The Tetons, Transfiguration, and a Monument

Yesterday I visited the Grand Teton National Park with my family, and one of the sites we drove by was the Chapel of the Transfiguration in Moose, Wyoming. It was built with a perfect view of the Tetons, the three distinct peaks that stretch up majestically above the valley far below. My unconfirmed guess is that the reason for naming this church that sits under the shadow of these mountain peaks after the transfiguration is this: the transfiguration recorded in the New Testament took place on a “high mountain” and there were three apostles present. Also, in the story there were three heavenly beings: Jesus who was with them but was “transfigured before them,” as well as “Moses and Elias” who also appeared. They heard the voice of God and afterwards because of the incredible experience Peter suggested to Jesus, “Let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. In the most recent” (Matt. 17:1-4). The prevalence of the number three in the story of the transfiguration then certainly makes “Chapel of the Transfiguration” a fitting name for this church that looks up on the three great Teton peaks.  

               Thinking about the transfiguration leads me to think about my experience on Mount Tabor, one of the sites many people believe the event took place. As I have written before, when I visited with a study abroad group, we sang in the church The Spirit of God in what was a powerful spiritual experience for me. One of the comments I remember my professor making was how despite the fact that the Savior did not accept Peter’s recommendation to build three tabernacles on the mountain, others did on Mount Tabor. Three grottoes were built during the Crusades representing what Peter had desired to build, but it seems fairly clear from the account in Matthew that this is actually not what Jesus wanted. In fact, the Savior said, “Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead” (Matt. 17:9). Not only were they not to build the tabernacles to commemorate the heavenly visits, but they were not even to speak of the event until later. Ultimately perhaps what the Savior wanted was that this experience cause a deeper conversion for these three men, that their lives be more fully built on the truths they learned there. The Savior had spoken a week before to Peter of revelation he received from the Father and how “upon this rock” He would build His Church—the rock of revelation, not the rocks of physical buildings.  

               That is not to say that it isn’t appropriate to build physical monuments to remember sacred events, but what is most important is how those sacred events have changed us personally. This seems to have been the message of President Nelson when he spoke of how the leaders of the Church decided to commemorate the First Vision: “We wondered if a monument should be erected. But as we considered the unique historic and international impact of that First Vision, we felt impressed to create a monument not of granite or stone but of words—words of solemn and sacred proclamation—written, not to be carved in ‘tables of stone’ but rather to be etched in the ‘fleshy tables’ of our hearts.” Ultimately the greatest monument we can build to the Lord is the one in our hearts, the one that firmly stands in our soul to be true to Jesus Christ. That’s the kind of rock the Lord wanted Peter to build on, and that’s what we need to focus on creating in our lives as we seek to follow Him.