My Favorite Temple

My favorite temple is the Mount Timpanogos temple. Most LDS members know that this temple is in Utah. The reason this is my favorite temple is because it is the temple I was sealed to my sweetheart in for all time and eternity. It is also the temple where I took my endowments out. It has such significant meaning to me and is such a special place in my heart. My parents and other individuals have definitely instilled a love for the temple in me throughout my entire life. For as long as I can remember, my parents emphasized how important the temple was. Since my siblings and I were all sealed to them in different temples, because we were adopted, the temple gained a very special meaning for us at a very young age. I still remember going into the temple to be sealed to my youngest siblings, and all of us being dressed in white and everything seeming so calm, peaceful, and perfect. I remember looking into the mirrors all the way back with my family, and realizing how important in that moment these temples were and the work that was done in them. It was all very powerful. My parents definitely helped me love the temple more by being amazing examples of going regularly. Our temple, the Detroit temple was about 45 minutes to an hour away, but they always went together for a date night, and regularly. They also had pictures of the temple throughout our home, and they had a huge one hanging in my bedroom. We all had pictures of the temple in our bedrooms. I loved it! They also taught us about temples and all the wonderful work done in them. My church leaders also helped instill a love for temples in me, especially my young women leaders, by encouraging me to stay pure and clean and to be worthy to enter with a worthy young man one day. All of these things these wonderful examples, especially my parents, did to me helped instill a love for the temple in me from a very young age. I saw firsthand, especially from my parents worthiness and faithfulness the blessings that Joseph Smith talked about in the dedicatory prayer at the Kirtland Temple: “We ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them…” I saw my parents have the strength of angels within our own home. It was such a beautiful thing to experience knowing I had worthy parents, and I want that for my children. With my own children, I hope to instill a love of the temple in them from a young age. Also, within my own marriage I want to make sure my husband and I keep the temple centered in our marriage. I am one of the believers that often times the Spirit is felt very strongly through music and testimonies are strengthened through music. Since I am a huge musical person, I plan on singing songs about the temple to my children from the time they are young. I would also give them the advice of President Hunter because I think it’s easy for anyone to understand through this quote why temple attendance is so essential. “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, and 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.” I will let them know how much the Prophet and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to go to the temples. I’d let them know how much the work needs to be done! From age 12 I will take them to do baptisms for the dead. Just like my parents, for both my marriage and my children’s sake, I will have pictures of the temple hanging in our home and in each of their bedrooms. My husband and I do go at least once a month, and I plan on keeping up this pattern and hopefully adding in another set time each and every month. My favorite three ideas from all the ideas I have and that my parents have are to always have pictures of the temples in our homes, to always be an example to each other and to our children in going to the temple and doing so happily, and also to teaching my children of the blessings that come from doing temple work.