The Temple

A little while ago, I had the opportunity to go to the temple with my father-in-law and brother-in-law to do baptisms for some of Greg's family. It had been a while since I had been to the temple and even longer since I was able to do baptisms. I had such a wonderful time and it brought back some special memories. Growing up, we lived only about 5 minutes from the Jordan River Temple and could see it from our upstairs window. Because it was so close, we often went to do baptisms before school. Even when I was at BYU I tried to go do baptisms at the Jordan River Temple when I was home. It is such a special and peaceful place to me--made even more so because John proposed as we gazed at that temple, I took out my endowments there, and Brooklynn was sealed to us there.
After we finished the baptisms at the Houston Temple, I was able to stay a little longer (thanks to my mother-in-law for watching the kids while John worked on an Elders Quorum project) to do initiatory and a session. I was enjoying being there so much that I was tempted to stay all day! Later, I was thinking about my wonderful day and how I could recreate that feeling in my daily life and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts:

• Start with scripture and prayer. My father-in-law read scriptures to me on our way there and I think it really helped put me in the right frame of mind.
• Surround our home with pictures of the Savior. While in the baptistry and later in the chapel I found myself gazing at the pictures on the wall, thinking about the stories they portrayed and felt my love and appreciation of the Savior grow.
• Be more kind. I think one of the reasons the temple is such a peaceful and safe place is because the temple workers are so nice! I never have to worry about feeling dumb when I go down the wrong hall (which I do every time, by the way) or temporarily forget what I'm doing.
• Make time for reflection. I loved my time in the temple when I wasn't doing anything else but thinking--whether I was in the baptistry, chapel, or celestial room. It was nice to take time to review my life and remember the things I'm so profoundly grateful for.
• Serve others. I sometimes forget that I'm doing work for other people while I'm at the temple because it does so much for me but I wonder if it does so much for me because I'm helping other people.

Thank again to my father-in-law for inviting me to go along with him to the temple!