Monday, May 24, 2010

Temple


Lucky me. I got to be in Arizona for this the Gila Valley Temple dedication. Since they opened the local chapels to the dedication yesterday I got to listen in. It was such a privilege.


What really drove it home for me was that night when I was doing genealogy work. My dad pulled out some family history stories. The one I read was the story of a lady who settled Australia. She was a true pioneer. She closes her history saying this.

"The arrival of the fortnightly mail always brought the longing for the home folks left behind....I had always looked forward to the time when we should come away from the bush, and letters to and from ones family would not be so vital, but that time has never come in my life, for though I have come down to more civilised country (she moved to Brisbane towards the end of her life) the old folk, alas, have passed on, and the young ones have their homes as far away as I was, an so it goes on. I am still away from it all, but I am still living at the beginning of things."

Because of temples like the Gila Valley, my ancestors get to have eternal families even though that was not available to them in there life. I am glad that and thankful that this lady will get to be with her family forever.