Home Sweet Home

Last night I attended the St. George temple with my parents, sister, and friends for ward temple night. The St. George Temple has always been a favorite of mine. I love old-fashioned things, and have always adored the castle-like look and ornate decor of the oldest temples. Although I had attended the St. George temple to perform baptisms and to witness a sealing, I had never actually gone through a session there before, as my stake is assigned to the Las Vegas temple.  However, the Las Vegas Temple was closed for maintenance, so my ward went to the St. George temple instead.

As usual, I was struck by the beauty, both inside and out, of the St. George Temple. However, I spent the whole time longing for the Las Vegas Temple, for its familiar rooms and passageways. Although I love the St. George temple, the Las Vegas Temple certainly holds the fonder place in my heart. I guess it will always be Home Sweet Home to me.

Last night as I was pondering my strong preference for the Las Vegas temple, I remembered an experience I had during the Las Vegas temple open house when I was 15.  My sister and I decided to volunteer as guides to help direct visitors through the temple. I remember standing outside the temple practically bursting with anticipation as I wondered where we'd be assigned-to the locker room, or the cafeteria, or a sealing room or maybe an endowment room? Well, by some miracle we were assigned to the most coveted location of all, the Celestial Room. Serving in the temple that day was a truly amazing and beautiful experience. I felt the spirit of that sacred room and enjoyed seeing people of all cultures and nationalities passing through it. It was a day I will always remember.

A few weeks later, my parents decided to volunteer at the open house and of course I joined them. As we were checking in my mom mentioned to the person in charge, "Now she's not 16 yet, just 15 1/2. Is she old enough to work inside?"

Let's just say I wanted to kill my mom, especially since the answer was no, I was not. Instead of being able to serve inside the temple that day, I was relegated to helping visitors put on shoe coverings in the parking lot. And to supreme embarassment, I started crying which was definitely not cool for a 15-year-old girl. I ended up having an okay experience serving in that capacity, but it certainly couldn't compare with the one I had experienced earlier in the Celestial Room.

I realized that day the importance of always being worthy to go inside the temple and of just how awful it would be to be kept outside because of unworthiness. Even though my inability to serve inside the temple had nothing to do with choices, and everything to do with age, I still saw an awful glimpse of what it would be like to be kept out of the temple or the Celestial Kingdom because of sin. It was an absolutely horrible feeling. That day I vowed to always be worthy to enter the house of the Lord and that decision has guided my choices ever since. My experience that day is one of the prime reasons for my preference for the Las Vegas Temple and why it still holds a special place in my heart.