"Your body is a what?"

A TEMPLE! :)  

I get so excited whenever I see the Temple off of the beltway or as I drive up Beach Drive in Kensington.  If you are with me in the car, I will usually exclaim in a high falsetto-voice, 

"Temple, temple, temple! Temple temple! It's the temple!  Ooh! Temple temple!"

Washington DC Temple

Yeah, I am still a kid at Hart... Heart!  (oh my Hart puns...)

The time on my mission is flying by.  I have realized a few things as I am nearing the end of my mission.  One of the things I continue to learn is that my body is a temple for my spirit to dwell and for the Holy Spirit to dwell.

Elder Thornton, my roommate, is pretty conscientious of what he eats and how he works out.  He understands that his body is a temple.  

As I am going towards my 22 month mark of my mission, I realize I will be home shortly.  I want to look good.  I have admired Elder Thornton and his good decisions in how he treats his body and I have tried to follow him sometimes.  I feel good when I do things like push-ups, sit-ups, eating vegetables and fruit.  
I seem to have more energy if I eat fruits and vegetables with my meals.

We can CHOOSE whatever we want to put inside our bodies.  If we want, we can eat a whole chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but it is better to fuel our body with a well balanced diet.

Remember this: Your body is a temple.

Rexburg Idaho Temple

There are things WE KNOW are harmful to our body such as Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs.  There are many things that we might be tempted to put into our body.

But remember: Your body is a temple.

Boise Idaho Temple

At these neat places called tattoo parlors, we can permanently put ink in our skin into a cool design that doesn't wash off.

Don't forget though: Your body is a temple.

Brigham City Utah Temple

When we read the scriptures, our spirit is filled with light and it effects how we act.  When I read the scriptures, I seem to be more grateful for the life and the body God has given me among other blessings.  When we read garbage, we feel like garbage.  Don't read garbage.  Your mind is part of your body.

and remember: Your body is a temple.

Salt Lake City Utah Temple

Knowing that my body is a temple reminds me that I need to keep it clean.  A temple is a house dedicated to the Lord.  It is HIS HOUSE.  We won't live in these mortal bodies forever, but while we are using them, we should keep them neat and tidy.  Organize, clean, prioritize.  The Savior Jesus Christ can dwell in these temples.

Here's a way to put ***LIGHT*** into your "temple."

I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON!!! :D

If we prepare our lives for the Holy Ghost to be there with us, He will be with us.

God has given us a body to live this mortal life with the GIFT of a physical body.  We can't change bodies with someone else, unless this is SUPER-the-future and I am oblivious or ignorant to the fact that we 

can switch with someone else.  In my day, kids were trading pokemon cards and these days, they are trading bodies?  WHAAT?!?  That's messed up man.

(The above italicized words are not church doctrine.  They may not even be funny.  Oh well, I tried.  Sorry if my thoughts are disturbing.  I am weird sometimes.)

So yeah, the whole point of that was... we can't just trade with someone else.  We have to work with what we have been given.

Here's something else.  I think many people are very judgmental to others just because of the body he or she has.  People make fun or tease because of how fat, skinny, dark, light, ugly, pretty, short or tall others are.

Matthew 7:1 says Judge not, that ye be not judged.

There is NO NEED to put others down for us to feel good.  We do not need to feel better than anyone else.  We all are special.  

Remember: EVERYONE'S body is a temple, and everyone deserves to be loved.  

Your Father in Heaven loves.

So show love. It's a commandment.

God expects us to treat our bodies (his gift to us) with respect.  

God loves us and wants us to be happy.

That's why He gave us commandments.

God has given us commandments such as to Love Him, to love your neighbor, to honor your father and mother, to keep to word of wisdom, to live the law of chastity and to keep the Sabbath day Holy.  We need to have Faith to try to keep the commandments or even one commandment.  When we keep a commandment, we receive the blessings God has attached to that commandment.  Keeping commandments will bless our lives spiritually AND temporally.
Try it and watch the blessings come.  I promise they will.  God never shirks on His end of the deal.

Try it and you may like it! :)

God gave us a power to create life.  That is a sacred power.  

God has set the bounds for which this power should be used.  Those bounds are in the law of chastity.  

Get and Stay in those bounds and you will be happy.

Here is a link to The Family: A Proclamation to the World

like choir?  Me too. :)          eeeeeeenjoy!

My life is a gift, my life has a plan,

my life has a purpose, in heaven it began

my choice was to come to this lovely home on earth

and seek for God's light to direct me from birth.

I will follow God's plan for me

holding fast to His word and His love.

I will work and I will pray.

I will always walk in his way

and I will be happy on earth

and in my home above.

We choose what to fill our body and spirit with.  There is light, and there is garbage.  True, there are the things in between,

But remember:  Your body is a temple, so keep it clean... hey that rhymed!

San Diego California Temple