A New Perspective of the Los Angeles Temple

On October 12, 1957, a little over a year and a half after its dedication, my grandparents on my Mom's side were sealed in the Los Angeles Temple; immediately afterward, my Mom and her sister and brother were sealed to them.  Not quite 8 years later, my parents were sealed in the Los Angeles Temple on September 11, 1965.  A few months over 30 years after that, Jennifer and I were also sealed in the same temple.  From this, I think it may be clear as to why the Los Angeles Temple holds a special place in my heart—three generations of my family tree have been sealed for time and all eternity there.  I believe I have written about this a little bit in other posts (this one, for instance), but somewhere in the time frame of a few months before Ben's birth to a few months afterward, I came across a story of two little boys (about 10 years old) bringing their younger brother (4 or 5 years old) in a wagon to the Salt Lake Temple (I wish I knew if there was an internet link to the story, but I haven't a clue now what the title of the story is or where I read it).  When asked by a watchman what the boys were doing, they replied they were bringing little "Johnny" (I'm not sure if that was the name, but it sounds good J) to the temple to allow him to touch the wall.  The watchman told them to carry on and the boys rolled the wagon next to wall of the temple and encouraged their little brother to touch it.  As he did so, they said to him something like, "Now you can remember the time when you first touched the temple."

Touching the Los Angeles Temple for the first time

That story had a profound effect on me.  From the moment I read it, I wanted to start a family tradition with my son that reflected the one told in the story.  While Ben could hear us teach about the importance of the temple and see us attending the temple once a month, by enhancing his experience through the sense of touch—employing three senses instead of just one or two—the tactile reinforcement could strengthen even more for Ben the love his parents had for the temple and what it represents.  When we felt Ben was old enough, we took him on his first visit to the Los Angeles Temple.  Then, as part of our walk around the grounds, I took him out of his stroller and approached the south facing wall.  Underneath the words The House of the Lord, we touched a temple together for the first time (Jennifer capturing the image on film).  A year later, we were back and Ben and I touched the temple again and Jennifer also froze that moment in time on film.  The next time we returned, Isaac was included and the three of us began what has become our tradition of touching the temples we have visited over the years.  The several experiences of touching the Los Angeles Temple had the impact I had hoped for.  During our first trip to Palmyra as a family in the summer of 2000, Ben was so excited to see the, then, recently dedicated Palmyra Temple that he asked to see it 3 times during our two day outing.  On the first of our three visits, he ran as fast as his little legs would go in order to get close to the temple and waved hello to Moroni.  It wasn't long before he asked to, "Touch it; temple."  When we finally gave him the green light, he ran to the wall we had chosen (which included the cap stone indicating the year of dedication) and had a moment there that, to this day, Jennifer and I are grateful I captured on video.

Our second LA Temple picture

The Redlands Temple was completed and dedicated in September of 2003, about 4 months after we moved to High Desert.  With the change in our temple district, our trips to the Los Angeles Temple dropped to once a year in December to see the Christmas lights.  While we lived in Colton, however, we were a part of the Los Angeles Temple district.  Most of the time, when we planned our monthly trip to LA, Jennifer was able to get a babysitter for the boys.  We had our routine down pretty good.  I’d come home from work (my commute in those days was 10 minutes), Jennifer would pick up the babysitter, we’d grab a fast food dinner (usually at Carl’s Jr.) and off we’d go to Los Angeles.  Since most everyone on the freeways were leaving LA, we could make it to the temple in about an hour, complete a session and be back by 10:30 pm (usually, we went on Fridays).  On those occasions where we either couldn’t find or couldn’t afford a babysitter, we would go to the temple on Saturday and bring Ben and Isaac with us.   Even though Jennifer and I couldn't go inside the temple on those days, we would walk the grounds with our sons and go into the visitor’s center to watch Church videos and let them explore the interactive displays.  We would still count the time spent as our monthly temple trip even though it had turned into a family outing.  With this brief history as a backdrop, I hope the emotions of this day can be better appreciated.  Ben wanted to come to this temple and we wanted to bring him and give him the opportunity to go inside and experience this family landmark in a completely different way.

Alana and her mom, Angie, accompanied us on this trip.  We found out that neither of them had been inside the Los Angeles Temple either, so Jennifer and I were even happier to accompany all three on their first experience inside the temple.  As we walked up toward the front doors, Ben took a moment to touch the wall of the temple.  I noticed him and made a mental note of it while also mentally kicking myself for leaving our camera at home.  Because the Los Angeles Temple is so large, one of the major differences between it and the Redlands Temple is that Los Angeles has a cafeteria inside the building. J  Having arrived at around noon with plenty of time before the next session, we decided to eat lunch first.  I hadn’t eaten lunch in the cafeteria of the temple for several years.  It was nice for the five of us to sit among temples workers and other patrons and eat a nice meal.  When lunch was finished, we still had plenty of time to get ready and attend the endowment session.

Adding Isaac to our picture

The Los Angeles Temple according to this website, was "the last temple designed for live-acting presentation of the endowment."  As such it has several ordinance rooms that allow for a progression through the endowment ordinance that can only be found in 7 other temples.  I caught Ben with his mouth agape a couple of times as we moved from room to room and saw the wonderful, hand-painted murals in each room.  Once again, it was the Celestial Room that Ben liked the most (I tried to find a picture, but was unsuccessful).  The peace that washed over him as he entered the representation of Father's dwelling place was wonderful for him.  We again spent a while in the Celestial Room quietly talking.  When everyone was ready, we left change out of our white temple clothing and begin the drive home.  As we exited the temple, I watched as Ben returned to the spot where he had touched the temple earlier in the day and put his hand out to touch the wall of the temple again.  This time, his attitude was more contemplative.  For 18 years we have come to the Los Angeles Temple and touched the wall as a way to show our love for the Lord's Holy House.  Now, I could see in Ben's simple movement, a new reverence for this building that has played such a huge part in our family's story through 3 generations.  It was a nice moment.  One that I hope he is able to hold close to his heart for the rest of this life here on earth.