Katherine Kloepping
Southern Virginia University aligns its beliefs with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In accordance with this, The Herald is open to sharing experiences relating to the Latter-day Saints culture (and every culture). Below, one of our editors shares her first experience at the Washington D.C. Temple.
For over a year, I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Within that time, I had never been to the temple… Until Saturday, March 11 of this year.
For the past few weeks, I had felt that I should go to the temple, but the timing never lined up for me. In one of my recent prayers, I asked Heavenly Father what I should focus my heart and mind on and He replied with the temple. In the Book of Mosiah, King Benjamin spoke with the people and they went up to the temple. The phrase “go up to the temple” really pricked my heart…I knew I was being guided to go.
After this prompting, I started reaching out to the people around me. One day after my institute class, I talked to my friend/classmate and found out that our ward was hosting a temple trip on the following Friday and Saturday. I was elated to hear this and as I thought about it, I knew that I needed to go. I had two names to do baptisms for the dead and it was important that I did these as soon as possible (click here to learn about baptisms for the dead). As the day of our temple trip drew near, I had learned that there was a possibility that I would not be able to do the baptisms. Despite this, I still wanted to go and experience the spirit of the temple (with the additional hope that I would be able to do the baptisms).
When the day came, I could not calm my excitement. For three hours, my friends and I drove up to the Washington D.C. Temple. As we drove on the road beside the temple, my jaw dropped– it was so beautiful. I was finally at the Lord’s house. We were able to wander the grounds and feel the spirit present with us, and walking into the temple was even more astonishing. After waiting for an opening, I was finally able to do the baptism for my grandma (and one for another girl’s family) while my friend did the baptism for my grandfather. Participating in the baptism was such a great experience, I can not wait to go back and do more!
Although the Washington D.C. Temple is absolutely beautiful and worth the three hour drive, Virginia is finally getting their own temple in Richmond! On Friday, March 17, the Southern Virginia Institute is taking students to the open house to tour the Richmond Temple’s grounds and view the building before its dedication. The temple will be open to everyone (non-members and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
To stay up to date with the temple, check out the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website here.
Washington D.C. Temple: My Personal Experience was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
