Feeling a Spark of the Spirit in the Room with the Mirrors

By Anne Maxson

I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was in my 20’s. Nobody from my family of origin has joined the church. At times, my family was angry about my decision to join the church. Some events made the rift between us a bit more complicated. When I chose to serve a mission, my mom and grandma were very upset. By the time I returned home, my mom having visited my mission after I was released and having the chance to meet so many of the people I loved and served, she had become more accepting of the church. 

Years later, when my husband and I got engaged, we planned to get married in a temple. It was tricky to explain to my family why they wouldn’t be able to be there. Along with our parents and my grandma, we planned to drive from Utah to Boise the day after the temple wedding. Coincidentally, the Twin Falls Temple Open House was taking place at that time. We made plans to attend.

After lots of planning and anticipation, the time arrived and things worked out to go to the Open House. Despite doing all that we could to help my family understand why we wanted to be married in the temple and why they were unable to attend, things were still difficult on the wedding day and at the Open House the following day. 

After the Open House, we went out for lunch and some of my family members' feelings of animosity about the church started to come to a head. My husband and I were seated by the frustrated family members as well as my grandmother, who was seated directly across from me. Grandma was 90 years old at the time, had been legally blind for a number of years, and could not hear very well.

Since I joined the church 6 years prior, my grandma had never been a huge fan of the church and wasn’t afraid to let me know. However, on this day she didn’t join in with anything negative about the church. She just sat quietly for a long time. 

While trying to ignore the hurtful things being said by others, I glanced at my grandma. She tapped my hand and waved me over to come closer so we could talk. I went around the table and knelt down next to her chair. She took my hands in hers and said, “Annie girl, can you tell me more about the room with the mirrors? I felt something really special in the room with the mirrors.” We had a spirit-filled moment to talk about temples, sealings, and the eternal nature of the family. 

In an October 2010 General Conference address entitled “Temple Mirrors of Eternity: A Testimony of Family,” Elder Gerrit W. Gong states “Temple mirrors of eternity remind us that each human being has ‘divine nature and destiny’; that ‘sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally’; and that, growing together in love and faithfulness, we can give children roots and wings…In temple mirrors of eternity, I began to understand my wife and myself as children of our parents and parents to our children, as grandchildren of our grandparents and grandparents to our grandchildren. Mortality’s great lessons distill upon our souls as we learn and teach in eternal roles, including child and parent, parent and child.”

This moment with my grandma provided one of those opportunities to learn from each other and recognize the importance and eternal nature of not only the marriage between my husband and me but also the relationship with my grandmother. The contrast between the other conversations that were going on and my grandma’s unexpected understanding of the sacred nature of the temple sealing was striking. I was so grateful for that connection to her and her receptivity to the spirit. 

Temple covenants provide peace, understanding, and eternal perspective. They help us to connect our families forever. I talked in a previous post about how, just before she passed away a few years later, she asked me to do her temple work for her. I can’t help but wonder if this experience helped my grandmother gain a greater understanding of temples and increased her desire to have her work done.