Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples- May 2009 G. C.

So many crazy things have been going on in our lives since we moved home.. It's been rather overwhelming seeing as how we thought we were supposed to be moving into our own apartment this weekend and instead, we're living with Jayson's parents. Don't get me wrong, I am so glad and thankful to be living here with them, because it has honestly been a blast to spend time with his parents and his brothers (well, now one brother because Cody just went up to Utah for school). But at the same time, its been giving me a chance to really sit down and think about decorating our future home....whenever we move.

I was browsing on LDS.org tonight at past conference talks, and I came across one from May 2009 by Elder Gary E. Stevenson:

Recently, in a stake conference, all present were invited by the visiting authority, Elder Glen Jenson, an Area Seventy, to take a virtual tour of their homes using their spiritual eyes. I would like to invite each of you to do this also. Wherever your home may be and whatever its configuration, the application of eternal gospel principles within its walls is universal. Let’s begin. Imagine that you are opening your front door and walking inside your home. What do you see, and how do you feel? Is it a place of love, peace, and refuge from the world, as is the temple? Is it clean and orderly? As you walk through the rooms of your home, do you see uplifting images which include appropriate pictures of the temple and the Savior? Is your bedroom or sleeping area a place for personal prayer? Is your gathering area or kitchen a place where food is prepared and enjoyed together, allowing uplifting conversation and family time? Are scriptures found in a room where the family can study, pray, and learn together? Can you find your personal gospel study space? Does the music you hear or the entertainment you see, online or otherwise, offend the Spirit? Is the conversation uplifting and without contention? That concludes our tour. Perhaps you, as I, found a few spots that need some “home improvement”—hopefully not an “extreme home makeover.”

The Lord truly does know what exactly you need and when you need it. Having all of these things that Elder Stevenson has mentioned has been so hard for me to have at my dad's house before I got married. It made it that much harder for me to feel the spirit because I was living in a home that wasn't worthy of having the spirit, so I had to try harder than I ever thought possible to bring that spirit into my own bedroom. I am so grateful now that I can turn my home into a house that is consistently worthy of the spirit. I know it is so important, especially for when Jayson and I have our own family <3