Bountiful Temple Dedication

When I was 8 years old, my parents told me I was going to be able to miss a day of school.

This might sound a little crazy, but I wasn't initially excited. I loved school - loved learning, loved being with my friends - so time away wasn't what I craved. But looking back, I am very grateful my parents made that choice.

The reason they pulled me out of school for the day was so we could attend a broadcast of the dedication of the Bountiful Temple.

Before any Mormon temple is dedicated, there is an open house where anyone can come walk through the building. As a family, we had gone to the open house, and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my young life. I remember putting the white foot covers over my church shoes and following a long line of people up staircases. I remember the beauty of every part of that building. There were beautiful paintings on the walls, and chandeliers hanging from the ceilings in several rooms. I remember stopping and starring into two mirrors placed opposite each other in the sealing room - in the mirror I could see myself reflected forever between those two mirrors.

Years later I was back in one of those sealing rooms with my brother and soon to be sister-in-law as they were sealed together for time and all eternity. The moment was made even more poignant when my grandma Miller leaned over and told me that she had crocheted the covering on the alter all those years ago when the temple was first dedicated. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I see it as an indication from our Heavenly Father that He knows us - was honoring the service my grandmother gave in creating that beautiful covering and the worthiness and dedication of my brother and his wife for the choices they made that lead them to that sacred place.

For the dedication, my parents and I sat through the beautiful ceremony, and my mother had prepared a white handkerchief for the hosanna shout at the end of the dedication. Tears flowed down my cheeks out of gratitude for being part of such an incredible experience and in recognition of the love and outpouring of God's Spirit that was present.

Throughout the years, the Bountiful temple has held a special place in my heart. While in the Young Women's program, we all got to choose a temple to have a title version created - and I choose the Bountiful Temple (it still hangs in my room to this day)

 

 

And when I choose to receive my endowment while living in Washington, D.C. I made arrangements to fly back to Utah and receive that sacred ordinance in the beloved Bountiful Temple.

My parents bought me a glass cube with an etching of the Bountiful Temple to commemorate receiving my endowments - and it sits on my shelf under the tile frame:

While I have attended many other temples, and several many more times than the Bountiful Temple, it will always hold a special place in my heart.