The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning

This is the gorgeous new temple dedicated today in San Salvador, El Salvador (a country whose name means "The Savior"). I attended the broadcast of the dedication at the district center chapel here in San Ignacio and got to see all my friends from both the San Ignacio and Santa Elena branches--most of them, sadly, for the last time.

The dedication was wonderful. Pres. Eyring presided and dedicated the temple--his first ever! Katie, Maren, Sarah, and I attended the 9 AM dedicatory session. This was an extra-advantageous choice since the first session included the sealing of the cornerstone and also had an English dubbed channel which was not present during the later sessions, much to some of our fellow team members' chagrin.

Pres. Eyring talked about how temples should awaken a sense of gratitude within each of us for the things God has given us and the blessings of the ordinances received therein. He noted that the creative beauty of each temple is an expression of our gratitude to our own Creator. All the talks were great and there was much reverence but also great excitement for this, the fourth temple to grace Central America.

After the dedication, I said rounds of goodbyes. Of a few of them I make special note:

This is Sister Sandra Trapp. She is one of the sweetest ladies you'll ever meet and I've really enjoyed getting to know her in the Santa Elena Branch. She has had many trials that have left her mostly paralyzed and her voice is very quiet so you have to lean in close to understand her when she speaks, but she is very wise and has many keen spiritual insights. She has faithfully come to Church every week I've been here and has rarely missed a week for the past decade since she joined the Church. We often talk about the Sunday School lesson and Sacrament talks after Church and she always has phenomenal insights. When I said goodbye today she gave me the most touching goodbye letter including her testimony. How blessed we are to have sisters like Sandra Trapp in the Kingdom to inspire us!

Here's my Belizean Branch Presidents! At left is Pres. Lemos of the San Ignacio Branch. Even though I didn't attend the San Igancio Branch, I had quite a few opportunities to interact with that branch and Pres. Lemos specifically. He is an incredible man and will likely continue to be an important Church leader in Belize for decades to come. At right is Pres. Pinelo, the President of the Santa Elena branch where I've attended. He is soft-spoken, but a great leader also and I've loved helping serve in his branch, even if only temporarily.

Right after the dedication session, I had another goodbye, this time to fellow team mate Katie. She was supposed to leave yesterday, but her flight got cancelled due to the hurricane, so she left today. She had to get back early because she has a race for BYU Track and Field tomorrow in Park City! Best of luck, Katie!

Speaking of the hurricane, Harvey truly was pretty lame, as mentioned yesterday. In fact, as you noticed in the pictures above, especially with Presidents Pinelo and Lemos, the day today has already been completely clear and beautiful. Now, I actually don't mind that at all! In fact, good weather will be a great blessing to be able to get our work done the next few days before leaving. 

Later in the afternoon we watched some "Mormon Messages" videos and now I'm writing my blog post, and that's my day so far. 

Moral of today's post: don't undervalue the blessing of a temple! The saints here in Belize are ecstatic to have a new temple that will only require them to travel a day and a half each way at huge expense to be able to attend. I don't know about you, but for me in Provo, the temple is a fifteen minute WALK from my apartment! Let us not neglect that blessing. Remember: Pres. Eyring taught today that temples should turn our hearts to gratitude, and a great deal of that gratitude should certainly be for temples themselves, especially ones with such close proximity!