While temples have always been a part of my life growing up in the gospel, and for the last 9 years living very close to a temple, its been interesting to note how much i really never knew about temples. I still don't fully understand or really know yet what goes on in temples, but from a few experiences and the last couple of months, I've come to a whole new understanding about temples. first experience was when i was about 10 years old and we had just moved to little old Enterprise, Utah. My dear little sister drowned shortly after we had moved from Reno and settled into E-town. We spent an excruciating 11 days in the Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. I remember one morning it was probably about 4 or 5 in the morning, we left Sierra's room where we had been sitting for hours on end and i followed my mom down a hallway in the hospital. When we reached the end of the hallway we just stared silently out this medium sized window that had a beautiful view of the Salt Lake Temple, it was still early in the morning and it was dark out so the Temple was all lit up and just looked absolutely breathtaking. That moment was probably the first time i had felt such peace since we had arrived at the hospital. I didn't realize it at the time, but thinking back on that experience now, I have had this incredible love and pull towards the Salt Lake Temple and i cant imagine being married anywhere else in the world. It was interesting to me to think that just looking at the temple while going through a particularity rough time in my life, that it could provide such comfort in such a simple way. A more recent experience i had with temples would be after graduation when everything was changing so fast and so much i was scared out of my mind and just so nervous, and i just got to the point where i felt like i couldn't deal with what life was throwing at me. I was finding myself anxious all the time about every little thing, which made me sick and even more scared about everything that was going on. I was working in St. George but I worked short hours so i had a ton of time in the day with nothing really to do. I was living in a house very close to the St. George temple so i started going every morning and doing Baptisms for the dead. The peace and comfort i felt while at the temple, even though it was only momentary, helped me to cope so much better with the rough situation i was going through. Everyday i went i was having all sorts of wonderful spiritual experiences. The temple had become my safe haven. It was one of the few places i could go to feel relief and that everything was going to be okay. I had this new found love and appreciation for temples and the peace and comfort that they can provide. I felt this sense of relief even just sitting outside on the temple grounds, i didn't have to be inside to feel the power that temples provide. In my opinion, from my own personal experiences, Temples really are a piece of heaven and a tender mercy from the lord to help us cope with difficult times.
