I really love this Facebook post that Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf made about temples and those temples that are closed. He said:
"During my trip, I received many inquiries regarding when the temples in Paris and Frankfurt would open. Certainly, the Lord is pleased when we want to enter His holy home and receive sacred ordinances for our families and ourselves. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if instead of being so concerned about when a temple would be completed, perhaps we would make better use of our time to spiritually prepare to be worthy to enter these temples at any time—regardless of their availability date."
Having lived in Utah, we are blessed immensely with temples. As of April 2018, there are 19 temples operating, under construction, or announced in Utah. I know that the Salt Lake Valley is the only valley to have 4 temples in it. It's crazy! I know there are a lot of people out there who aren't near a temple, maybe they're miles or hours or days away or maybe.... they don't even have a temple. I have definitely taken for granted going to the temple in Utah. I knew that one would always be open if others are closed. I could always go to the temple, at any time-day, night, week, weekend, hour... anything. So, I often don't go.
The Jordan River Temple holds a special place in my heart. It was closed for over two years. I was so anxious for it to be open again! It's been the assigned temple in every ward I've been in. I love it there so much! I received my endowment there, my parents were sealed there, my husband received his endowment there, it was the first temple I ever went inside of to do work for the dead... there's just a lot of meaning to it for me and now it looks different! I was excited to see this long-overdue construction end!
Back to what President Uchtdorf said, I think he makes a really strong point. It is so important for us not to lose focus on the meaning of the temple. The influence of the temple in our lives can be really strong and we need to work on that continually. Whether we have 19 temples, 1 temple, a temple that is 5 or 6 hours away or days away, we should ALWAYS be working and studying and praying to be more righteous and worthy so that we may enter the House of the Lord anywhere and at any time. We cannot lose focus on the true meaning of going to the temple.
I encourage you to find a time to go to the temple yourself. I've had people make not so nice comments because sometimes I choose to go to the temple by myself - aka, without my husband. That's OKAY. There is nothing wrong with spending alone time in the temple, or going with your friends. You made covenants with the Lord too, spend some time with him in his house. You won't regret it.
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