Tuesday, August 12, 2008

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!

6 comments:

Wilde Things said...

Cool picture of the Houston temple. I'm glad you got to stay for a while. And you didn't even fall asleep from going to early, I am super proud of you.
Good advice too . . .
lubba!

Chelle said...

What a beautiful Houston temple. John and I have been challenged by our Stake to go weekly for 10 weeks. At first it was a real challenge...now that we're in the habit, I look forward to it! We're going to try to keep it up now that our 10 weeks is up. I've just been doing initiatories...and an occassional session if time permits. Have loved the initiatories, though! Loved your comments.

lyn said...

I love the temple. Such good reminders. Thanks!

Marci said...

I totally need to be better! Thanks for reminding me :-)

Phil said...

Not to mention spending time with your awesome brother-in-law!

Phil said...

Phil wrote that!