This morning I received a phone call from the Logan Temple President, Ward Taylor. I always wonder what a Church leader is wanting me for when they call. This time it was not the "voice of doom". That's kind of a private joke Iris and I have had over the years because so often those calls from church executive secretaries have been to call one or the other of us to a church calling, not that we have not appreciated and loved all of the callings we have had and the service we were able to give throughout our lives. We have grown through those callings more than those we were called to serve. I think that is pretty much the way it always goes, especially, if we serve with no hidden agenda of scoring points for ourselves. President Taylor simply asked if I could come over to his home this evening and help him get more involved in his personal family history work. It seems I get those requests from time to time these days. I certainly don't claim to be an expert by any means and there is still so much more to learn, but I have learned how to find family names and prepare them for the temple ordinances which are so vitally important. It feels so good to be useful and gives me a reason to be excited about something and to carry on in my advanced years. I love the Temple. I love the good selfless people we work with each day, both those who come as patrons and those who have callings as officiators. They are all in it for the benefit of others. It feels so good to cast off tendencies toward selfishness along the path that leads us back to our Father in Heaven and to see others do the same. In the Church we call it putting off the "natural man." In the eternal scheme of things, this is really what it's all about. There is still a long way for me to go, but I feel joy with each step, knowing that I am on the right path and that my elder Brother is waiting there to greet us all when we arrive.
Again, I got a quick picture of President Taylor and me at his desk in president's home across from the temple just to remind me that I was there and of the great relationship we have with our temple president and his good wife.
