Surprise Honor

Last week my friend Jelen (see December post on Christmas in Guatemala) stopped by the office with her sister-in-law, Elvia, who speaks English and has lived in the U.S. for many years.  Elvia explained that Jelen and her husband Victor were going to go to the temple to have their marriage sealed for time and all eternity and they were inviting us to participate.  We were thrilled to receive the invitation.

It was very touching to have Elvia come to talk with me, as their family has been Catholic as far back as they can remember.  We were not only invited to join Jelen and Victor, we were being asked to represent Jelen's father and mother in a temple ordinance to seal her to her parents, who are deceased.  This ordinance can then be accepted by her parents if they choose to do so.

Here are Sherydan (left), Jelen, Victor, Luisa (right) and Josue'.  After the sealing for Jelen and Victor, the children were sealed to their parents.  All those attending LDS temples are dressed in white, so as the children walked through the doorway for their portion of the ordinance, they looked like angels.

“Through the power of [the] priesthood ...husband and wife may be sealed, or married for eternity; children may be sealed to their parents for eternity; thus the family is made eternal.”                     —Joseph Fielding Smith

This is the beginning of the rainy season and it rained from noon until about eight in the evening.  We huddled under the temple portico for the photos.

  Everywhere I looked in the temple I was in awe of the architecture.  The church architect who builds the temples worldwide does a great deal of research into each country's history/art/culture prior to the design.  There is a prominence of uses of the Mayan star throughout the temple, even in the baptismal font.  The customary oxen holding the baptismal font in this temple are formed into a Mayan star.  In a word, it is breathtaking.  I wish I could have been here for the open house in November to see the faces of the Guatemalans when they walked through the doors prior to the temple dedication, when it was open to the public.  I'm certain they were awestruck  

The next temple open house will be in Brigham City, Utah.  Ticketing begins the end of July.  If you are in the area and would like to walk through a Mormon temple, keep an eye on this link for further information:  http://www.lds.org/church/temples/reservations?lang=eng

The temple gardens are gorgeous and each month they look fuller and more color-filled.

This was part of the group attending the sealing.  Hermana Franco (in the wheelchair) just celebrated her 94th birthday and not only came to the temple, but participated in a reception dinner at the church afterward.  She is a delight-one of my favorite people.  The photographer was having trouble understanding our camera, and I was ready to offer a suggestion when he snapped this one-thus my clueless appearance.