Dear All -
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we participated in the Temple Leadership Seminar. All the sessions Tuesday and Wednesday were recorded, which allowed us to participate with some flexibility. There was enough material, though, that that meant viewing sessions for over 7 hours each day. One of the sealing rooms in the temple was set up for viewing the sessions, which was an unusual experience. We received messages from the First Presidency of the Church, as well as from several of the apostles and general organization presidencies. We had some symptoms of trying to drink from a fire hose, but I think the sessions did inspire us to have a more careful view of the temple, its ordinances, covenants, and procedures. Thursday morning was a live-streamed question and answer session with Elder Bednar, Elder Gong, and several leaders from the Temple Committee. The answers given were very practical and useful, and hopefully will guide us in our service. The theme that was repeated time and again is that everything in the temple should bring the workers and the members closer to Christ, and that we should avoid anything that interferes with that goal. All was at the same time very inspirational and very humbling. We certainly feel like we have been given some huge challenges for our service over the next three years.
Thursday (once we finished the Q&A) was our first day of service as a temple presidency. President Garcia and his wife have served in multiple temple presidencies before, so they were somewhat familiar with the day-to-day issues of getting going. Sister Rodriguez had cataract surgery Thursday morning, so they were unable to participate in most things. Delkys and I were content to observe and learn Thursday, but on Friday and Saturday President Garcia put us in charge of one shift each day. This included things like providing instruction in the training meetings, giving instruction to several members attending the temple for the first time, and generally attending to the smooth operation of the temple. There were definitely a few hiccups along the way, but we survived the whole experience with a minimum of catastrophes and major trauma. Although we were exhausted by the end of each day, it was an exhilarating experience. We opened the temple each morning, then Thursday and Friday we had late endowment sessions, so we ended up getting home after 8:00, so sleeping in this morning was a real luxury.
Well, relatively sleeping in. There was a meeting today for all stake presidents run by an Area Authority Seventy, and the temple and mission presidents were asked to attend. However, there was also a stake conference in San Miguelito which had invited speakers from the temple and mission presidencies. So Delkys and I attended the stake conference and spoke as representatives of the temple presidency. Delkys was baptized into the San Miguelito Branch, so there has been a significant growth in the church since then. Interestingly, the ward that now meets where her branch once met is no longer part of the San Miguelito Stake, but there were plenty of members at the conference that recognized her from 40+ years ago. It was an exciting and humbling experience to speak there. I realized that I have never spoken in a stake conference before, so it was rather amazing to be introduced as a visiting authority. It was also very rewarding to see a vibrant stake where once there were only a few scattered members. Of course, there were also a number of temple workers among the congregation, so it was fun to greet them.
As President and Sister Smith, the out-going temple president and matron, were leaving they assured us that our service would be a wonderful experience. After three days I can already attest to the truthfulness of that statement. We have witnessed several cases already where the Lord intervened to keep things running smoothly even when we had missed some details. The outpouring of support from the temple workers is at once hugely reassuring and humbling. I remind myself over and over that where I see the same person I have always been, they see a counsellor in the temple presidency. It is a challenge to live up to the expectations that people - and the Lord - have for us, but we also feel the Lord's love, support, and strength as we do our best to do so. Yesterday after telling the workers in training meeting how much we appreciate them and their service I paused for a moment, then said something to the effect of "I have heard temple presidencies express such appreciation hundreds of times over the years, but I now understand much more clearly why they always feel compelled to express it!" As much as I have loved temple service over the years, after this week I see it with new eyes.
It has been quite a week. We have some 147 more to go (not counting maintenance shut-downs). We love and miss all of you, but greatly appreciate your love and support. May the Lord bless and keep you all!
Love,
President and Sister Reading
aka
John and Delkys
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