The Gift of Temple Service

October 6, 2017 would have been my Grandpa Merlon's 100th birthday. Grandpa died in 1989 at the age of 72. I was 5 when he died, so I only have a few memories of him. What I do have, however, are many aunts, uncles, and cousins who exemplify the values that he lived and taught. What I do have are many, many memories of my wonderful grandma, and I know the love that she had for her family and the gospel. So, in a way, I also know my grandpa. I know him by his example that I now see in his posterity.

Uncle Virgil wanted to find a way to honor and remember Grandpa on his 100th birthday, so he suggested the idea of having the week of his birthday (Oct. 3-7) dedicated by the entire Christensen family to serving in the temple. What a perfect gift to give to Grandpa! During the family reunion this summer, we had a birthday party for Grandpa that included a special fireside talking about this week of temple service. We wanted to get everyone excited and prepared for the week.

When the week finally arrived, it was more wonderful than I could have ever believed. Facebook was filled with pictures of family members all over the U.S. at the temple. There was truly a spirit of camaraderie and love. I felt very connected with my family and with Grandpa.

Jonathon was away at a conference during the Temple Week. That made things particularly tricky for me. I knew I wanted to get my children involved by taking them to the grounds of the temple, so I loaded them all up in the car and headed over to the Provo City Center Temple. We took a book about my Grandpa, and I read it to them while we sat on the temple steps. I would like to say that everything was perfect and they had a spiritual experience, but there was definitely some fighting and some whining. I tried not to let that distract though. I took pictures of the boys at the temple, and then we loaded in the car again and headed up to the Provo Temple. As we were driving over, I had the most amazing sense of peace as I realized that these Last Days may be hard and trying, but they are also full of blessings, like having two temples in one city. At the Provo temple, we finished the book about my grandparents and walked around the grounds, enjoying the beauty.

Later that week, Jonathon's mom babysat the boys while I attended an endowment session in the Provo City Center temple. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to join the birthday celebration for my grandpa. After the week was over, everyone recorded all of the ordinances and experiences that they had at the temple. All of the numbers were put into a google doc, and 1,578 ordinances and experiences were recorded by our family over the course of the five days. It was a life-changing experience for many people, and I will never ever forget it.

A few days later, Uncle Virgil called and asked if I would be willing to compile all of the pictures and experiences into a book about the event. I was honored that he would trust me to write up something so special and readily agreed. I had a lot of other things going on, but I knew that these sacred experiences would be of lifelong importance, and I needed to do it. It took me several weeks to complete, but last week, I finally finished the book. I feel so privileged that I got to be part of it. I have provided the link here for any family or friends who want to read it. It is 36 pages long, but it is a pretty quick read. What a blessing it is to be part of a family that loves the gospel and honors their temple covenants.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HdixKKBdTnglNlUnIVLk2nZMHiioJ3De/view?usp=sharing