DIY Temples and the Ten Virgins                        May 1, 2014

Being in the Temple here in Panama is an amazing experience!  I have been impressed at what it means to be a worker in the Temple.  I thought if no one showed up to do the ordinances, we could go home early. But no, this is a Do It Yourself Temple.  If no one shows up or if only one or two people show up, the workers do the work for the dead themselves.  Leon and I have done all the ordinances with one or two patrons, or just with the workers.  This Temple does not close down early just because no one comes.  Actually, one night we did go home a little early because no one came for the last session, but only after doing as much as we could on our own.  Then the next night a lot of people showed up, so we went home late!  It all works out!!

If not enough people show up for a session, the workers fill in at one point during the session.  I was impressed one day that the women waiting to help looked just like the 10 virgins who were waiting to go in to the wedding feast.  Those who were admitted were those who were prepared with temple recommends.

One evening, a sister got left out of the session—no one was there to give her a name to take through the session, and they started without her.  Once a session starts, it cannot be interrupted so we did something else with her.  At the end she was crying because she realized that for one of the names that went through, the sister had to wait 6 years after being baptized to return to the temple for more work.  Don’t know what happened, but the Hermana was so glad this person could finally have her name taken through the temple again.