Temples

Tomorrow night I will meet with the "Achievement Days" girls--they are ages 8-11, and my own daughter Kara is included in the group. She's ten.

We'll be talking about temples this time. Usually we do activities that center around some gospel principle, living our lives more like Jesus Christ, developing talents, or learning new skills. We usually have some activity or craft at the end. The girls love to create things and give gifts to their parents or other family members!

Temples. I love the temple. I love being able to go and shut out the noise of the world for just a short time, to experience and enjoy the peace there. It is the house of the Lord.

In the temple I can remember better why I am here in mortality. I am here to learn, and to try to ease the burdens, just a little, of others around me. I have family members and friends close by. Even those I come in contact with that I do not know, carry unseen burdens. Everyone has a story.

Heavenly Father can give us strength to carry our own burdens, and we can find joy through losing ourselves in the service of others.

That was a tangent. I get to talk to the girls tomorrow about temples. We make covenants with our Heavenly Father in the temple, promising that we will try to live like him. We commit our time and our talents to further the work of the Lord here on earth.

Temples are about families. Families can be sealed together, not just for the time during this life, but for eternity. We believe that families are eternal.

My dad is no longer with us. He died of cancer 2 years ago. But with the knowledge that death is not "the end," I have the hope and assurance that I will see him again after I die. That has been very comforting to me during down times, when I miss him so much and wish he were still here.