I love to see the temple :)

Mormons have temples! They aren't regular meetinghouses where we go and worship for Sunday services. In fact, temples are closed on Sundays. Temples are special places, dedicated as houses of the Lord, where only worthy members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints may attend. In temples, specific ordinances are performed. For example, one ordinance performed in the temple is baptism for the dead. What in the world does that mean, you may say? Well, just as a person is asked (yet required) to "shed the natural man" in order to come to the waters of baptism in this life, a person must be worthy to perform baptisms of deceased persons. Not just any person, but family and loved ones who have passed on without this special act performed. But what if they've been baptized, you may also ask? It all comes down to authority from God- which will be saved for a different post at a later time :) Also, marriages are performed in the temple. The Atlanta Temple is where Adam and I were married "for all time and eternity". That's actually verbatim in the ceremony!! No till death do you part stuff.

**this was taken at our reception in Newnan. I'll try to add a picture of us at the temple later :)

Two weeks prior to the dedication of a temple, it is open to the public for tours. See, it's not that a temple is secret, but it is a sacred place and we want to be able to share it with our families and friends before it is dedicated. But once it is dedicated, only worthy members can go in. The Atlanta Temple closed down 2 years ago for remodeling, and it needs to be rededicated before any ordinances or ceremonies can be performed. So from April 9 - April 23, the temple is open for tours. I encourage all my non-mormon friends and family to take this opportunity to see this beautiful building and feel the peace that we find from there. I am going Thursday night with my friend and her kids. If you are interested in going, here is a link to print out "tickets"- they're free, it's just to control the flow of visitors so that everyone can see everything and ask questions, etc -http://lds.org/reservations/0,10751,1619-1-742,00.html

I hope if you're interested, you'll make this effort to go- there is only a week and a half left!! Adam and I are planning to go with our little ones next week, so if you want to come with us- just let me know :)