Atlanta Temple Open House

I remember going to the Atlanta temple for a few years when I was younger with the Gunnels Family. It was the closest temple for us and so our families would go there for Thanksgiving and the adults would do temple work while us kids stayed at the hotel. We then would go over to Stone Mountain together. I remember I was so excited that the next year was finally going to be MY year that I would be old enough to enter the House of the Lord. I was so looking forward to our trip to Atlanta when we learned that Orlando would receive its own temple. I remember the Open House of the Orlando temple it happened when I was 11 years old and I was not old enough to help put the white booties on all the people that would go on the tour for the Open House. I remember feeling so sad about that.

That Atlanta Temple is one of the oldest temples currently and was undergoing extensive renovations which necessitated a close for a year. I had never been inside the Atlanta Temple.

My Uncle Marshall was finally released from ICU and had been home a few weeks when the Atlanta Temple Open House began. I thought it would be a great chance for Omar and I to go through the Temple and to bring my aunt and uncle through who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. I wanted them to see what the sealing room was like where Omar and I were married and sealed for time and all eternity. There is something so amazing about the Temple of God, the Spirit there is indescribable and I hoped that with my uncle's recent experience that he might feel the peace and love of God there.

It was interesting how it all worked out. We had originally asked off work to go to my Uncle Marhsall's Surpirse 50th Birthday party in Hernando Beach the same weekend as the Open House. However, due to the unfortunate circumstances that occurred landing my uncle in ICU for 2 weeks, that celebration was postponed. I knew of the Open House and thought with us having the days off that it would be a perfect time to go and visit my Uncle and hopefully have both my aunt and uncle come with us to the Temple Open House tour.

Our tickets were for the first day of the Open House, April 9, and it would go on for a few weeks where anyone from the public could come inside the temple. Sadly, my aunt and uncle did not attend with us, but we really enjoyed our time at the temple. We also were able to spend time with both of my uncles as my Uncle Turner came up as a surprise for Marshall's birthday. We had a great dinner party for him and the next day we all attended Marshall and Dianna's church together where they recognize the miraculous recovery of my uncle. It was a nice weekend.