The temple is a beautiful place of peace and prayer. I desperately love being inside LDS temples. From the moment we walk in until the moment we leave the building, all conversation, if any is needed, is communicated in reverent whisper. Often, I notice that I continue in that sweet spirit of peace for hours afterwards. I agree with the official statements made by the LDS Church about the temple, that everything therein points to or symbolizes Jesus Christ in some way or another. That's been my personal experience. For me, to say that the several temples are really "the house of the Lord" is a perfect way of describing both what they are and how I feel when I'm there.
Last Saturday, on March 7, Jess, the kids, and I went to the open house for the Draper Utah Temple. Although Jessica and I have been in many temples and experienced the ordinances of the temple countless times, I can't remember feeling as much joy ever before as I felt last Saturday because our kids were with us this time. I realized that what I want more than anything else in the world is for our kids to be close to and know our Savior Jesus Christ - to be clean, and worthy to enter one of His holy temples and make commitments to Him there. That, for me, was one of the clearest signs to me that I really deeply know that the ordinances of the temple are valid and real. I wouldn't want something so desperately for my children if it weren't right.
I'm not sure as to what degree of fairness or correctness that HBO will show the temple ceremonies today, but it doesn't really matter. As a staged media portrayal it will necessarily be taken out of context, and thus will be devoid of what really makes the ordinances special for us to begin with. In the temple, it's not what we do that exactly is important. Rather it is the spirit that we feel, the uncommunicated intelligence that we receive through inspiration. It's very similar (if not identical) to reading the Bible or other scriptures for that matter. The text of the scriptures is intrinsically inspiring, as are the ordinances and explicit elements of temple worship. But in both cases its the latent meaning that is most personal and moving.
Nothing in the ordinances' explicit text, for example, could have communicated so clearly to me yesterday the personally tailored message that I needed to hear as direction for our upcoming decisions. Yesterday Jessica and I participated with about 50 others from our ward in performing temple ordinances in behalf of deceased family members. As I participated in the ceremony, I listened for the personal message I was seeking. "Wait on the Lord," from Psalms 37:34, was the message that I was needing and received. "The Lord shall help them and deliver them ... because they trust him." (Psalms 37:40) That is the context surrounding the ceremonies which bears me up personally. That is what any media portrayal of the Mormon temple ordinances will necessarily be lacking.
Over the Christmas break from school in December of 2007, I collected a number of images, testimonies, and songs about Christ and assembled them into a short 15-minute video. I'll try to embed that here, but if it doesn't work you can see it on my Facebook profile. I include it here because I think that it at least begins to communicate the mood and spirit I feel in Mormon temples. Also, check out the Church's YouTube video, Why Mormons Build Temples at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x_-TQivCx8.
Mark, thanks for taking time to express these feelings. I share the same sentiment, only could never express it as profoundly as you just did. I love reading what you write and learning from your example. Jimmy
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