Thursday, August 6, 2015

Temples and Tongues



My first visit to the Madrid, Spain temple was the culmination of three temple experiences with four different languages in the same week!  This is a special part of the Europe experience.

  • It started on Saturday, July 25, after dropping Debbie off at the airport to return to Utah.  I was able to do some initiatory work in the Frankfurt Temple for some of our "family names".  There were two temple officiators, one who did not speak English.  So they alternated the washings and anointings in English and German.
  • The next Tuesday evening, was the weekly temple night at the Frankfurt temple with the other senior missionaries.  I was able to participate in an English session in a German temple.
  • Finally, on Thursday morning, while in Madrid, Spain (more about that later) I was able to go through a temple session that was held in Spanish.  I used headsets to facilitate my experience in English and then went through the veil using my Portuguese.  This is a temple that accommodates various different languages for members from several countries.
Although multiple languages were involved in these wonderful experiences, the most important language was present in each of the situations, that of the Holy Ghost.   I love being in any of the temples, for while I am doing work for my ancestors and their families, I feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost and receive guidance and strength in my own life.