Vibrations

B and I like to go to the temple often.  She does baptisms for the dead and I often do initiatories.  The first couple of months we went together, we found that the timing was almost perfect.  If we ever had to wait for each other, the longest was probably only about 5 minutes.  But then, the baptisms started getting busier and busier until B had to leave before she even got done.  That made her sad, so I suggested a solution that I didn't think she would go for--we could wake up even earlier and beat the crowds.   She was all over that idea.  What?!?  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been that great when I was her age.  She amazes me.

Our new, earlier schedule puts us at the temple before it even officially opens.  Last week, I parted ways with B and she headed down the stairs to the baptistry.  I stepped through the glass doors of the temple and saw the men at the desk who were scanning temple recommends.  I knew they wouldn't let me in yet--only temple workers are allowed past the desk at that time of morning.  I looked at the time, noting that I had about 20 minutes before they would let me in.  I sat down on an antique-style, blue upholstered bench with armrests and no back.  The bench was positioned against one of the outer walls of the temple.  At first, I sat there with my legs crossed with my back leaning forward.  But as time passed, I leaned against the wall.

At first, I didn't notice it, but then I started wondering if something was wrong with my back.  It felt like it was trembling.  I re-positioned myself and settled back into a different comfortable position against the wall, only to find that nothing changed.  The trembling was still there.  I leaned forward and it was gone.  I realized--it was in the wall, not my back.  There was a force behind the trembling that I can't describe. It was persistent, steady, and powerful, yet completely silent.  What was it?  Why would the wall feel that way?  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was probably just mechanical vibrations from the basement below--furnaces or anything big and loud.

But then I thought about where I was and how symbolic even those simple vibrations were to me at that moment.  I was in the temple, the house of God.  This is one place that Satan, the most powerful evil force on this earth, cannot enter.  But I'm sure that doesn't stop him from trying.  In my mind's eye, I saw perfect brightness emanating from the temple.  I also imagined threads of darkness surrounding it. I saw the outer walls of the temple as a place where good and evil meet, a place where these forces combine, creating a powerful and steady vibration of conflict, but a place where good always wins.  I realized that if I stayed near the outer walls, I would probably continue to feel that conflict and uneasiness.

Luckily for me, the men at the desk let us know that it was time to enter the temple.  I stood up, walked away from the vibrations, scanned my recommend, and soon started doing temple work for my ancestors. I was able to savor the sweet spirit inside the temple, look into the loving eyes of the temple workers, and enjoy the peace of being in a place filled with so much good. I didn't think about the vibrations again until I was outside the temple.

This made me realize something:  I want to stay away from the fence that is sometimes so easy to sit on.  I want to be away from the conflict, and away from evil influences that slowly thread themselves into my life.  When I am completely immersed in goodness, goodness and happiness are what I feel. That is where I want to be.  I am so thankful for the temple.