A Beacon Of Righteousness

I could not skip a chance to share one of the most exciting opportunities that we have been able to participate in the past couple of months.  The Gilbert Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints was recently completed and from mid January- mid February there was an open house for anyone and everyone to enjoy.  The Gilbert Temple is Arizona's 4th temple. It's a big deal! And we are really excited that there will soon be 6 in Arizona when the Phoenix and Tucson temples are finished! If you have more questions about temples, you can click HERE.  My little family and I had the chance to go through the Open House three times.  Each time was an incredible and unique experience.

The first time we went was with some of Michael's family.  His dad, mom, sister and her boyfriend, brother, and nephew drove down from Utah (through most of the night) to get here for the weekend. More on that soon. (Hopefully.) We went to the temple Monday morning where Michael's older brother and his wife met us.  There was a sweet, little movie that we watched in the chapel next to the temple that briefly described what temples are for and what we are about to see.  My favorite part was when Elder Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles emphasized that as he imagines how glorious and perfect Heaven is, he cannot see it as Heaven without his wife and family there with him. That's exactly how I feel.  If our Father in Heaven is omnipotent, loving and perfect, then of course he is going to provide a way for families to be eternal!  That's why I love temples.

The second time we visited the temple, we went with Michael's coworker and his family.  They are an amazing and beautiful family.  They are Catholic and live in Gilbert so we were glad they could have the chance to tour this amazing building in their backyard.  It was so nice to get to know them and their incredibly sweet and sharp daughters.  They were great at recognizing symbols and teachings from the bible.  It was impressive.  To me, the Church is very logical.  We believe in the Bible and the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.  We believe this is the church of Jesus Christ.  So, of course, it is ran and organized through the proper authority the way the Savior organized it through the proper authority when he was on the Earth.

The third time we toured the Open House was with my dad, sister, and my Aunt Jana.  They drove from Utah- including a two hour delay because of a huge blow out. Luckily they were safe and were able to get the spare tire on and get back on the road.  We got there about an hour after our reservation time which turned out to be a powerful tender mercy.  We ended up being behind a great group of friends from Northern Phoenix who were all Catholic and told that they should come to the "Mormon Temple" to see the inside while they could.  They had a lot of great questions and comments as we walked through the beautiful temple that we did our best to answer and explain.   But overall, we all just enjoyed the incredible feeling of peace and comfort that is felt inside those walls and on the temple grounds.

Last Sunday we got to be a part of the temple dedication instead of our normal Sunday worship.  It was extremely humbling and powerful.  I hope that I can read the talks that were given later because they were incredible.  My favorite was when President Monson called the temple, "A Beacon of Righteousness, a refresher for the soul, a House of God."  I find those words incredibly concise and comforting in a world that is muddled and harsh.  I'm glad I have had these experiences the past couple of months and for the invigorated effort to go back often.