QUIANA JONES AT THE WASHINGTON DC TEMPLE

 

Roland Huebner, Quiana Jones, & Pat Huebner outside the DC Temple

 

Today was a beautiful October day with the trees proudly showing off their brightly colored leaves in the nearby woods surrounding the Washington DC Temple in Kensington, Maryland. The distinctive smell of fall was in the air, and the weather was picture perfect for anyone who had reason to be outside. Being outside and having a camera as well, I took a number of pictures!

For full time missionaries there is an occasional day of service now and again that stands out as being very special, and today was one of those memorable times to be remembered. For the past few months Sister Lindsay and I have been teaching a series of temple preparation class lessons to Sister Quiana Jones who is a member of the Chesapeake Ward in order to prepare her to go to the House of the Lord for the first time.

Sister Jones' life has been closely entwined with those of our good Church friends, Roland and Pat Huebner since she was a young teenager here in Baltimore about fifteen years ago. The Huebners consider Quiana to be almost like another daughter in their family, having taught her the principles and ordinances of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as she matured into the wonderful adult woman that she is today. Like so many of us, Quiana is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has a vibrant testimony of the truthfulness of the Savior's mission as the Redeemer of mankind. Sister Jones is the third individual we have been able to take to the temple for the first time during our 14 months of missionary service in Baltimore.

So why is it important for Church members to prepare to go to the temple?

 

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve tells us "A temple differs from other houses of worship. Unlike chapels, the temple is closed on the Sabbath so that people can attend church and be with their families on that hallowed day. Temples are open for sacred work on other days of the week. A temple is literally the house of the Lord, reserved for ordinances of eternal significance. Those ordinances include baptisms, marriages, endowments, and sealings.

 

"Each temple is symbolic of our faith in God and an evidence of our faith in life after death. The temple is the object of every activity, every lesson, every progressive step in the Church. All of our efforts in proclaiming the gospel, perfecting the Saints, and redeeming the dead lead to the holy temple. Ordinances of the temple are absolutely crucial. We cannot return to God’s glory without them."

 

The ordinances performed in the temple are sacred. Each temple ordinance is not just a ritual to go through, it is an act of solemn promising between Heavenly Father and His children who live here on earth during mortality.

 

There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. (Doctrine & Covenants 130:20-21)