A Love for the Temple

Logan, Utah Temple

I've always had a special love for the temple, ever since I was a kid the temple has been in my life.  Growing up in Utah, you can't help but see a temple or to in your travels.  I mean I drove from Logan, Utah to Provo, Utah, a three hour drive, and saw eight temples and passed nine.  Soon it's going to be nine or ten.  Either way I've always had the temple in my life and I always knew it was special.  But not until recently did I ever imagine what the temple really means to me.

The temple is amazing!  The Spirit is so strong there I can't even describe it.  While you are within the walls of those sacred buildings, the world goes away.  You don't worry about the troubles of life.  You feel at peace, you feel calm, you feel great!  You learn so much about God and Christ it's breathtaking.  You are on the top of the world.  Before I came out on my mission, my mom and I attended the Jordan River Temple, only about a month before me leaving home.  As we were leaving for home, she and I agreed that you feel different leaving the temple.  You come out happy and joyful, with light filling your body and spirit.  These are feelings that are hard to describe, but they are wonderful.

Celestial Room at the Draper, Utah Temple

The temple though isn't there just to make you feel good.  Special ordinances necessary for salvation are performed in the temple.  Just like baptism is an ordinance (or ceremony) so are the things we do in the temple.  Because of these ordinances, family units can perpetuate beyond the grave.  I have felt that assurance in my life and it came to me one day at the temple.

One of the sacred ordinances we perform in the temple is called the endowment.  After the endowment, you end up in a room that every temple has called the Celestial Room.  These places are among the most magnificent and beautiful places you will ever be in.  They symbolic of the presence of God, so you can image how powerful it is to be there.  It was my first time at the temple back in June of 2011.  I was with my parents, my grandma, my grandparents, and other extended family members.  After the endowment, I walked into the Celestial Room of the Bountiful, Utah Temple.  As I walked in the room, it was real.  It felt like I had walked into God's presence and His love filled every space there.  I turned my head and there were my parents and my family.  I broke down crying it was amazing.  I was back home with my Heavenly Father and I wasn't alone.  I was with my family and we weren't going to be separated.  Even my Grandpa Rasmussen who had passed away a year before this time was there.  I was with my family forever in the kingdom of our Father in Heaven.

Palmyra, New York Temple

That's why temples are so important.  Without they are what allow us to return back to our Father in Heaven.  Not only that, but they allows us to return not alone, but with our families.  I can't describe how amazing the temple is!  I wish to help everybody get there and experience what I've had a chance to experience.  Please make the temple a priority in your life, marvelous blessings await your.

I know this Church is true.  It isn't just another church out there in the mix of things.  It is God's kingdom again restored on the earth with prophets, apostles, and the priesthood authority.  I know Christ is real and that He did suffer for our sins and afflictions.  I know that it is only through Him that we can return back to live with God again.  Oh and by the way, everything in the temple centers on Jesus Christ.

If you want to learn more about the family and the temple, try this link. http://mormon.org/family/