Zion in the Midst of Babylon

I finally made it to the Manhattan temple tonight!!! It was very refreshing to be able to worship the Lord and be in such a peaceful and holy place. The building is very beautiful. There are whole walls with beautiful oil paintings on them, awesome stained glass and architecture. It is such a peaceful place and it felt good to be there again. I hadn't been to the temple for too long (even though I've been there for church the last few weeks. The Chapel is on the third floor and then the other floors are the temple.) Then I left and went out the doors and was almost literally blown back by the change from the temple to the busy streets of Broadway and Columbus!
(see Elder Stone's talk in the April 2006 General Conference: http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-602-29,00.html)