Today was the Ogden Temple rededication. I love to feel the sweet spirit of being in a temple dedication and hearing the wonderful messages. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland told a wonderful story about how powerful the temple can be, even when you're not inside. He was serving as a mission president in London at the time his son was to receive his endowment. The local temple was closed, and so his wife and son returned to St. George, Utah to have him receive his endowment.
Elder Holland said that he had given some family home evening lessons about preparing to enter the temple, but his wife had spent every day for the past 19 years preparing him to enter the house of the Lord. He had no question that his wife should be the one to go with him. During the time that they were in the temple in St. George, those are Holland sat down with his scriptures and had a very sacred experience reflecting on messages from the temple, and reading his scriptures. Even though he was not physically in the temple, he said this was one of his most sacred experiences involving the temple. He more fully understood the power of a proxy.
He taught that we need to always have the Spirit of the temple in our hearts. Even when we are physically away from the temple, we can have very sacred spiritual experiences. Our hearts should never be far from the temple.
This talk of spiritual meditation and scripture study has encouraged me to rededicate myself to having powerful scripture study and reflection.
