Precious Moments Chapel

Ben, the girls, and I went out to Missouri over Spring Break to spend time with family as well as to meet Shannon. The girls did pretty well on the trip out and were excited to start exploring.

One of our first adventures was the Precious Moments Chapel.

They had a small museum with large precious moment figurines we explored first.

Bridget was worried about the babies: their owies, tears, and bottle.

It was super cute!

We took a short walk outside through the garden area to get to the Chapel.

All the art work in the Chapel was completed by Sam Butcher, the artist behind Precious Moments.

I had no idea how talented Sam Butcher is. He carved the doors of the chapel.

Every painting completed by him.

As well as all of the stain glass windows. It was beautiful.

It was Sam Butchers hope that all those who enter The Chapel would feel the presence of Jesus the moment they walk through the doors. That peace may be found from the spiritual scenes and that they would carry a message of Heavenly Father's great love.

I did feel peace as I looked around, surrounded with the different scripture stories and paintings

At the front of the chapel is a large mural named Hallelujah Square; a heavenly scene of those who he believes went to heaven. It took Sam Butcher twenty years to complete. The last person he added was his mother before he signed his name, which indicates he will no longer add anything more to Hallelujah Square. A few things that stood out to me as I look at this mural: the sign upon entering through the gates of heaven that states, "No more tears", the joy and love shared between family and friends as they are reunited with each other, and on the top of the stairs the Savior surrounded by all the children.

One neat fact that I loved hearing about Sam Butcher was that a lot of his artwork is from stories he has heard of others. People have written to him about their hardships and he would make a special figurine for them. Many of the people painted in Hallelujah Square are stories others had shared with him about the loss of their loved ones. Every time I see his artwork now, it makes me think of the story behind it and who it could have been made for. 

Behind the Chapel is a playhouse along a river that Sam Butcher built for his grandchildren to play in.

Once we were finished walking through the chapel and the grounds, Mark took me to the visitors center and asked me to pick out a figurine as my birthday present. My first precious moments figurine and I love it. Mark and Tammy went out to explore the Precious Moments Chapel once they moved out to Missouri. Tammy always loved precious moments, I can see why.