Hello world!
Time to take a step back to the past, to one of the days that I wished would never end. The temple open house.
Back in Utah, there are a lot of church buildings. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints already know, it's the headquarters of our religion, really. You can see the temples on the mountains as you drive around, and the chapels are sometimes just a block away from each other. (Despite this, maximum half of the population in Utah is Mormon, so don't think every single person there is. There are plenty of other religions and plenty of atheists.)
The Oquirrh Mountain Temple was one of the closest temples to our house, and they had just finished building it.
I was... *checks LDS.org* almost 9 years old. Wow.
I'm so old. *tear*
Anyway, there was an open house during the summer before it was dedicated. Once a temple is dedicated, up and running, only people ages 12 and up are able to go in. However, before that happens, people of any age can go to the open house. Even nonmembers. So it was cool for me to get to enter before I was old enough. We also brought my mom's boss, a nonmember family friend. (My mom says she had just lost her son. I honestly don't remember that.)
I seriously remember what I wore. A blue summery dress with beads and stuff around the collar. (I never was a big fan of the dress, actually. *sweat drop*)
Upon arriving, we had to watch a video on a projector under one of those big white tents that's for fairs or something outside. I can't remember anything from it, but I'm sure it was about the temple. *laugh*
Then, we walked in. The temple is a cool place, because it's so clean and white inside and out. But, on open house, there was also a bunch of mats on the ground so that everyone's shoes wouldn't make the floor dirty. I remember that they were clear-ish mats that kinda looked like bubble wrap. (Like plastic bathroom mats. *chuckle*) There was a long line of people throughout the whole building like a caterpillar, and people just filed in and out as they toured. Despite all the people and having to move at everyone else's pace, it was cool to walk around. I liked seeing the variety of people there. Most were families, with a baby in the dad's arms and a 3-year old holding their mommy's hand, or something similar.
What's the point of the temple? In case you don't know, one of the functions is to seal a family together so that they can be together forever. As in, during life and after life. Same with marriages. If you marry in the temple (or get sealed sometime after both you and your spouse become members) then it's not "till death do you part." You will be with the people you love for eternity! Isn't that awesome?
That was part of why I liked seeing all of the families, I think. (The comments the little kids sometimes made were cute, too.)
To my favorite part of the day! We entered the sealing room, where that stuff I said before happens. Two of the opposing walls inside had huge mirrors, nearly ceiling-to-floor huge. It causes this weird effect where you look at yourself in the mirror and see... more yous. Over and over. My mom whispered to me then the reason why they did that. It had symbolic meaning, of the future generations that will be blessed because of you being in this room. (I think that was it. *sweat drop* This happened over 6 years ago, okay?) It really hit me then. I was a little hypnotized by the mirror, looking at myself and other people in the room, and digesting the meaning of everything. I could feel such peace and... lightness within me. It was something I had never felt before, especially so strongly. I would've stood there forever if I wasn't yanked out. (Not literally, but felt a bit like it at the moment, being yanked out of a big moment in my life.)
So we finished seeing everything and went home. We walked around the neighborhood for about half an hour before the friend had to go.
I think all of the little Mormon girls dream of gettin married in the Salt Lake Temple. I still admit, that would be freaking cool. (It's like a castle! And it's so beautiful! People travel downtown just to walk around it.) But, honestly, since then, it's been a bigger dream for me to get married in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, to go back into that room and feel that peace. It would be even better to do it with the man I love (and my awesome family there supporting us) and know I'm going to be with him forever!
This made my faith grow because I was able to feel the Spirit of the temple (I nearly want to say "the magic of the temple!") for myself. It's there and it is very real and manifests itself in everyone inside. Everyone worthy to be in the House of the Lord will feel the peace and their testimonies will grow tremendously. They will also be given countless blessings.
I give you my own testimony that the temple is the greatest place on Earth, and being able to be there is a blessing in itself. It helps you while you live life, and it will help after you've died. I know it really is the House of our Heavenly Father, and He wishes all of us could enter. I know this gospel is the only true gospel in the world, and everything contained, like the Book of Mormon, modern prophets, Word of Wisdom, and doctrine, is 100% true and sent by God to us to learn and grow and prepare to be with Him in the Celestial Kingdom. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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