Yesterday in Sacrament Meeting in my ward there were a lot of testimonies and thoughts about the temple. A couple in my ward were recently able to get their endowments out, and sealed in the temple. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and it made me think about my own experience and thoughts on the temple.
Growing up i always knew that i wanted to be married in the Temple. I was blessed to be able to go when the time came. I was able to get my endowments out on my twentieth birthday which happened to be 6-6-06. It was a fun day filled with family and memories. The Temple was closed for a couple weeks prior to my wedding so my mom and i went a lot in June. I'm glad i went early it gave me such a wonderful sense of what the Temple is all about and i felt ready to go through and be sealed to Casey. Our wedding day was on 7-18-06. Both sides of our families were there (all back from missions). Casey and i were sealed by a family friend Bro. Allred. He knows both sides of my family and a little bit of Casey's. The day we were sealed was awesome. People kept asking if i was nervous but i never was, i was ready, and the time was right. After we were sealed and before we were let out of the room our sealer stopped us and quizzed us on what he had just instructed us to do throughout our marriage. Thankfully we passed and were able to go. Yesterday in church i was pondering on the advice and instructions we received that day. I remember that Bro. Allred counseled us to pray as a couple, read the scriptures together, hold family home evening, and there was one more that i wish i could remember but it has escaped me. So far in our marriage we have tried to hold true to those words, we have been doing much better on all of those in more recent days, and i hope to continue them.
I got to thinking yesterday how thankful i am for a Temple so close to me. I really take it for granted that it's right there waiting for me to return. I know i need to do better in how often i attend. Right now it's once a month, but i know i can do more. I recently toured the new Draper Temple with my husband, sister, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. It amazes me still how magnificent and unique each Temple is, and that there are well over a hundred all over the world.
The covenants and blessings that come from the Temple are a treasure to me, that i could not imagine living without. I thank the Lord daily for the opportunity i have to be Temple worthy, and for help to stay worthy to go to the Temple. I feel such a sense of pride knowing that i am a child of God and it is through the covenants from the Temple that i can truly return to him someday.
"I love to see the Temple, i've been inside before, and felt the Holy Spirit, i've listened, and i've prayed."
