple two weeks ago, and I noticed that this person on the name code on it said they were born in Australia. And I said, Well, then maybe we should substitute brother for mate. And the guy I was with, it was his family name, he said he heard the laughter. He thought it was hilarious. When we finished, he said, goodbye, mates. I didn't hear it, but he said he had that experience. Like, that's hilarious. But I'm like, wow, that was so profound, though. Because to me, that tells me that um the temple really is a gateway between heaven and earth. We really are in the embassy for the celestial kingdom. We're literally in the kingdom of God on earth, which is so mind-blowing. I can't put it together even after years of thought about it. This project has taken a lot of work, it's been it was harder than my Bachelor of Fine Arts project, which is a year-long project and it's considered grueling. I went through more pain and suffering for this video than all of those student projects that I had. And so I'm doing 12 works of work all in one night. This was more of a challenge than a lot of those all-nighters I pulled in college. Yeah. Right? But you know, it's a labor of love too, because having done a lot of footage, in fact, I used to work at a television station and I've done a lot, gone through archives a lot. And when you go through the archives, something as insignificant as a building being built means nothing to the people at the time. But a hundred years later, you look at this archive footage and you think, wow, look at how much has changed. Look at the clothing people are wearing, look at the way they're interacting. Like, I didn't know there used to be a trolley in town, for example. Well, there was, you know, all these little things add up to a sum, and you think of so insignificant of today, but in the future, this is such a gift that this video will be to others and those who live in an area that has a similar um format of a temple as well.

Darla Brandley 16:47

No, I

Using Art To Share The Gospel

Darla Brandley 16:48

love that. So, where could we watch this?

Speaker 3 16:50

Oh, well, I have it right now, just exclusively on YouTube. I haven't uploaded it anywhere else. I, you know, I'm trying to stay off social media. I've wasted way too much time on that. I should say, while I'm on the subject though, I have made over 4,000 memes promoting the gospel, uh, specifically mostly for missionaries. But what I did was a lot of gospel-centered photos. So for what essentially what I did was the missionaries used to come over, and what they would do is they would pose in the exact same shape and size as the Arnold Freiburg paintings. So, for example, I have a missionary standing holding a staff like this, and they have a sword out like that, and then I would overlap them over Captain Morona. Oh, I'd love that. Yeah, I'll send you some photos, you'll love it. And so I had a bunch of those. We went through all the Arnold Freiburg. We went through the whole gospel activity kit multiple times, and uh, it turns out that we have one of the swords I have is the exact same shape, size, and length as the sword that Ammon has. So it made it wonderful. Oh, speaking of which, I was hiking with my son one day and I found this stick, and it was of the exact width and height as the title liberty. What miracles, right? Yes, miracles are happening. I've noticed that the Lord has helped me spread the gospel as I have taken upon myself to use my talents to spread the gospel. First of all, my capacity as an artist is approved, but things have fallen into place that have allowed me to be a better artist. That's awesome.

Darla Brandley 18:15

Absolutely. I think God provides us with so many opportunities like that, especially when we're working towards it.

Speaker 3 18:21

Yeah, you know, we all have our talents, and but I find that when we when we really covenant to give all of our talents and abilities, that's when we're blessed.

When Sacrifice Gets Matched By God

Speaker 3 18:30

I will say one thing, and this is also kind of personal. I'm gonna go ahead and share it anyway. Um, I was thinking about that, you know, I've been a temple worker in Portland for 10 years, and it has always been a major burden, a hundred miles away, an all-day affair. And I thought, wow, you know, I wonder how much of a sacrifice this has been, you know, with the wear on the vehicle, the tires, um, fuel, et cetera. Yeah, lunch. And I was just driving home and I was doing some mental math, and I came up with the number $5,000. And I thought, wow. Now I wasn't angry, I just thought, I put in $5,000 to be a temple worker. And then it dawns on me just a minute later, a month prior, my sister-in-law had said to my uh wife, you know, you've done a lot to take care of our mom. I'd like to give you a special gift. And she gave us a gift in kind of $5,000. What? So then when you realize that when you're serving, it's not a sacrifice. The Lord will match that. Now I'm not talking prosperity gospel here. I'm not saying the more you give, the more you get, right? I'm saying the Lord will find you where you're at. He's aware of your sacrifice and he will meet you. It was powerful. And once you realize it's not a sacrifice, that makes it easy, right? Yeah. When you realize the Lord will take care of you, one time had um not my last $10, but my last $10 in credit to go to the temple. And I thought to myself, wow, I really, really take in this on faith. And I wasn't even praying, but I just had that thought, and I felt this powerful feeling of the Holy Ghost. Like I'm very much aware of that, and I'm very thankful that you did. Wow. So I've had some powerful experiences. I am a witness that this is literally the house of the Lord. He literally dwells in that building, he walks freely through that. I know that is a fact. I've experienced it in my life, I've seen things fall into place that could not have fallen into place on its own. I've seen that in Portland and I've seen that also at the Lamb Valley Temple, too.

Darla Brandley 20:14

That's awesome.

Scott Brandley 20:16

Yeah, I like what you said, you know, like the sacrifices that we give and you know, using our talents, we'll always get way more than we ever give. We'll never be able to catch up, right? Like God's always gonna bless us more than what we put in. So I really like that story.

Speaker 3 20:32

Tell you one more

A Temple Trip That Became A Lesson

Speaker 3 20:33

story. This is the well, the temple was just an empty field, okay? So uh my son was going on a mission, and uh I I just had this feeling, you know what? We should just drop out, you know, just leave Sunday school. Now I was a Sunday school president, so why would I want to do that? But I and he says, you know what? Yeah, let's just go. I said, Okay, look, where do you want to go? And he says, Well, I want to see the temple. Like right now. I'm like, okay, but one, he only has learner's permit, so keep that in mind. But I said, Okay, I won't stop you. It's just an empty field, but if you want to go look at an empty field of dirt, go ahead. So we go over to the temple lot. He says, No, I'm not satisfied. I want to go to see the temple. And I'm thinking, well, you've never driven on interstate before. Are you sure you're up for that? He says, I want to see the temple. I said, Okay, I'm not gonna stop my son from going to the temple. We made it to the temple and we get there, and we're just sitting at the fountain, just talking about the gospel, and this guy comes up to us and he says, Hey, I want to learn more about your church. And I thought, Yeah, right, sure you do. But he said, No, I really do. I want to learn more about your church. And so we taught him all six discussions right there on the spot. Of course, it's we taught him all the points that were in the the original discussions from the 90s. Not necessarily in order either, but we taught him everything. We committed and read the Book of Mormon City already had a Book of Mormon. So Heavenly Father was already working with him. And I think my son needed that experience as a missionary because to prepare him for his mission, right? Oh, that's a great preparation. What floors me is right where we were sitting is literally a stone strow from the visitor center where there's missionaries all the time, every day. They're dying to talk to people. No, it hasn't It had to be us and it had to be now. And that was what's so profound about this time lapse. It had to be me. Yes, there are other people in the stake that are probably much better than me. In fact, the matron is a much better photographer than I already. Okay. But it had to be me because I worked across the street from the temple and I got done at three. And so only I could have done that. Um, and so when we went and saw this guy in Portland, that was so profound. I felt the spirit so powerful. I have no doubt that he went home and uh read the Book of Mormon right after we got done talking. And but I thought, you know, think of all the stakes we passed. We passed Salem, we passed Albany, we passed, you know, Eugene, Springfield, you know, all these other stakes on the way there. But it had to be Luke and I. And it had to be right then. And what profound about that is Heavenly Father called someone to go 200 miles to teach the gospel when it could have been someone on the other side of that parking lot. He's the one who needed it. He wanted us to have that experience. Had to be Luke because he was going on a mission. And this guy had already been working. Missionaries obviously had been working with them if he had a book of Mormon, right? And so when I think about this time lapse, it had to be me, right? Others could have done it, yes, but it had to be me, right? I already had experience making time lapses. I already had the passion, I had the time. And so to me, it was actually, you know, really profound. It wasn't just worship, it was a gift, you know, to future generations. Yeah.

Darla Brandley 23:11

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's so wonderful.

How The Time-Lapse Was Edited

Scott Brandley 23:14

Thank you. How do you put together a time lapse? Do you have to like painstakingly go through every single day and like add those to a file? Like, how does that even work?

Speaker 3 23:23

Yeah, that actually took me two months of editing because I couldn't keep the camera mounted. Uh, because in that particular neighborhood next to the river, a lot of homeless. Um, they mostly hang out at the end of the road, not by the temple, but I couldn't leave the camera there. So I kind of did up to right to where this one foothill ends. And then I always made sure it was on uh two particular steps uh at the visitor center, and then I always got like at a certain angle, and then I kind of guessed, right? And then it took two months of lining up every single photo painstakingly, taking up oh yes, yes, lining up each one, rotating them back and forth, and it's not perfect. And I know AI could fix it, but it has sort of an organic feel to it, and it also shows uh the commitment of every single day. So, yes, I could put it in an AI program and sweeten it, but I wanted it to be a little rough because it shows time progressing.

Darla Brandley 24:18

Yeah, right?

Speaker 3 24:19

So I've also done time lapse where you just set the camera and you just hang out and watch the sunset. It's very boring, but I've done that. But this was a series of stills. So each time I had to pack up the camera, get it ready, turn on the camera, make sure the battery was good, make sure there was memory, make sure the tripod's in position. And I always turned off the music. This is something I've never told anybody, but I always turned off my radio when I took the photos because it was sacred ground out of respect for the Lord. Even though I could have probably gotten away with it, no one was around, no one would have heard me, no one would have cared, but I cared because it was sacred ground. So I turned off my stereo every single time. Wow. Well, that just puts you in the right mindset, right? Right. I didn't want any distraction. I mean, even now when I go to the temple, I always turn off the radio before I hit the driveway because it is sacred ground. And um, I don't listen to music that's inappropriate, but just out of respect. Yeah.

Darla Brandley 25:12

I do the same thing when I'm driving to go work at the temple. I don't listen to the radio at all all the way there, just to like prep for my spirit, I guess. I don't know.

Speaker 3 25:20

My son had some dental issues, so he had to come home early from his mission. So he became a temple worker with me in Portland for a while, and he insists on hearing the scriptures on the way up.

Speaker 1 25:29

Oh, that's a good one.

Speaker 3 25:30

And that really helped me to be in the right tone because I could reflect on the things that were going on in scripture and how it's so similar to today. Yes, the world's different, but the people haven't changed. And so it really helped me to reflect on that. Yeah, and really helped me to be in the right state of mind going to the temple. Yes.

Darla Brandley 25:46

I love that. That's a good idea.

Speaker 3 25:47

Oh, yeah, it gave us a lot of good quality time together, too. Um, yeah, so um, I will say they were they were sad to see me go in Portland. It was a very bittersweet ending. I mean, years of working there, there was a lot of hugs, a lot of people sad goodbyes. But that being said, now I can be in the temple in seven minutes as opposed to an hour and a half, right? So that makes a difference, and it's been so powerful, it's been profound. Um, I've seen miracles like I've mentioned happen, and those are just the surface level ones.

Choosing The Talk And The Music

Scott Brandley 26:18

Yeah, I watched your video and I noticed that you put a talk from President Nelson to go in line with the still frames. How did you decide to use that particular talk?

Speaker 3 26:30

Okay, there was a lot of decision making that went on into that. All of the last 10 conferences, I think it was, President Nielsen he mentioned the temple for the last half an hour of his talk, every single time, which I thought was fascinating. So I had a lot of content to choose from, and I decided, you know what, why don't I just use this last one? Because it'll all be just one continuous flow. Yeah, I could there's nothing I could break. Everything he said was brilliant. So I said, why don't we just have it four minutes of him speaking at the temple? And it was very profound. That last one, he talks about certain blessings that most people don't talk about, like how you'll be protected from evil, how even in your worst days you can be protected, you can, um, your spirit can be lifted up by being in the temple, and how you can be fortified by being in the temple. He starts going down the list of these blessings, and I thought, well, this is really the one. Even though the one where he mentions the announcement of the temple, which is one I was gonna go with, then I thought, no, this is the one because it talks about how powerful the temple is. In fact, he uses the word power and how you'll be endowed with power by going to the temple. And I thought it has to be that one. But I went through probably 20 tracks of I Love to See the Temple, because there are other songs about the temple, but that one just fits perfect. And that particular track has a very staccato feel to the beginning, which goes perfect for a time-lapse. And I thought, it's gotta be that track, it's gotta be that one. So there are others that are different, some with children singing, some instrumental, some with a violin. And I thought it has to be that one. So I emailed the guy who arranged it, and of course, he gave me permission. I was thinking, oh, the whole project rests on his willingness to allow me to use that. And he gave me the green line. I was like, Oh, it's such a relief. Because there is no substitute for that song, it is perfect, right? I love to see the temple. That's the point. That's right, and that's the whole point of the video being excited about seeing the temple and being reminded of temple covenants. Yeah, yeah, so true.

Scott Brandley 28:18

Yeah, I thought it all went together really nicely.

Speaker 3 28:21

It was a major sacrifice. I know it was only like a few minutes each day, but over the course of years, and it also essentially handcuffed me to the temple, too. Like I couldn't go very far, you know. I think I went to the coast once, but that was after I took my photo, right? You know, and I went to Portland on Saturdays, but that's as far as I could go, right?

Darla Brandley 28:37

Yeah.

Scott Brandley 28:38

Well, if you're gonna be handcuffed to something, being handcuffed to the Lord is probably the best one, right?

Speaker 3 28:44

I I think that's for fashion. Yeah, it really helped me to focus my life, you know. Every day I'm reminded about those covenants, you know. Like if I was tempted, like, well, in the back of my mind, it's the temple, and even later that day, I'm like, well, I'm gonna see the temple. So it kind of kept me on straight and arrow. Yeah. Yeah. So did you have any other questions about the project? I don't want to I don't want to do all the talking. You did

Where To Watch And Why It Matters

Speaker 3 29:09

great.

Scott Brandley 29:09

So, Brian, um, as we kind of wrap things up, first of all, put the link to your video in the notes so everyone can go and watch it. I think everyone should go do that. It's a great little video. It's only about what, four and a half minutes long, maybe? No, it's four minutes exactly. Oh, four minutes. Okay.

Speaker 3 29:27

I hesitated to put my name in the credits, but my son said, your name is on your YouTube account named Brian, so they're gonna know who made it. I'm like, okay, all right. Because I most of the videos I made that promote the gospel don't have my name on it, they don't have a title. It's all about just spreading the gospel. But she said he said, Well, there's no point in hiding it, they're gonna know it was you. I'm like, okay. So normally there'd be no name.

Scott Brandley 29:47

Hey, you put the time in, man. It's that's totally cool.

Speaker 3 29:50

Yeah, but it's not about me, it's about making people excited about the temple.

Scott Brandley 29:53

Right. Yeah, I get it. But if anybody ever wanted to come back and ask you questions about it or something, I mean now they know where to go, right?

Speaker 3 29:59

Yeah, in fact, I sent the photos to Church Historical Society and they were excited. My wife actually works for the church through seminary and institute, and so she was able to send it to them directly through her church account, and they were so happy, like, oh great, you know. It reminds me of a famous quote, and I don't know who said it, but the trouble is so many people want to build, but few want to do maintenance, right? So when it comes to historical documents, people are like, oh yeah, whatever, big deal. We got a temple. Like, yeah, but a hundred years from now, this is gonna mean a lot to someone. You know, that's gonna be the temple someone got married in. That's gonna be the temple someone got baptized in, right? Follow or did baptisms for, right?

Darla Brandley 30:33

I love that. That's awesome.

Scott Brandley 30:35

Yeah, cool. Well, this has been awesome, Brian. Thanks for coming on. I've had fun. Well, we did too.

Speaker 3 30:42

Oh, we're glad to hear it.

Scott Brandley 30:43

We usually ask people, um, do you have any final thoughts or anything you'd like to share as we kind of wrap things up?

Speaker 3 30:49

Well, just that miracles have happened. I've seen miracles fall into place from this project. There are other projects I've done, as I mentioned, uh, for the local church, where I've seen things happen that I didn't plan, and I've seen pieces of the puzzles fall into the proper place as I have committed my talents, the Lord's matched those talents and strengthen those talents.

Scott Brandley 31:10

Awesome. Amazing.

Speaker 3 31:11

I love that.

Scott Brandley 31:12

Well, thank you for your sacrifice and the blessings that have come from it. I I mean, that's just the beginning, right?

Speaker 3 31:19

Right. I mean, in fact, I have more projects involved in mine for the temple. This was just the big one, but I've got a whole lot of other ideas that I have been sewing on. So I'm excited to get to those.

Scott Brandley 31:28

Well, and it's exciting to see you excited about the temple, honestly, right? I think that can be contagious.

Speaker 3 31:35

Right. Well, when you have these experiences where the spirit's there and it's teaching you, you get excited because you your testimony solidified and it protects you against the world around you.

Speaker 1 31:45

Right. Yeah.

Scott Brandley 31:47

Well, awesome, Brian. Well, thanks again for coming on and sharing your story.

Speaker 3 31:51

Yeah, thank you so much. I had a really good time.

Share The Video And Your Story

Scott Brandley 31:54

And thanks everyone for tuning in to hear Brian's story. And let's let's help Brian get this out. Go and do your five-second missionary work, hit that share button so other people can watch Brian's video and be inspired about the building of the temple.

Speaker 3 32:08

Yeah, I think it'd be really good for kids to see this video. Kids who like to see construction workers.

Scott Brandley 32:13

Yeah, I think it'd be good for you to show your family, right? So if you have a story that you'd like to share, go to latterdaylights.com, and we'd love to have you on the show just like we had Brian today. So thanks again, Brian, and thanks everyone for tuning in. And we'll see you next time with another episode of Latterday Lights. Till then, take care. Bye-bye.