Way Back When Wednesday - My Special Temple

I apologize in advance for any confusion any of my non-LDS readers have about this post.  I probably used a lot of Mormon lingo.  If you have any questions about anything, don't feel shy, please ask!  Or visit mormon.org.  It's another excellent resource for information on our faith.

As many of you know, temples are very important to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You can find a temple just about everywhere you go!  LDS couples can be married in temples for time and all eternity.  There are also other sacred ordinances that we do for ourselves and our ancestors so that we can be with our nuclear as well as extended families forever.

This is the story of my special temple...

"I was 14 and I was excited!  On September 3, 1998, the First Presidency announced that a temple would be built in Raleigh!  This would be the first temple in North Carolina. 

Our assigned temple had been the Washington D.C. temple which was 5 hours away!  Nevertheless, we still made our quarterly youth temple trips.  Usually we left early in the morning, did baptisms for the dead, ate a late lunch, and then came back home.

I remember really enjoying the car trips up there.  Our ward would rent two 15 passenger vans and we would all pile in.  On the way up it would be girls in one van and guys in the other.  On the way back we mixed it up.  I'm not sure why.  There weren't any rules about it or anything; it's just what we did.  It was such a fun bonding experience for us as a ward.  But as fun as it was to go on day trips to the temple, it was much cooler to have one in our area. 

For a long time, everyone speculated where in our stake the temple would be built.  My dad was bishop at the time, so he had some insider information.  I remember him telling us about one proposed site for the temple before any announcements were made.

Soon the official announcement was made that the temple would be built in between the Apex Post Office and a park just off Highway 55, IN OUR WARD BOUNDARIES!!!  How cool is that, to have a new temple AND it's in your ward!  My friends and I were totally psyched!

It wasn't long after the initial announcement, that they put us to work clearing the temple site.  I felt so grateful to have the opportunity to help build the temple.  The youth in our ward and also in our stake gathered together and cleared out branches and other debris.

Then, on February 6, 1999, it was time for the ground breaking.  I had been asked to accompany the choir that would be singing!  What an honor!  There were only two problems, I had to play an electric keyboard because we were outside in the middle of a construction zone, and it was raining cats and dogs.

Now I'm sure you all know that when it rains on fresh construction, what do you get? Mud!  There was mud everywhere!  I got mud on my Sunday shoes that didn't come off for weeks!  But the spirit was so strong!  I was happy to play the piano.

One time for a Young Women's activity, we went to the temple site to walk through the construction.  The senior missionary couple that was specially assigned to the area for the duration of the temple's construction (Somehow they were in charge. They had a trailer on the construction site) took us on a special tour.  We even got to touch the Moroni statue that would eventually be mounted on the top of the temple.

It was nearly a year before the temple was completed and it was time for the open house.  The open house ran through December 3 through December 13, 1999.  I think one of the reasons it took so long was because the church had some trouble with getting permission to build a meeting house next to the temple.  The people who lived in the neighborhood behind the temple were afraid that the two buildings would create a lot of traffic going in and out that intersection (they shared the same road going out to the highway). After a while, that issue was resolved and both buildings were built.

Again, the youth of our ward and stake volunteered to help out in the open house.  We put blue booties on everyone going through the temple.  Again, what a special, spiritual experience that was. 

On December 18, 1999, my temple was dedicated.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be in the temple for the dedication.  There were just too many people that wanted to attend the dedication!  We watched a live video feed in another building.  President Hinckley dedicated my temple.  I was so happy!  I will always remember the special spirit I felt there. 

Fast forward to May 25, 2003.  Derek Thomas Cheney had just asked me to marry him.  I knew exactly where I wanted to be married, my temple, the Raleigh, North Carolina temple.  He had his heart set on being married in the D.C. temple, but when he learned of how special my temple was to me, he agreed to be married there instead. 

The Raleigh, North Carolina temple will always be my special temple.  I am so grateful for all the blessings it and all other temples have given me and my family!"

Glossary (Mormon.org has a great glossary with TONS more Mormon lingo defined! Check it out!)

Ward - Like a parish or congregation organized geographically.
Stake - A group of wards also organized geographically.
Bishop - The leader of a ward.  Similar to a priest or pastor.  Bishops in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not paid (all other leaders and teachers are not paid either).
Moroni - "A Book of Mormon prophet who was the son of Mormon. He received the record of his people from his father, and after writing a final message he buried the gold plates in a hill until they could be brought forth and translated. He appeared as a resurrected being to Joseph Smith and gave him the gold plates for translation, as well as instruction pertaining to the Restoration of the gospel. A statue of Moroni, with a trumpet to his lips, appears on almost all temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has come to symbolize the proclaiming of the gospel of Jesus Christ in latter-days to every creature."