Temple Moment: The Lord Was Mindful of Lisa
Contributed By Mark Burkinshaw, Church News contributor
The Houston Texas Temple windows with foliage in the foreground.
“It seems now to me that the Lord is more aware of the details of our lives than we are.” —Mark Burkinshaw of the Houston Texas Summerwood Stake
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On August 1, 2014, our daughter, Lisa, was endowed in the Houston Texas Temple in preparation to serve in the California Bakersfield Mission. After she was endowed, we came outside to the cornerstone because it was a special place for Lisa and our family.
Fourteen years earlier as the Houston Texas Temple was being prepared to be dedicated, my wife and I spent a lot of time and effort on the temple open house. We were excited that our two older girls, Danielle and Stephanie, were going to be able to attend the dedication because they had both been baptized. Our youngest daughter, Lisa, was only 7 and therefore could not participate in the dedication. This was a concern for me and our family because Lisa was going to be left out of something the rest of us really looked forward to. Consequently, we looked to the Lord in faith that He would help us and especially help Lisa. Many prayers were offered in her behalf.
One Saturday morning in late August of 2000, I felt prompted to round up the family, get in our Sunday best and head up to the temple. Our family loves the temple and before long we were there.
There was a choir singing and just after we got there, President Hinckley dressed in white came out of the temple. We all gathered around him because he was going to finish the building of the temple by applying mortar to the cornerstone. Before he started, he addressed those gathered around and asked if there were any children in the gathering that would like to come forward and help him.
Lisa was one of the lucky children selected to come forward and help President Hinckley apply mortar in the cornerstone.
Two years after the dedication of the Houston temple, our family was able to travel to Illinois to the dedication of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.
Eventually Lisa was able to participate in a dedication of a temple and experience the great spiritual outpourings that accompany dedicating a house of the Lord.
She was able to serve a mission and help others to come unto Christ as a first step to eventually find themselves in the house of the Lord. After returning from her mission, she also served as an ordinance worker in the Houston Texas Temple.
I have often thought about these experiences that it is remarkable that the Lord could be so mindful of a 7-year-old girl. It seems now to me that the Lord is more aware of the details of our lives than we are. He is always willing to bless us. We just need to stand in holy places.
—Mark Burkinshaw is from the Lakeshore Ward, Houston Texas Summerwood Stake
