Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Working in the Albuquerque Temple


As mentioned in earlier posts, I now work Wednesday evenings in the Albuquerque LDS temple, pictured here from the front (left, facing Eubank Blvd.), and from the back (right, where the main entrance is located). It is not large as some temples go, but it is large compared to most of the temples being built currently, as it has two stand-alone ordinance rooms, three sealing rooms, two initiatory stations for both the brothers and the sisters, a chapel, a decent-sized baptistry, a laundry, and a cafeteria. I've come to enjoy very much my service in the temple, especially now that I've learned the basic ordinances and thus far have officiated a couple of endowment sessions. I've even memorized the initiatory ordinances in Spanish, although I may not ever have occasion to administer them on Wednesdays; however, one of the two monthly Spanish endowment sessions takes place every fourth Wednesday evening, and I look forward to helping out there.

Why do I enjoy serving in the temple? I think there are several reasons. One, the temple is a very peaceful, spiritual place, and I simply like to be there. Two, my service has a very definite start time and ending time every week, and I don't have to agonize over what I'm not doing when I'm not there. And three, in the temple we're all pretty much equal once we pass the recommend desk; after that, there's almost nothing else that denotes or connotes relative "worthiness" among members, unlike Sunday worship and one's other interactions with the members of his ward. It's sad to say, but if I could work two shifts in the temple every week in exchange for taking a pass on Sunday meetings, I'd consider it a bargain!