An Eternity of Experiments

Hey there!

So, outside of finding a piano (now making our house classier by at least ten-fold), learning that MERS has hit our area, hanging out with my recent convert Sean, and looking forward to having interviews/spending an evening with President this coming Tuesday...

I also had the opportunity to go to the temple this week! It's usually a wonderful experience, but this week was especially powerful. Elder Miller and I fasted and prayed for specific understandings of various things - as well as blessings for loved ones back home before we got there. ..So, stomachs growling and eyes heavy, we participated and finished our work in the temple when we then got to search our hearts and minds for answers in the "Celestial Room" of the temple. ...If you don't know what a "Celestial Room" might entail, just imagine the most beautiful, peaceful place you've ever been -- take out all the noise and distractions, add a hint of feeling absolute peace~ and you're there.

When members of the church (or missionaries) are troubled, or when crucial decisions seem to weigh rather heavily upon our minds and shoulders, we often go to the temple. It's a good place for us to take our cares. In the temple we receive a spiritual perspective. Sometimes our minds are so carried away with problems, and there are so many things in our head shouting and clamoring for our attention all at once that no matter how hard we try, we just can't seem to think or see straight. As we enter through the doors of the temple, we leave behind us the distractions and confusion of the world. Inside this sacred sanctuary, we find beauty and order. There is rest for our souls and a respite from the cares of our lives. At the temple, that dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can "see" things that we weren't able to see before. It makes it much easier to find a way through our troubles that we may have missed or not previously known. It's strange, but serene. As we attend the temple we come to find a dimension of spirituality and a feeling of peace which transcends any other feeling that you'd ever imagine coming into the human heart. Such peace can breach any heart -- hearts that are troubled, hearts that are burdened down with grief, hearts that feel confusion, hearts that plead for help.

Celestial Room in Vancouver British Columbia Temple

My most favorite part of being inside the temple is looking into what I like to call "eternal perspective". In the Seoul, Korea temple, just off to the side of the before-mentioned Celestial Room, are two mirrors on opposing walls. Each with symmetrical crystal sconces and a beautiful crystal chandelier hanging in-between-- the mirrors create an "eternity", as looking into the reflection of another reflection creates and infinite and endless universe betwixt mirrors. ..For whatever reason, the idea of eternity, or something being "infinite" fascinates me. How can something simply be endless?? Mind blowing. So -- usually, I go straight there, to ponder on words or thoughts, or to set my mind at ease as I battle conflicts in my heart. ..But this past week, I decided I'd wait to see it. I lingered in the main room for a long time, marveling at the larger crystal chandelier, and how each delicate piece shined and sparkled at different intervals, some brighter than others at times, though all necessary to complete such a beautiful piece of art. ..Then I looked at the flowers (which I've really come to love over the past year or so) and thought about how incredible of an artist our Heavenly Father must be to have designed such inexpressibly intricate things with so many various forms and functions. ..As I pondered countless thoughts, I began to be carried away in my head -- searching for meaningless answers to spontaneous questions, and found myself in the room to the side- once again - to find some peace in it all. ..And it blew my mind.

Celestial Room in Vancouver British Columbia Temple

For whatever reason, this time -- this 'eternal perspective' applied to me. I saw, in those two 'infinite' mirrors, an endless reflection of beautiful crystal chandeliers going in either direction. ..As I pondered for just a moment about how someone could make something so beautiful last forever, I thought to myself.. "Hey now.. God made ME too!"

Haha, though I may not be anywhere near as beautiful as this crystal chandelier was, I, as well as my decisions, will extend far beyond this life -- and into the eternities. With each action that is made, I find myself in a different mirror. Maybe in this one my hair isn't as long, or in that one I have a certain 'light' in my eyes, but overall I'm the same person, the same creation, in each one. I'm the same being in each mirror - in every circumstance- and my Heavenly Father has given me the opportunity to continue to be ME for the rest of my life. No matter the mistakes I make, or what other things may appear in that mirror beside me, I am always there. He will always keep me in His eternal perspective, and will always see me in ways that others may not. Oft times in life our biggest challenge is that we oppose ourselves. We don't see ourselves as our Heavenly Father sees us -- as who we really are. We single out our weaknesses, changes, flaws. ..We focus on that scar or blemish instead of the full, entirety of the capable mind and or body that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with.

Each of us are sons and daughters of God, with His divine nature and divine potential woven into the very fabric of our souls. And His divine aid can be ours every hour of every day, no matter where we are on the path of obedience. In our lives we will have temptations; we will have trials and challenges. As we go to the temple, and as we remember the covenants (promises) we make there, we will be better able to overcome those temptations and to better bear our trials. In the temple we can find peace. Your Heavenly Father loves you. Pray, He is there. Speak, He is listening. You are His child.

Have a wonderful week, 

All the love!

Elder DeMille!!