[Brad Marsh]

I'll qualify this post by saying that I am a Mormon, have been to several temples many tens of times, and currently serve in the church as a Bishop (the one who, among many other things, interviews members of the church and issues a temple recommend - which is a requirement for entrance into the temple after it's dedicated).

This is the third Mormon temple in Alberta. There is a much larger and older one in Cardston (this is the first one I had been to and was the one I was married in), a smaller (but still impressive) one in Edmonton, and now this brand new one in Calgary.

This is a great chance for members of the public to see the inside of a Mormon temple. There are lots of volunteers and missionaries around the temple site, but there is no proselyting - so you don't need to worry about feeling "pressured" or anything like that - that's not what this is about.

I took my family through last week, and, like others in the thread, was really impressed with the fine craftsmanship and custom detailing. I loved how the details throughout the temple portray Calgary and area themes (wheat, the wild rose, landscape murals, etc.). The building and grounds are impressive (to me anyway).

The tour consists of a short video describing the purpose of temples, both ancient and modern, and also a brief overview of the history of the Mormon church in Calgary and southern Alberta. The video is shown in a regular church meetinghouse adjacent to the temple. After the video, the tour host will lead you to the temple where you can walk through a number of the rooms and learn about the purpose of each of them. These rooms consist of marriage rooms (called "sealing" rooms), a baptismal font area, and other ordinance rooms, including the celestial room. Most people would consider the celestial room to be the most sacred room in the temple as it's symbolic of being in the God's presence.

The tour ends back in the church building where light refreshments are served and there is an opportunity to ask the tour guide questions (or not). And that's it.

You "hear" a lot about Mormon practices and beliefs (some of that is evident in this thread) and about Mormon temples. This is a great chance to go and see for yourself what these buildings are all about and why they have such a prominent role in the LDS/Mormon faith.

EDIT: I'll also just mention that we didn't need to produce our ticket, even though we had one. So while your are welcome to access the links in the OP and book one, it certainly isn't a requirement to go on the tour. It looked to me as though they were fully prepared to accommodate anyone at any time, ticket or not.