The Gilbert Temple

During our trip to Arizona, we were blessed with the chance to take our children through the Gilbert Temple Open House.  I love the opportunity to teach our kids about things that are sacred and so very important to us.

Like much of the trip, things didn’t go exactly as planned.  The boys (who were a bit grumpy that morning) started to get impatient while we waited in line outside to get in to the temple.  It wasn’t even a very long wait, but one thing led to another and pretty soon our oldest two boys (I won’t mention names) were duking it out right there in line.  As it escalated, pretty soon we were the main attraction in the parking lot with hundreds of people watching the show.  As I inwardly sighed and fought to maintain my patience, a guardian angel showed up.  He was one of the Ushers for our group, and was a gentleman who was obviously experienced with children.  Within minutes he knew all of our kids’ names and was working to help cheer everyone up.  We finally got the boys calmed down just in time to head inside the temple, and our Usher stayed with us through the whole building, quietly teaching the boys about the different rooms and gently redirecting them when they started to stray, calling them each by name the whole time. 

The amazing thing was that he managed to pull the whole thing off without making me feel judged or embarrassed the whole time.  I didn’t feel like he was thinking we couldn’t manage our own children or wondering why we didn’t just take the rowdy ones to the car.  I never detected even the slightest hint of him feeling superior to us frazzled  young parents.  He just truly wanted to help and managed to do all the right things and cared for the kids in a way that kept them calm.  He was our Good Samaritan for the day.

All of the boys came out feeling an increased reverence for the temple and at least a small appreciation of why Glenn and I feel so strongly about making time to go there together.  I came out feeling gratitude for Heavenly Father and for our Usher, without whom I’m not sure we would have made it through the open house.  I also felt an increased commitment to go to the temple to feel the peace and experience the quiet opportunities for inspiration and guidance from the Lord.  Suddenly, the little troubles we had on the trip were all worth it.  I love the temple! 

You can see that the kids shed their grumpy moods somewhere between the entrance to the temple and the exit, and were little bundles of joy as we walked around the temple grounds afterward.  I hope that these are the memories of our trip to the temple that will last!

I’m grateful for the blessings of the temple and the assurance that we can be with our family after this life.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend eternity with these cute faces!  I sure love these kids, and  I loved our visit to the temple.