temple thursday

thank goodness for nannaleah. i managed to slide in to do one last temple session this morning before our temple has an extended closure until after christmas. no matter how hard it is to get there, i always feel better for having been. i always race in with just minutes to spare, but somehow always make it. 

i am grateful today - and always, that we have a temple within our reach. i feel for those who are able to visit only once in their life, or never have the opportunity. it always makes me think back to one of my favourite ever talks by thomas s monson, about a family who worked their entire life to get there.  

"May I share with you the account of Tihi and Tararaina Mou Tham and their 10 children. The entire family except for one daughter joined the Church in the early 1960s, when missionaries came to their island, located about 160 km south of Tahiti. Soon they began to desire the blessings of an eternal family sealing in the temple.
At that time the nearest temple to the Mou Tham family was the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, more than 4000 km to the southwest, accessible only by expensive airplane travel. The large Mou Tham family, which eked out a meager living on a small plantation, had no money for airplane fare, nor was there any opportunity for employment on their Pacific island. So Brother Mou Tham and his son Gérard made the difficult decision to travel 4800 km to work in New Caledonia, where another son was already employed.
The three Mou Tham men labored for four years. Brother Mou Tham alone returned home only once during that time, for the marriage of a daughter.
After four years, Brother Mou Tham and his sons had saved enough money to take the family to the New Zealand Temple. All who were members went except for one daughter, who was expecting a baby. They were sealed for time and eternity, an indescribable and joyful experience.
Brother Mou Tham returned from the temple directly to New Caledonia, where he worked for two more years to pay for the passage of the one daughter who had not been at the temple with them—a married daughter and her child and husband.
In their later years Brother and Sister Mou Tham desired to serve in the temple. By that time the Papeete Tahiti Temple had been constructed and dedicated, and they served four missions there.
My brothers and sisters, temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service."

a small video has been made by the church about this talk and is available on you tube and i cry every single time i watch it. how spoiled i feel to be so close to a temple. i hope to never take it for granted and to be able to attend regularly as time goes by. the months when the temple was closed during the peak of the covid-19 pandemic were so disappointing to me and i am so glad it's open and i can attend again.