i'm thankful for temples

One thing I'm certainly most grateful for is the temple. I love that there are so many beautiful temples surrounding me - I've definitely taken that great blessing for granted on multiple occasions.

Last Saturday, I was able to go to the Draper temple with Hollie, Ashlyn and Callie to do baptisms for the dead. I love the feeling of peace that comes from being inside the house of the Lord.

In Relief Society, we talked about temples. I was absolutely inspired by the beautiful message that was shared by our teacher. We read from Chapter 13 ("Priceless Blessings of the House of the Lord") in Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson. I loved the quote at the beginning of the chapter: "It is in the temples that we obtain God's greatest blessings pertaining to eternal life. Temples are really the gateways to heaven." -Thomas S. Monson

Our teacher started the lesson by asking, "What does the temple represent for you?" I thought about this for a few seconds and came up with answer - but I was moved by what the other women in the ward had to say...

One answered, "The temple represents the love our Savior has for us. He loves us so much that

He gave us a beautiful place where we could be removed from the rest of the world." 

Another said, "The temple is hope for me. I love knowing that I can walk into the temple and that Satan will have absolutely no power over me while I'm inside."

I loved these answers!! - they helped me to view the temple a little differently than I had before and definitely evolved my personal representation of the temple.

Going to the temple will allow us to receive our highest blessings that the Lord has to offer. The ordinances and covenants we make inside are the stepping stones required to reach our ultimate goal: to become like Christ. (Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.")

I love the thought that going to the temple provides us with protection. Protection from worldly sorrows and pains, and protection from the adversary. Once inside, all of our worries and troubles can vanish completely. "Temples bring us peace and spiritual strength."

I personally am so grateful for the peace that comes when I'm inside the temple. It seems as if all my thoughts and stresses that happen so often outside the temple are replaced with feelings of love and joy when I'm inside.

The work that goes on in the temple is of the utmost importance. Mosiah 2:17: "...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Temple work = service. Therefore, we are serving our Lord when we attend the temple to do the work of those that have passed on before us and cannot do it themselves. "We literally become saviors on Mount Zion... we, in small measure, when we engage in proxy work in the temple, become as saviors to those on the other side who have no means of advancing unless something is done in their behalf by those on earth." -President Hinckley

I had the amazing opportunity to hear from Sister Elaine S. Dalton just last weekend. She was visiting my old stake and I just had to go and see her - Sister Dalton has always been such an inspiration for me. At one point, she began talking about the temple. She said that, "we have no excuse not to attend the temple." And she's exactly right. If there is something keeping us from entering its doors, we should do everything possible to get ourselves back inside. Be worthy of a temple recommend. If we are honestly worthy, we will be numbered among those in the Celestial Kingdom. 

I believe that the work we perform in the temple is so important and that we will be blessed for sacrificing our time to visit the house of the Lord as often as we can. By doing so, we are hastening His work. I look forward to the day when I'll be able to receive my endowments and look forward even more to when I'll be sealed to my future companion for time and all eternity. I love the temple. I know it is the Lord's house and that He is there... He listens to our concerns and thoughts... He cares. He will respond and put us on our due course in His own time and in His own way. 

Go to the temple. And go to the temple as often as you can. "What a glorious thing it is for us to have the privilege of going to the temple for our own blessings. Then after going to the temple for our own blessings, what a glorious privilege to do the work for those who have gone on before us." -Howard W. Hunter