As my son Stephen was sealed to his bride, Meliah, on July 16, I was able to think about the temple from a new perspective. I came away more appreciative than ever of the beauty and power of the LDS Temple and the way it calls us to live higher, nobler lives. The remarks of the sealer, Lynn Johnson, called upon the new couple to truly follow Christ, and helped us all see how Christ-centered and Atonement-center the sealing ceremony is. As I contemplated the simple, quiet, and brief ceremony, I felt personally challenged to be a better husband, to put away my impatience and pride, to treat my wife better, and to pay more attention to what the Temple stands for and calls us to be. It was a deeply profound, spiritually edifying, Spirit-filled experience. Those who approach the Temple with the right preparation and desire to follow Christ should come away as better people, if they will live up to their Temple covenants. The LDS Temple is a genuinely divine expression of the covenant-based Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I urge all to seek the blessings it makes available for this life and the next.

My son and daughter-in-law at the Chicago Botanic Garden shortly before being married for time and eternity in the Chicago Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.