[{"id":9625,"date":"2026-09-01T00:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctemplevisitorscenter.org\/?p=9625"},"modified":"2026-08-27T13:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T20:12:19","slug":"believe-in-him-deep-dive-with-lilly-gaskin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/templehill.org\/es\/believe-in-him-deep-dive-with-lilly-gaskin\/","title":{"rendered":"Cree en \u00c9l: Un an\u00e1lisis profundo con Lilly Gaskin"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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<\/strong><\/p>\n

Article and Interview by: Dallin Butler, GoForth Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n

This article was adapted from its original posting in February 2025 on DCTempleVisitorsCenter.org.<\/a><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/h3>\n\n

Lilly Gaskin, a sophomore at Brigham Young University,<\/a> has worked for Holdman Studios, a stained glass company based in Lehi, Utah, for almost two years. Lilly\u2019s help with the Believe in Him <\/em>stained glass window<\/a> helped shape it into what is today: a masterpiece of light and brilliantly colored glass centered on the life and teachings of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Her artistic voice was expressed throughout the assembly and engraving process and through the Believe in Him app,<\/a> an AR app used to interact directly with the exhibit, featuring Lilly\u2019s voice talent and written work.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Creating something out of stained glass is a laborious task, from idea conception to site installment. Lilly\u2019s job was to cut, grind out, and wrap glass pieces in copper foil before soldering pieces together with molten lead and a soldering iron. The process, much like spiritual progression, requires time, attention to detail, and commitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Before Lilly was able to put her cutting and grinding tools to work, however, each piece of glass had to be hand-picked for the right color and pattern. \u201cThe glass-picking process was super labor intensive, super hour intensive,\u201d Lilly explained. \u201cWe have giant shelves of glass. The people in the design room would sometimes pull out this old, dusty, probably decades-old piece of glass and say: \u2018This is your time to shine,\u2019 and they would use it for one piece, maybe two pieces, and back on the shelf it would go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

A few different methods are employed to cut stained glass, some of which were used millennia ago and are still utilized today, while others are more modern strategies meant to streamline the process. What are they, and what did Holdman Studios use to cut the glass?<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe use [a] water jet,\u201d Lilly explained. \u201cImagine a laser, but instead of this beam of energy, it\u2019s a beam of water. A really, really, highly pressurized jet of water, and it goes right through the glass. I\u2019ve seen it go through six inches of solid rock\u2026. It cuts the glass perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

However, using the water jet to cut every piece of glass becomes inefficient, especially because most pieces are unique, and the water jet excels at cutting out duplicate pieces with speed and efficiency.<\/p>\n\n

In those moments, \u201cit\u2019s much easier for us to cut it by hand.\u201d Lilly explained. \u201cTo do that, we use glass cutting runners\u2026. Essentially, it\u2019s like a little pencil, and on the end of this pencil is a little rotating wheel. And this wheel is not sharp, per se, but it does score the glass in a line [leaving] a little white line where it scores it. If you tap on that line where the glass has been weakened and scored, it will break on that line. Hopefully.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Tapping on the weakened, scored glass is the technique that has been used for generations by glassmakers. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty much been the method forever and ever, with varying iterations on these tools,\u201d Lilly emphasized. \u201cBut that\u2019s how we cut it by hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

These iterations have changed the glass-making process with water jet technology. Truly, water is a force of nature, especially when a pressurized stream of it can cut through six inches of solid rock, let alone glass! Lilly did mention, however, that the nature of Believe in Him <\/em>required a good majority of the smaller pieces to be cut by hand to save time rather than upload a file into the water jet machine and secure the glass below the cutter.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

How do you assemble the glass after it is cut?<\/p>\n\n

Lilly responded that each piece of glass needs to be lined with copper foil before it can be soldered together.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

But what is copper foiling, what is that process like, and why do stained glass artists need to do it?<\/p>\n\n

Before the pieces of glass can be stitched together with lead to fill the cracks between each shard, each piece has to be lined with copper foil. \u201cThe lead does not stick to glass, but it does stick to copper foil\u2026. Because this little metal tape is adhesive on one side, we wrap every piece all along the edge in that copper foil, and then when we fit them together, the solder can stick to the copper lines surrounding each piece.\u201d Flux is also added around the copper foil \u201cas a primer to get the solder on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

How long does the process of adding the copper foil take?<\/p>\n\n

\u201cHours. Hours.\u201d Lilly emphatically repeated during the interview. \u201cCopper foiling was the longest part of the process, besides choosing and cutting the glass. It would take ten of us around the table\u2026 going at it for at least three to five work days just to get one panel all copper-foiled. I was heavily involved in that, just like everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Lilly continued to say that the workshop tables were not large enough to fit the stained glass, despite being \u201csix to eight feet long,\u201d so they had to expand them to fit one pane. \u201cIt was insane. We were climbing on tables\u2026. I don\u2019t know how we did some of this,\u201d Lilly laughed. \u201cWe\u2019re very ambitious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

After the glass is cut, lined in copper foil, and pieced together with lead, it still needs to be thoroughly cleaned and placed between two sheets of tempered glass.<\/p>\n\n

This tempered glass is meant to keep it safe, and Lilly compared the transparent, tough glass to the strength of a car windshield. \u201cOnce it\u2019s insulated,\u201d she began. \u201cThere\u2019s no going back. There can\u2019t be a spot of dust on that window. Building the window, yes, that took forever, but cleaning? Cleaning almost took as long as a lot of the other processes to make it come to life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

What\u2019s your favorite object or scene in the stained glass display?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\"\"\n
Spiral galaxy with light beam<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n

\u201cI believe it\u2019s the leftmost panel\u2026 there\u2019s a galaxy. I etched some of the stars into those pieces of glass. I got a drill bit and drilled a little divot into the glass so the light could shine through better. It\u2019s not a hole in the glass, but it\u2019s super close. It makes it super thin and fine so it looks like stars when the light shines through it\u2026. And I just think it turned out so beautifully.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Lilly\u2019s work on the stars is astounding. Continuing on, she talked about how the white beam of light depicted in glass as it erupts from the spiral galaxy was made by stacking multiple pieces of glass on top of each other and firing them. This process creates layers in the glass beyond what one piece can do on its own and fuses them to create incredible waves of texture. Similar to what Heavenly Father can do in our lives, as we fuse our will with His, we become \u201credeemed of God\u201d and \u201cnew creatures\u201d (Mosiah 27:25-27<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Any interesting stories from the creation of the glass?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\"\"\n
Roman centurion’s improvised sandal strap<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a Roman centurion\u2026 he\u2019s on the left by the woman making the red garments white as snow\u2026. His foot broke when we were putting it all together. That piece is painted\u2026. Painted pieces are not pieces you want to break. They take forever to make, [and] they\u2019re super labor intensive\u2026. We showed it to them, and they said, \u2018Well, that guy\u2019s getting a sandal now,\u2019 and so we just copper-foiled the two separate pieces and put a solder line over it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

A delicate medium such as stained glass means breaks are bound to happen. The centurion\u2019s foot had a weak point but through a refining process, \u201cweak things become strong\u201d (Ether 12:27<\/a>). When we feel broken, the Savior is eager, willing, and able to heal us (3 Nephi 9:13-15<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n

I\u2019ve heard there are hidden, real objects soldered into the glass. What are they, and where are they?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI believe it\u2019s on one of the rightmost panels, there is a vial of tears soldered into the window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Lilly wasn\u2019t sure about where the tears came from or why the vial was significant, but was deeply impressed by it and was thoroughly cautioned about how fragile it was during the soldering process.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI remember them bringing that out and everyone being like, \u2018Do not touch it, do not breathe on it wrong, we cannot break this piece. We\u2019ve got to solder it in perfectly. We are not getting our hands on another one of these.\u2019 I think that\u2019s one of the coolest objects in this window that aren\u2019t glass. It\u2019s beautiful. You\u2019ve got to look for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Lilly also mentioned that beyond the widow\u2019s mite hidden in the old woman\u2019s staff, there are actual Roman coins and frankincense soldered into the glass.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

What are your favorite symbols in Believe in Him?<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"\"\n
Parables and Symbols<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n

\u201cEvery parable you could possibly think of in the Old and New Testament [is] there,\u201d Lilly said. \u201cThere are parables upon parables in this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n