Finding Comfort in the Temple as a Recent Convert

By Anne Maxson

A couple of weeks ago, our family happened to be in the temple baptistry when there was a recently baptized member who attended. I was 23 when I joined the church, and this recent convert looked to be about the same age. 

The missionaries who were with him were practically glowing with happiness for this young man, and the love they felt for him was palpable. You could sense some of his uncertainty about the logistics of the temple experience - where to go, how to position yourself for the baptismal ordinance, etc. - but the missionaries and others were there to support and guide every step of the way. 

As I watched him be baptized and then baptize one of the missionaries, I couldn’t help but reflect on my first experience attending the temple to do baptisms. My singles branch in Upstate New York had a branch temple night at the Palmyra, New York temple. I remember the special feeling I had as I entered the building, and I could sense the importance of the work we were doing.

While in the chapel later, I wondered if there was something I should share with this young man. As I thought about what I could say, I felt very clearly that I needed to share something with him. As often happens, I had delayed acting on this random prompting until it was obvious that it wasn’t random - he “coincidentally” sits next to me - or one of us is about to leave and it is “now-or-never.” My family had finished and was on the way out the door but I knew I needed to go out of my way to talk to him. Words had been coming to my mind of what I should say and I knew I would regret it if I didn’t take the opportunity to talk with him. I told my family I’d catch up after I talked to someone and went and sat behind the young man. 

I very sheepishly tapped him on the shoulder. I told him about how I had joined the church when I was 23 and that no one else in my family had joined the church. I said that even though I felt a lot of love and support from the amazing missionaries that taught me, as well as my wonderful leaders and friends in my singles branch that I sometimes still felt a bit alone as a member of the church. However, attending the temple helped with this loneliness in two ways. First, the temple helped me to gain an eternal perspective and understanding of knowing that, in fact, I wasn’t the only one in my family who had accepted the gospel. There were many others, and it was my job to find their names and complete their ordinances. Second, the feelings I had in the temple helped to allow the gospel truths to go deep into my heart and strengthen my testimony. 

I don’t know his story or if it even relates to mine that much. But I do know that Heavenly Father knows him. I hope that I was able to share with him something that can bring perspective. For all of us, the temple can help us to gain that perspective and understanding that can give us hope in uncertain or lonely times.