Was in DC two weeks ago and all the museums closed at 5 so drove out to see the famous Christmas lights. The lit up trees outside were worth the drive - some of them in every color known to man,
some nearer the temple just white. The parking closest to the temple had signs saying reserved for temple patrons. There was a big crowd for the evening concert. Many seemed to be Latina women and children. Inside the visitors center there were trees from around the world, which were pretty boring and not especially pretty. One entrance to the auditorium had a sign saying it was closed to everyone but missionaries and their guests. Only saw two missionaries (female), and they were not proselytizing. There was an open internal stairway to a lower level that was blocked by a person and a rope, which was opened occasionally for whoever was allowed to go down there for whatever was there. The oddest thing was a near life-size mock-up of a suburban house with front porch, and when you went in it was a family room with couches and three tv monitors playing videos about the family. Everyone who came in seemed baffled and left immediately. Worth the trip for the lights but not the rest.

A dazzling display of christmas lights can be a sight to behold. Thanks for sharing.

It sounds like the lights were better than the visitor's center!!!

But try to see something on a local level and you get Zilch.

It's like everything in Mormonism - packaged nicely for people on the outside but the members get no consideration.

They really should have giant toilet bowl scrub brushes on display. That is the true meaning of being a lifetime member.

LDS leaders care more about conformity, compliance, & obedience (tithing) than they do about marriages or families;

It's all about image, after finances...

I have lived in the DC metro for nearly 20 years. I have NEVER heard anyone talk about, or suggest going to see, Christmas lights at the temple. It's just not a thing around here.

Well, if you Google it, you will have to agree the light festival seems to be a "thing," but be aware that the DC temple isn't in DC. It's in Maryland, more than 20 miles from the Beltway.

I live fairly close to it.

The temple is in Maryland, but it's actually right beside the Beltway--not 20 miles away from it. You can't miss it when driving along the Beltway--unfortunately. It's about 9 miles north from the White House.

I don't go there to see the Christmas lights. We have some pretty good lights in the neighborhood, so I just walk the dog instead.