I Love To See The Temple.

Ok. So yeah. The temple is way pretty. 

That part is true.

And it makes me want to be better, just by driving by it.

That is also true. 

But, OH MY GOSH.

After being in the temple, simply "seeing" the outside, and "wanting to be better" when I drive by it will never be enough again.

Now that I have been inside, I refuse to be without it ever again.

There are 2 doors that allow you to enter in. 

My dad has this "rule" [that he definitely made up], that we have to exit the door we didn't come in through.

And we laugh about it every time, and make fun of him.

But today, as I was driving home, it somehow made sense to me.

Because no matter how well I think I am doing in this gospel and on this journey back to God, I exit the temple a different person. 

A better person. 

A person who loves Cole a little bit more than I did 2 hours before.

A person who understands her purpose here a little bit better.

I enter the temple as earthly Amanda Peterson, and I exit it as someone else.

You guys.

People always tell you that, "it's not of this world."

And that it's "sacred" and "different" and "celestial."

And you always think they're being symbolic.

But I physically leave the world at the door when I enter.

My cramps leave my body [TMI], my worries escape my mind, that stupid chris brown song stops repeating itself over and over in my head, and I feel complete peace. 

So, today I think I've finally started to understand how important the temple is to receiving revelation. Because of the peace that I felt. 

How can you receive revelation without peace?

And I am beginning to wrap my head around how important attending the temple is to my marriage. Because of the unconditional, eternal, SOMEHOW continuously growing love and adoration I feel for Cole Ryan Peterson when I am with him there. 

It is very hard for me to believe that a couple who attended the temple together regularly, could ever be at risk for divorce. Because nothing makes you forget "how often he leaves his socks on the ground" like seeing him at an eternal perspective in the closest place to Heaven there is on this Earth. 

So - and you can hold me to this- I am 100% positive that the key to a successful marriage is going to the temple…TOGETHER.

When I got married, the sealer asked my dad if he had any concerns about the man I was marrying. And my dad's response was: "I have no doubt that Cole Peterson is going to take my daughter to the Celestial Kingdom."

What else could you ask for in a spouse?

I am so incredibly grateful for a husband who is going to do just that. 

My words about this are really falling short compared to my feelings and knowledge about it. So I am going to leave you guys with a few words from men who are way smarter than me. 

"I urge our people everywhere, with all of the persuasiveness of which I am capable, to live worthy to hold a temple recommend, to secure one and regard it as a precious asset, and to make a greater effort to go to the House of the Lord and partake of the spirit and the blessings to be had therein."

—Gordon B. Hinckley

"Just as our Redeemer gave His life as a vicarious sacrifice for all men, and in so doing became our Savior, even so we, in a small measure, when we engage in proxy work in the temple, become as saviors to those on the other side."

—Gordon B. Hinckley

"I urge all who have not yet received these greatest of all blessings within the walls of the temple to do whatever may be necessary to qualify to receive them."

—James E. Faust

"When you come to the temple you will love your family with a deeper love than you have ever felt before. The temple is about families."

—Richard H. Winkel

"The temple is concerned with things of immortality. It is a bridge between this life and the next. All of the ordinances that take place in the house of the Lord are expressions of our belief in the immortality of the human soul."

—Gordon B. Hinckley

"As a result of the sacred ordinances performed in the holy house of God, no light need be permanently extinguished, no voice permanently stilled, no place in our heart permanently left vacant."

—Thomas S. Monson

"The temple is the house of the Lord. The basis for every temple ordinance and covenant…is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Every activity, every lesson, all we do in the Church, point to the Lord and His holy house."

—Russell M. Nelson

"Let us truly be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people….Let us make the temple, with temple worship and temple covenants and temple marriage, our ultimate earthly goal and the supreme mortal experience."

—Howard W. Hunter

"I know your lives are busy. I know that you have much to do. But I make you a promise that if you will go to the house of the Lord, you will be blessed; life will be better for you."

—Gordon B. Hinckley

"There, in the house of the Lord, you can learn what you need to know to be truly free. There, tucked away from turmoil and strife, is the chance to be totally unselfish—a rarity in today's world."

—Robert L. Simpson

"It is in the ordinances of the temple that we are placed under covenant to Him….[If] we will enter into our covenants without reservation or apology, the Lord will protect us. We will receive inspiration sufficient for the challenges of life."

—Boyd K. Packer

"Everything that occurs in the temple is uplifting and ennobling. It speaks of life here and life beyond the grave. It speaks of the importance of the individual as a child of God. It speaks of the importance of the family and the eternity of the marriage relationship."

—Gordon B. Hinckley

"I should not like to contemplate an existence, especially one that is going to continue forever, if I could not enjoy that existence with those whom I love. And so we build temples in the name of the Lord."

—Hugh B. Brown

"I promise you that, with increased attendance in the temples of our God, you shall receive increased personal revelation to bless your life as you bless those who have died."

—Ezra Taft Benson

"Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father."

—Brigham Young

"At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can 'see' things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known."

—Boyd K. Packer

"You are never lost when you can see the temple. The temple will provide direction for you and your family in a world filled with chaos. It is an eternal guidepost which will help you from getting lost in the 'mist of darkness.'"

—Gary E. Stevenson

"As we touch the temple and love the temple, our lives will reflect our faith. As we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation."

—Thomas S. Monson

"There exists a righteous unity between the temple and the home. Understanding the eternal nature of the temple will draw you to your family; understanding the eternal nature of the family will draw you to the temple."

—Gary E. Stevenson

"To those who have received these blessings, I invite you to prepare yourselves to savor again the experience of being within the sacred premises of the holy temples of God and have the visions of life eternal open again to your hearts, minds, and souls."

—James E. Faust

DO YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND HOW HUGE THIS IS?

Disciples and witnesses of our Father in Heaven, and His Son, are PROMISING us blessings if we attend the temple.

Can you even begin to comprehend the power of a promise given by men like these?

My husband is an extremely logical man.

Seriously. He is my complete opposite when it comes to reason and rational logic.

He makes pros and cons lists for juuuuust about everything. 

So, I am going to play off his logic, and list all the pros and cons the men above just wrote, about attending the temple.

PROS                                                                                                                                             CONS

You will be blessed.                                                                        It will take time out of your busy life.

You will feel the spirit.

You will act as a Savior for the other side.

You will love your family deeper.

You will experience the bridge between this life and the next.

Your heart will be full, when you thought it was empty.

Life will be better for you.

You will have the only chance on this Earth to be totally unselfish.

You will be protected by the Lord.

You will receive inspiration.

You will be uplifted, and ennobled. 

You will be with your families forever.

You will receive increased personal revelation.

You will be able to walk back to our Father in Heaven.

Your distractions will turn to dust.

You will see things you were unable to see before.

You will find a way through your troubles you hadn't previously known.

You and your family will be directed in a world full of chaos.

You will be able to bear every trial.

You will be able to overcome each temptation.

Your home will be better.

Your heart, mind, and soul will be open to visions of eternal life.

I rest my case.

I am so grateful for the temple.

I am so grateful for the PRIVILEGE to enter HIS house.

I am so grateful I was sealed to the man I love most in this world, for ETERNITY.

I am so grateful my parents lived worthily enough for me to be with them FOREVER.

I am so grateful they taught me - not just to attend the temple - but to love the temple.

My kids are going to be so lucky to have Cole as a dad, and the freaking CALLS as grandparents.

^^^WHAT MORE COULD I ASK FOR?

Surrounded by the people I love most, at the place I love most, sealed to the boy I love most.