Sixteen Virginia Reels

David O. Mackay was president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in November 1968 when he announced a new temple to be constructed in the Washington, D.C. area. Though the ground breaking ceremony was held just a few weeks later, construction wasn’t completed until November 1974. President Spencer W. Kimball was there to dedicate the white marble temple. So was I. As a teenager I went a few times with family and friends to do proxy baptisms at the D.C. temple. The last time I visited was forty years ago today; the day John and I were married. As a church, we build temples to draw closer to the Lord. In them we perform sacred ordinances for ourselves and for those who’ve gone before us. The greatest blessing of the temple is that we can be joined together as families forever, so that our relationships with those we love can last through eternity.