Temple...

Finally did get to go to Temple!  Today!  Things did not work out yesterday but today was so great!  I really like the 10am session, as it sort of covers the base of maybe having interrupted sleep and not having to drag myself out of bed, for the earlier one at 8am.  At one time that 8am was my favorite.  Things change and the Temple is accommodating with so many time choices.  Now 10am is my new fave!  But...thinking I'll skip Wednesday!  It was filled to overflowing.  seats up the aisle and in front of the front row seats also!  The amazing thing was the ratio in attendees...9 Men! 40 Women!!!  I scheduled for Tuesday next week.

I love the blessings that come into personal lives through Temple attendance...mine included.  What a blessing to have a Temple so close by!

Coming and going, as I drove past Prosser, you couldn't miss those huge signs on gigantic poles to get the attention of all on the highway.  Those ones that have the McDonalds logo or other fast foods, like KFC, or available gas stations and then there was the huge SignOfTheTimes fare! ... An oversized rectangle, on a huge pole, bright/brilliant colored background, wide width block print, switching the word from POT to WEED.  flashing and changing and never stopping!  The world in which we live!

What a contrast, to the joy of General Conference and the counsel given, by Prophets, that we are followers of the Savior and we need to counterbalance worldliness and spread His Word and live and do as much good as we can, in our desire to be like Him.  That is the way we are headed.

My beautiful Temple....

My solo Temple trip was wonderful.  So many things that I want solutions/resolution/clarification/direction on in my life.  Plus trying to figure out how to create a balance for our NewNorm.  Some would feel it's a waste of time to drive a car with the only passenger being the driver and have all other seats empty and not share the experience.  I don't feel that way.  I many times like to solo it and pray out loud/sing hymns/just be still and listen.  I prayed my way past Prosser/sang a few hymns/shed a few tears/pleaded to hear/feel the Holy Ghost.  Repented.  Expressed gratitude.  By the time I got to Queensgate I was ready to listen/learn/receive.

Saw the 3rd of the new Temple films.  The music was heavenly.  Parts of it were so powerful.  Just a small section but it melted my heart as it washed over me.

Enjoyed time in the Celestial room. absorbing the beauty and the sweetness of Spirit.  Praying. Eager to see what insight would come to me.  I believe in personal revelation and the Temple is a banquet table to feast at as far as Spiritual things.  Love and appreciate the counsel received and I know things will keep unfolding to me.  So thankful.

I thought about active members that I know and love that are not endowed for one reason or another.  IF I were them I would get a Temple Recommend and I'd go to the Temple, take my scriptures, enter the foyer and just sit there and feel the Spirit.  Our Temple has a large waiting area with some benches and it's a beautiful room.  When the Temple was first built and you opened the door, you were right at the desk  to have your recommend checked and go on back for ordinance work or turn right for baptismal font room...then they built our lovely waiting room.  most of the time it is empty but even if others are there, you can still sit and have privacy.  IF it's not a possibility/reality for you to take out your endowments and yet you wish you could, then still bring as much of the Temple into your life and as much as you into the Temple as you can.

President Hunter really encouraged members to have Temple Recommends even if they couldn't use them for whatever reason....no Temple nearby or non-member spouse or all sorts of reasons.  I couldn't find that exact quote to share but I did find this for you.  This is when he became Prophet and first spoke of his two invitations for us, the Church members....

“There are two invitations I would like to leave with the members of the Church as we strive to keep the commandments of God and receive the full measure of His blessings. First of all, I would invite all members of the Church to live with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially the love and hope and compassion He displayed.

“Secondly, and in that same spirit, I also invite the members of the Church to establish the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of their membership and the supernal setting for their most sacred covenants. It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church be temple worthy. I would hope that every adult member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it.

“Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety which is provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty, it is a place of revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the house of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us.”   full talk is here

And I love these two quotes by Elder Packer....

 “Temples are the very center of the spiritual strength of the Church. We should expect that the adversary will try to interfere with us as a Church and with us individually as we seek to participate in this sacred and inspired work” 

 “When members of the Church are troubled or when crucial decisions weigh heavily upon their minds, it is a common thing for them to go to the temple. It is a good place to take our cares. In the temple we can receive spiritual perspective. . . . Sometimes our minds are so beset with problems and there are so many things clamoring for attention at once that we just cannot think clearly and see clearly. At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can ‘see’ things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known” (“The Holy Temple,” Ensign or Liahona, Oct. 2010, 35)

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I took total advantage of my sweet nearby Temple (55 minutes away!) and feel buoyed/redirected/peaceful/hope-filled and just overflowing with gratitude for the Gospel and all of the marvelous helps for me, free of charge, to survive/thrive my mortal trek.   

Sweet Relief

After I wrote my blog on the 11th, and examined the emotions that led up to it, I really gave it a lot of thought and prayer.  I've really been gifting myself with this year of health challenge and along with that goes emotional health also.  I've worked through a lot of issues in that 8 month stint of learning about my emotions and felt totally ready and excited to move on to the healthy living aspect.  My mind was clear and ready and not boggled with things over which I have no control.

Something seemed out of sorts with my annual whine fest about poor me and birth-Mom's etc. etc.  I realized that the feelings weren't ever on my mind, this jealous insecurity or whatever you would label it, but it did surface like clockwork on Mother's day and then 2x in March- on birthdays.  Maybe occasionally, when I knew of  their involvement with my sons, I would have tears or the likes.  Private and kept to myself.  and of course Terry would know.

When challenged with setbacks, of some event/situation/circumstance, that I need to deal with and move on, I will give myself an actual time limit on how long the pity-party can go on.  When the clock strikes that hour then it needs to be dealt with, managed, and filed under.... The Whew File- another life experience that I survived/conquered/figured out. Whew!

This monster in me surfaced with our 2nd adoption and that was years and years ago.  And then the birthMoms entered the picture about 18 years ago.  How embarrassing to hang on to those troubling/heartache/heartbreak emotions and to have never set a time limit on it, to get myself moving to resolution.  Find a solution!!!

Maybe it was because it wasn't a 24/7 feeling that I didn't really deal with it.  I don't know.

This I do know though.  I need my mind clear and focused on health and this was a brain drain emotionally and I need every ounce of courage and common sense and peace within myself to succeed.

So I decided to give myself one  more gift, and how appropriate that it was completed by Mother's Day.  Let it go.  Face it.  Warts and all.  And use the power of the Atonement and ask the Lord to take it.  To drop this burden at his feet and leave it there!  If I feel to talk about it, in an objective way, that is one thing but to turn inward with all this negative emotion?...not healthy.  even yearly.

O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. --Alma 31:31

And I headed to the Temple.  Alone.  Terry wasn't feeling all that sharp.  This gave me time for reflection and pondering and prayer.  My heart was tender and I was ready to let these feelings go.  For the last time.

I arrived and decided to get my Temple recommend out of my purse as I'd changed it from where I usually keep it.  Two purse searches later, and the car, and the pavement, and it was confirmed that I had left my recommend home.  So there I was, outside of where I wanted to be inside, but that was Justice/Consequences/Ten Virgin story all come to life.

Deciding to walk around the grounds and just stay focused and calm and prayerful,  I started out.  The grounds are beautiful, peaceful, conducive to the Spirit.  I sat on the bench and thought that I knew the interior and knew the window by the dressing room.  A little prayer of thanks for our Temple that I love.

Headed around to the back and faced the outside window of the Celestial room and even in daylight could see the sparkling chandelier.  I thought of creative marriage proposals that could take place there.  

Being totally alone I decided to pray.  I 100% believe that the Lord looks to our hearts and he knows us.  He knew of my sincerity and my desires.  I love and use a scripture many times in my life, for the promise that it holds and I decided to use it then.

It's Mosiah 4:24.  the part where King Benjamin tells them- if you cannot give because you have not but you would if you could, then that's okay.  I figured if I could go into the Temple to pray then I would.  Outside the Temple, sitting on that bench, was as close as I was getting that day.

It was a wonderful time of intensive prayer and I dropped my ill feelings, my burden, right there.

Feeling very peaceful and thankful, I walked on around by the fountain and enjoyed being alone with such beauty.

Coming to the front entrance I decided to just step into the entry way and just sit for a minute to- as close to the interior as possible.  A sister greeted me.  I explained I'd left my Temple Recommend at home.  She surprised me by saying....come with me.  I can help you.   I said....but I don't have my Recommend with me.  She said....I can help.

I had no idea- if you are a current Temple Recommend holder and for whatever reason arrive without it, you can fill out a slip of paper with your name, birthdate, Ward & Stake  name and they can verify it on the computer!!!

No, I didn't go to a session because my session had started, as I'd wandered for 30 minutes, and other ordinance work was filled.  Nonetheless I felt the tender mercies of the Lord.  My petition was heard and granted.

And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.  Ps. 50:15

We are so blessed!!!

Terry looks absolutely handsome to me in a suit and white shirt or mechanic coveralls.  He is my honey for sure!!!  All decked out this afternoon in his navy suit.  Sigh.  

Today we headed over to the Temple as we both felt the need for that blessing that comes simply by going into the Temple.  There is a feeling of peacefulness and hope.  Inner calm just saturates bone deep.  Sort of like coming indoors from freezing blizzardy snowy wintry air, being chilled to the bone and drawn to the warmth of the wood burning stove.  Feeling that heat saturation just makes you melt, with feeling good.  That describes the relaxation that comes to me in the Temple.

There was a curiosity in me about Temples.  I wondered if there was any benefit, any personal blessing, that came to someone when they went to the Temple and were proxy for the ordinances of those long departed.  I puzzled over... was I some sort of a selfish sinner, for wondering if I might feel/receive something beyond just feeling good, for helping someone out?   I had a bit of  unshared embarrassment within, with my - is that all there is?- attitude.

I had progressed to the point that my mantra was If/Then.  If I learned a blessing was to be had by some act of obedience on my part, Then I was eager to claim that blessing through obedience.  I took Doctrine&Covenants 130:20-21 to heart.  It was Gospel truth to me as was Doctrine&Covenants 132:5

This wondering sent me on a search in the mid-70's or maybe even earlier.  Alaska didn't have a Temple.  We could go to any one.  Seattle wasn't built yet.  Nor was Boise.  Alaskans, at least most of us, claimed Salt Lake as our Temple.  My parents lived in Boise so that was where I traveled to, when helping them with health challenges.  I very seldom got to go to the Temple.

Nonetheless I wanted to know how to get the most out of those rare occasions when I did get to go. The technology of today wasn't even in existence but I read a lot.  I kept on the lookout for something that would expand my enjoyment and blessing of those times I did attend a Temple.   

At last!!!  I found what I was looking for!!  President Ezra Taft Benson- now that is a reliable source for sure!!!!

In the peace of these lovely temples, sometimes we find solutions to the serious problems of life.  Under the influence of the Spirit, sometimes pure knowledge flows to us there.  Temples are places of personal revelation.  When I have been weighed down by a problem or difficulty, I have gone to the House of the Lord with a prayer in my heart for answers.  These answers have come in clear and unmistakable ways.    ---President Ezra Taft Benson 1984

To this day I check all Conference talks for those specific personal blessings and have compiled several.  I used to read them on the way to the Seattle Temple.   Here is another favorite one that I found from 1921!

I believe that the busy person on the farm, in the shop, in the office, or in the household, who has his worries and troubles, can solve his problems better and more quickly in the House of the Lord than anywhere else.  If he will leave his problems behind, and in the temple work for himself and for his dead, he will confer a mighty blessing upon those who have gone before, and quite as large a blessing will come to him, for at the most unexpected moment, in or out of the temple will come to him, as a revelation, the solutions of the problems that vex his life.  That is the gift that come to those who enter the temple properly, because it is a place where revelations may be expected.  I bear you my personal testimony that this is so.    ---Elder John A. Widtsoe 1921

What a terrific day it was!!  I already feel so much better and the prayer that I requested for help,  hasn't even arrived yet!!  It will happen.  I know that for sure!

So come to the Temple- come and claim your blessings.  It is a sacred work. ---Boyd K. Packer 

  

A regular love fest!!!

There is something to be said for being in places where people are present because they want to be!  It's a feeling of anticipation, delight, excitement, happiness.  People are loving what they are doing!  Vacation destinations are that way.  An entirely different feeling than say, the dentist waiting room or waiting to renew your driver's licence at the DMV or sitting waiting for slow traffic to move. 

This summer was filled with spending time with family but also strangers that were on the same wavelength.  We had all chosen the same place to enjoy ourselves be it Seattle, Leavenworth or McCall.  None of us were disappointed and I believe that we each added to the others good time. 

Saturday I spent the morning with people that share my faith.  Temple attenders.  We'd not really planned to go Saturday morning but plans changed and we were there for the 9:30am session.  When we pulled into the parking lot, we were caught off guard, with the number of cars, in what seemed to be every available space!  Finding a spot to park and stepping out, the feeling in the air, was celebratory!  There were people milling about.  People posing for pictures.  A YSA group having a group shot taken.  People sitting outside, of all ages, on the ledges waiting for others to come out of the Temple.  People laughing and talking.  Happy people!

The similarities were striking to my family vacation time but enhanced in that entering the Temple anteroom, I could feel the anticipation and the joy and excitement of everyone. It was startling to feel awash in the overwhelming feeling of love. I was seeing joy on people's faces and it was actually tangible. Each was waiting for the Temple entrance doors to open and have a fresh-faced newlywed couple come out and greet friends and family. 

We happened to be there on a day that there were 11 weddings going on!!  Truly, love permeated the air!!

In RS Michelle shared that she'd seen 3 wedding couples on the Temple grounds, visiting and having pictures taken.  Myra Faye and Bob, worked that Saturday morning Temple session and I think she said they were assigned 5 brides/grooms.  What a great assignment that would be!!!  To help them feel comfortable and relaxed and enjoy their wedding day!

I was standing in a hall waiting for the session to start when the sealing room, at the far end of the hall, emptied out.  All of the invited guests, family and friends exited and passed right in front of me.  Each person just looked joyous.  There were some dabbing their eyes.  All were smiling.  Many young couples, holding hands or arms around waists, walked past and you could see and feel their happiness.  It was a never to be forgotten day!

It was a memorable day filled with friendship when we saw Ward members enjoying their Temple service.  I was happy to see Bob and Myra Faye, Nick and Orba, and Nate- all Temple workers from our Ward.  Plus others I knew from Sunnyside and Yakima.

Usually I feel so much peace from the moment I step into the Temple but this was the first time I felt it coupled with excitement in the air and pervading love. It felt romantic with so many starting their married lives on that day!!!  It was great!!  Sigh.

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Surely this is not an onerous burden!

It is a privilege.  A temple recommend is one of the

highest accolades we may receive.  to use it

regularly permits us to participate in the

choicest gifts within the keeping of the Church.

Those who attend feel a special spirit there.  Peace comes. 

And I know that blessings will follow you home from the Temple.

                                                  --by Elder A. Theodore Tuttle- 1982