Yesterday was Saturday morning and time for my weekly engineering shift. I arrive before dawn, change into my whites and walk the temple, waking up and checking the various systems behind the scenes. Not being an ordinance worker, I don’t attend the morning prayer meeting and devotional and usually time my rounds to avoid the chapels during these meetings. I decide then, however, to follow though on a new commitment to be more social and sociable, and take the time. Besides, it has been a difficult weekend and I need the spiritual quiet and reflection.
The topic is the the baptismal font, and how we (yes I know I’m not an ordinance worker, but I’m feeling very inclusive) ordinance workers can make the temple a more positive and inviting experience for the patrons. As we discuss the temple encounter and follow the experience of a special needs child through the proxy baptism ceremony, I reflected on my own grandchildren. The thought came to me softly and sweetly that a crucial way to help my grandchildren cling to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is to bring them to the temple.
There is power in the temple. We can testify to our children and grandchildren; teach, lead, expound, cajole, discipline and instruct. Our goal is to help them feel and follow the spirit. The most effective way I know to do that is to bring them to the temple. This does not replace the a fore mentioned strategies, but culminates them. When it comes to feeling the spirit, I am probably one of the most hard-hearted people ever to infest this planet. A room can be filled with the spirit and I am clueless. The one place I can go, however, to feel His presence is the temple. I have written about temple experiences in other essays here, and this Saturday adds to the repertoire. As I sat in the calm of that prayer meeting, I felt His plea, to help His children, my grandchildren, feel his spirit by bringing them to His house. The home court advantage is overwhelming.
Latter-Day Saints 