Attending an LDS temple is a common vacation activity for many Mormons.
But for Ray Hansen, it usually is the vacation.
Since 1987, Ray Hansen, of Herriman, has had a goal to attend every temple in the world. Of the 130 operating temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he has visited 126.
On one trip, he flew into St. Louis and drove to Memphis, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Nashville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; Nauvoo, Ill.; and then back to St. Louis.
"Every day is a different temple," Ray said. "There is nothing like feeling the spirit on your vacation every day."
A couple of years ago on a trip to Australia, during which he visited four temples, Hansen attended church in Sydney. He was introduced in the high priest group meeting as being from Salt Lake City.
He was asked if he was also going on any tours or sightseeing. He said no, and later overheard two men talking behind him. One said, "Doesn't he know there is a temple in Salt Lake City?"
Hansen does attend the temple at home but has also served as a temple worker at the Jordan River Temple for eight years and is just now beginning service in the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple. His wife, Veloy, worked in the temple for three years before health problems cut her service short.
Veloy accompanies her husband when she is able. When she is not, he takes children or grandchildren.
"I have been around the world in a wheelchair," Veloy Hansen said.
Hansen's office is plastered with huge world maps stuck with multi-colored pins, representing temples he has visited, temples he has not visited and temples that have been announced but have yet to open. The open temples he has yet to visit are in Bolivia, Paraguay and Caracas, Venezuela. He has not been to the Nigerian Temple, which was recently closed.
"I am thinking how am I going to get to the next one," said Hansen, who has plans to visit the Caracas Temple.
In 2003, the couple took advantage of a special airline deal that allowed them to travel 26,000 miles. Ray and Veloy visited temples in all the South Pacific Islands, New Zealand and Asia.
"We traveled 25,985 miles," Ray Hansen said.
Hansen knows how to plan and stretch a budget. Many trips are paid for by accumulating miles on his credit card. He buys everything with a card — including a car.
"We had to twist the financial guy's arm," Hansen said.
Some 20 years ago, Hansen suffered a heart attack that his wife calls a "blessing in disguise." While recovering, he wrote a computer program and now runs a small online business from home. Hansen spent his career as a computer programmer after graduating from BYU in 1958 and going to work for NASA.
The Hansens began regular temple attendance long ago. They lived in California one summer in an apartment across the street from the Los Angeles Temple.
"Every Friday night we went to the temple," Veloy said. "It was date night."
Hansen has had two stints as a bishop, spent 10 years in a stake presidency and currently serves as patriarch in his stake.
A few years ago, he was called as a stake Sunday School president and was struggling with whom to call as his second counselor. One day as he began a temple session — this time in Boise, Idaho — he sat down and "within 60 seconds, the spirit told me I should pray about who that counselor was to be."
He did so and a name came to him that he had not previously considered, talked about or even thought about.
The Hansens sent 10 of their 11 children on missions. They would plan trips to pick them up and visit temples along the way.
One of the Hansen daughters, who is now in her 30s, recently told her father: "When I was a little girl, I didn't know much about the temple. But I knew it must be something really important because you and Mom went every week."
e-mail: wjewkes@desnews.com