I love to see the Temple!

Last year I was able to have the best Christmas present one could ever ask for. A trip inside the house of the Lord! I was able to go to the Bountiful Utah Temple last year for the first time. It was amazing. I could not ask for a better Christmas gift. You might be asking yourself, "Why is the temple such an amazing gift?" Even if you are not asking yourself that, let me tell you why I thought it was the best gift ever.

I am from Utah. I drive on I-15 (the main interstate in Utah) pretty often. As I drive on the freeway I see many temples but the one that stands out to me the most is the Bountiful Temple. I am drawn to it every time. So when the mission came around, I decided that I wanted to go to that temple first. That day was December 23 2010.

I was really excited to enter the house of the Lord that day. When I went inside, I had a wonderful feeling come over me. A feeling that is really hard to explain. But it was a feeling I wanted to have forever. That feeling is the Spirit of God. The Spirit confirmed to me at that moment that what I was doing was the right thing for me to do.

The gift that I received on that day was a gift from God. I, just like many members of the church, was endowed with, or given, power and knowledge from on high. The power helps us in our everyday lives and enables us to build Gods kingdom. (Preach My Gospel pg 86) I don't think there is a better gift than that, power from on high. 

After one is baptized by the priesthood authority, they can attend the temple. In the temple, Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints perform the saving ordinances in behalf of their deceased ancestors and others (Preach my Gospel pg 86)

I know that the temple truly is the House of the Lord. I am so grateful for the temples around the world. I am so grateful that I was able to attend that beautiful building in Bountiful Utah. I know that if you want to feel the Spirit of the Lord, the temple is one of the best places. That I know to be true.

For more information on the LDS temples, Visit http://www.lds.org/ and search temples.

Baptism by Water

As missionaries we are called to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We are called to invite. Our mission president told us that our purpose is to baptize. I have been working really hard to complete my purpose.

One day I met a guy named Jake. He is a wonderful guy from Australia. Well we were working with Jake for a long time. My companion and I invited him to be baptized many times but he had things he had to work on so it took him much longer than expected to be baptized. But Jake progressed, he came to church, he read out of the Book of Mormon and he prayed to God to know if it was true. Well his answer came. He stopped what he was doing that was keeping him back from being baptized and had a desire to be baptized. In our next lesson we set a baptismal date and he made the steps to be baptized. Mid December, Jake was baptized. Right after his baptism, he told us that his next goal was to be sealed with his family forever in the temple. I have never been happier. I know that he is a happy man too. I know that he will be able to be with his family forever because of his decision to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. I am grateful for the priesthood on the earth and I am happy that God answers prayers.