One of the most important places for Mormons is our temple. For normal weekly church services (like taking the sacrament [others may recognize it as communion]) we go to a church or "meetinghouse." But for other, less routine ordinances, we go to temples. Whereas meetinghouses are reachable for most members of the church, temples are much rarer; there are thousands of meetinghouses worldwide, but only 173 temples in operation or announced/under construction.
I've lived in three U.S. States, and I've never been further than 30 or so minutes from a temple. That is a luxury that I've often taken for granted. In contrast, many Mormons so far from a temple that they may only dream of visiting one once or twice in their life. This was the case with many of the members I met in southern Italy in 2002. My brother, Travis, served his mission there, and my family toured his mission afterwards to see the area and people with whom he worked. It was heartening to meet so many people who had made substantial changes to embrace new-found truths and those who continued to be faithful despite difficulties. For them, the nearest temple to visit--where they could get spiritually charged--was in Switzerland... not exactly an easy afternoon drive. When the Mormon church announced in 2010 that a temple would be built in Rome, many members were shocked that we could build such an important edifice in the motherland of the Catholic church. For me, my thoughts went to the people who, for so long, desired to have a House of the Lord nearby.
Whitney and I got to visit the construction site for the Rome temple today! It has taken a while for the permits to go through, but the bulk of the building is done. The bus ride lasted about an hour to get to the city limits, but to see a building rising overlooking the Eternal City that will hold services of eternal significance made us gleeful. Unfortunately, visitors aren't allowed to tour the site (we asked. we pleaded. we were refused.), but that didn't stop us from scaling a wall and fence to get a panoramic selfie.
Later in the day, we visited the Sistine Chapel. That was also a very fulfilling experience. We craned our necks at the ceiling while we listened to an audio guide explain the painting sections and history of the Michelangelo's masterpiece. The painting covers, well, the history of the world: from God separating light from dark all the way up to the final judgment. Furthermore, Michelangelo had to make adjustments along the way while painting the ceiling, and then his outlook (and that of the European people) had changed 23 years later when he painted the wall above the alter. It was a good illustration of stages, both in the line of events that the painting tells and in the the process by which the painting was completed.
So often, we fail ourselves in the present because we're only looking to the future. I see this in people who think that by achieving the "next stage" in life, they will suddenly be transformed into someone else. The thing is, that transformation happens when we steadily prepare ourselves now for what the future holds. Of course, I can't fault the Italian Mormons for yearning for the blessings of a nearby temple. But my guess is that the temple will benefit those most who are individually changing themselves through daily preparation, rather than those who passively expect that the temple will change them without any work on their parts.
Yes, let's look to the future; the future is bright! But the future arrives by sequentially stacking up a lot of presents. If we don't make the most out of our presents, then our futures may be pretty empty.
Whitney and I got to visit the construction site for the Rome temple today! It has taken a while for the permits to go through, but the bulk of the building is done. The bus ride lasted about an hour to get to the city limits, but to see a building rising overlooking the Eternal City that will hold services of eternal significance made us gleeful. Unfortunately, visitors aren't allowed to tour the site (we asked. we pleaded. we were refused.), but that didn't stop us from scaling a wall and fence to get a panoramic selfie.
Later in the day, we visited the Sistine Chapel. That was also a very fulfilling experience. We craned our necks at the ceiling while we listened to an audio guide explain the painting sections and history of the Michelangelo's masterpiece. The painting covers, well, the history of the world: from God separating light from dark all the way up to the final judgment. Furthermore, Michelangelo had to make adjustments along the way while painting the ceiling, and then his outlook (and that of the European people) had changed 23 years later when he painted the wall above the alter. It was a good illustration of stages, both in the line of events that the painting tells and in the the process by which the painting was completed.
So often, we fail ourselves in the present because we're only looking to the future. I see this in people who think that by achieving the "next stage" in life, they will suddenly be transformed into someone else. The thing is, that transformation happens when we steadily prepare ourselves now for what the future holds. Of course, I can't fault the Italian Mormons for yearning for the blessings of a nearby temple. But my guess is that the temple will benefit those most who are individually changing themselves through daily preparation, rather than those who passively expect that the temple will change them without any work on their parts.
Yes, let's look to the future; the future is bright! But the future arrives by sequentially stacking up a lot of presents. If we don't make the most out of our presents, then our futures may be pretty empty.
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