Sunstones/Sun Images

Sunstones and sun images are prominently and beautifully featured on several temples, including Albuquerque New Mexico, Las Vegas Nevada, Nauvoo Illinois, Omaha Nebraska, Salt Lake, St. Louis Missouri, Washington D.C., and Winter Quarters Nebraska. Inspired artisans creatively present diverse and unique sunstones and images; for example, each of the Salt Lake Temple sunstones features forty rays; the Nauvoo Illinois Temple sunstones give prominence to a face, rays, and two trumpets each held by a hand; and the Las Vegas Temple sunstone is an artistic circle, with fifty-two rays.

Regarding the Nauvoo Temple moonstones, starstones, and sunstones, Richard Cowan explained, “They undoubtedly reminded Latter-day Saints of the three degrees of glory spoken of by Paul and elaborated in latter-day revelation.”288

(left) Sun image, Washington D.C. Temple. (middle) Sunstone, Nauvoo Illinois Temple. (right) Sun image, Preston England Temple.

Sunstones also remind us of Jesus Christ, who is “the light of the world” (Alma 38:9; see also John 12:46); also, “This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made” (D&C 88:7; see also vv. 8–13). In powerful ways, divine light draws us to the Lord’s house. As the Psalmist reminds us, “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill [Hebrew: “mountain”], and to thy tabernacles” (Ps. 43:3).