The House of the Lord

Justin entered the Los Angeles Temple on May 15, 2010.

For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the temple is a sacred place wherein we are further instructed, perform ordinances and make covenants with our Father in Heaven.   It is different from our chapels where we worship weekly and meet for a variety of other activities.  In the temple, we perform work not only for ourselves, but also by proxy for those who were not able to perform the work for themselves while on the earth.  It is one of the driving forces behind our desire to know more about our own family history and genealogy.  For more on temples click HERE.

There are over 100 temples throughout the world. The temple is an amazingly peaceful place where one can leave "the world" for a brief moment and ponder the things of the Spirit, to walk where Jesus walked, and to commune with our Father in Heaven.

 

In July, Justin went on a mini "temple tour" with soon-to-be departing missionaries Mitchel Morris and Collin Gingrich as well as recently returned missionary Kedrick Morris. 

 

 

 

 

They attended the San Diego and Newport Beach  temples in the same day. You can see that work was being performed on the San Diego temple when they were there.

 

 

President Gordon B. Hinckley said of temples:

"The teachings set forth in modern temples give powerful emphasis to this most fundamental concept of our duty to our Maker and to our neighbors. Sacred ordinances amplify this ennobling philosophy of the family of God. They teach that the spirit within each of us is eternal, in contrast with the body, which is mortal. They not only give understanding of these great truths but also motivate the participant to love of God and encourage him to demonstrate a greater neighborliness toward others of our Father's children."

Temple worship is a great way to help prepare a young man spiritually to serve a mission for the Lord and I was pleased to see that Justin took every opportunity to be in the temple while awaiting his departure.  We planned to attend the temple with his Peacock grandparents while we were in Utah in the days before he entered the MTC.  On the spur of the moment we decided  to go to Salt Lake City rather than one of the nearer temples.

 

The Salt Lake City temple is special because it is the most well known and often seen as an “icon” of our Church.  It is also where the President of the Church and the Apostles most often worship and receive instruction from the Lord.  It is a pioneer temple.  Although not the earliest temple constructed or opened during this dispensation, it is definitely special.  Visitors come from around the world to visit Temple Square.

 

 

At the last minute we found out that Aunt Susan and Uncle Jeff Madsen (on the far left above) were in the process of driving down with their kids from Idaho to see Justin off to the MTC.  We were so excited to see them!  As we were planning to visit the temple in the morning, we hoped that they would be able to join us, but they had not brought church clothes with them.  Susan’s dilemma was easily solved by shopping in her sister Michelle’s closet (Michelle is on the far right above), but Uncle Jeff got to borrow from Uncle Dave (Michelle’s husband).  Uncle Dave is 6’4”.  Uncle Jeff is…well, not 6’4”.  The shoes were not going to work, so he borrowed from nephew Zack (age 13).  He looks pretty good here, duct tape is wonderful.

The angel Moroni stands atop the temple, as he does on nearly all of the temples, heralding the gospel going forth “to every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people” (Rev. 14:6).  Justin will now have the opportunity to dedicate the next two years toward doing just that.  We’ve been grateful for the chance to increase our temple attendance as Justin made this important next step in his spiritual progression.