Focus On The Temple

This week in Dallas has been an incredible experience. Katherine was part of the National High School Women's Honor Choir at the ACDA Conference (American Choral Directors' Association) She spent 3 full days in rehearsal (sun-up to sun-down and then some more). There were 300 members of her choir from all over the USA (3,427 auditioned). The rehearsals and final performances were at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Dallas. As a chaperone, my responsibility was to get Katherine to and from rehearsals (3 per day) and make sure she had a nutritious meal during breaks. 

There was very little for me to do during the rehearsal times so I got a lot (A LOT) of Seminary studying done and started reading a new book. Many times during the rehearsals, I was out walking or driving around town finding food for the next meal break. I was over-the-top happy to find Chipotle and a few other favorites. One evening, when I left Katherine for her next block of rehearsal time, I realized I had just enough time to go see the Dallas Temple. I entered the address in my GPS and headed 15 minutes north. I pulled in the parking lot and it felt like I had arrived at home. It was such a peaceful feeling

 Over the years, my parents have set the example for me to focus on the temple. Whenever they travel, they find the temple in that area and make time to attend a temple session. Sometimes, they center a trip around seeing a temple in another city and off they go. At one point, they had a goal to visit every operating LDS Temple in the world. When President Hinkley stepped up the pace of building more temples, this goal became a little more difficult, but they continue to visit as many new temples as possible.

I can remember when the Washington DC Temple was dedicated. We were living in Independence, Missouri at the time and my parents flew to the Washington DC to the temple dedication. It was a quick there and back trip, which always left an impression on me that temples are important. The fact that they would take such a quick trip just to be at the temple dedication and spend money to fly there always stood out in my mind. This was not something I had ever known them to do. They spent time and money on what was important and I have always been grateful for that example. They focused on the temple then and they continue to focus on the temple today.

As I walked around the grounds of the Dallas Temple, I was reminded of how important it is to focus on the temple. I could have decided not to visit the temple as I did not have time to attend a session, but  I did not let that stop me from experiencing the peace and joy I felt by just entering the parking lot and walking around for a few minutes.
Focusing on the temple is always the best use of time and energy. I have pondered this over and over in the past few days. So many areas in life are put in to proper perspective when the blessings of the temple are the center of our focus.
I felt the love of my Savior Jesus Christ as I spend time on the Dallas Temple grounds. I know I can feel this at any temple in the world as I focus on the temple.