We feel so blessed to be living here in the heart of New York City serving as missionaries in the Manhattan Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We serve a 7-hour shift in the temple every day it is open, typically Tuesday through Saturday every week. We support the temple presidency and local members in the surrounding areas of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in providing sacred ordinances which bless both the living and the dead. We enjoy a wide variety of responsibilities from administering and recording ordinances, to cleaning and doing the laundry. In all we do, our purpose is to promote the great latter-day work of salvation for the dead, and to encourage and bless the local Church members. We serve patrons who speak a dozen different languages. Many of our most faithful are Spanish speakers, and Elder Hawkins is especially helpful with them. Sister Hawkins has extra duties in the temple office.
"Surely these temples are unique among all buildings. They are houses of instruction. They are places of covenants and promises. At their altars, we kneel before God, our creator, and are given promise of His everlasting blessings. . . . Here we set aside our own selfishness and serve for those who cannot serve themselves. Here, under the true priesthood power of God, we are bound together in the most sacred of all human relationships--as husbands and wives, as children and parents, as families under a sealing that time cannot destroy and death cannot disrupt."
Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, August, 1974
Marriages performed in this "sealing room" are for time and eternity. Ceremonies are sacred and simple; they are attended by only the closest friends and family. Afterwards, couples can greet more friends and well-wishers in front of the temple. Passersby on the crowded sidewalk shout their congratulations, and drivers on busy Columbus Avenue honk their horns.
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| Temple work blesses both the living and the dead. Through family history work we discover our roots, and our lives are enriched. In April Sister Hawkins made connections with a fifth cousin, and they shared the opportunity to perform ordinances in the Manhattan Temple for common ancestors. |
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| When two of our grandchildren, Meg and Tim, came to visit, they performed ordinances for some cousins from the 1800s. We were so pleased to be able to share with them the spirit of this work in the "House of the Lord." |
