Temple Bound
God's children are searching in greater numbers for answers and hoping for miracles as they look to Jesus Christ for relief. On 'Temple Bound,' hosted by Will Humphreys, explore how temples offer not just solace but also powerful tools for navigating these turbulent times through faith in Jesus Christ.
Tune in every Monday to hear Will Humphreys engage with guests who bring inspiring stories, profound teachings, and insights into accessing divine guidance through temple service.
Each episode promises to enrich your understanding and strengthen your connection to the Savior in unique and transformative ways.
Whether you're seeking answers, yearning for peace, or in need of a miracle, 'Temple Bound' is your weekly spiritual refuge, helping you anchor your soul to the Savior. Join us on this sacred journey to deepen your faith and discover the blessings of temple worship.
Temple Bound
Rediscovering Faith and Healing in Sacred Spaces with Kirk and Dalynn
Rediscovering Faith and Healing in Sacred Spaces with Kirk and Dalynn
What does it take to rediscover your spiritual path and find healing in sacred spaces? In this heartfelt episode, Kirk and Dalynn share their transformative journey of visiting temples across North America. Kirk recounts his return to the church and his mission to reconnect spiritually through temple worship, while Dalynn reflects on the peace and solace she found in temples after the loss of her husband, Adam.
Key Takeaways:
- Discover how temples became a source of peace during Kirk’s faith journey and Dalynn’s personal grief.
- Explore the role of spiritual promptings in moments of reconciliation, like Dalynn’s son Chandler reconnecting with his estranged grandfather.
- Be inspired by the spontaneity and love that led to Kirk and Dalynn’s marriage, defying societal expectations.
- Learn how temple experiences, from Washington DC to Pocatello, deepen our connections to faith and family heritage.
Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of Temple Bound, and real quick. I just wanted to thank everyone who's been taking the time every week to listen to these episodes. I'm pretty sure I know almost all of you by name at this early stage in the podcast and it means a lot to me that you guys are doing this, because at the end of the day, you know what I'm trying to do here. I feel like I'm supposed to be spending this time to use any talent that I have to help bring greater awareness to the many blessings that you are being promised. I know that you are listening to this struggling with something big or small in your life and that's me and I just want you to know that you're not alone, that the temple and our Savior have created this experience for all of us to come together and to learn. And in today's episode we're going to be talking to Kirk and Delynn. Kirk and Delynn are on their second marriage. These are the first two people I've interviewed for my podcast that I didn't know in advance. These came through common friends of ours, britt and Brock Buer, who are future guests on this show. They just haven't been asked yet and they don't know it, but they will be on the show. But they introduced us to Kirk and Delynn, and it was such a special time because their journey is going to be on the surface level, about how they have been to almost every temple in the United States and Canada. We been to almost every temple in the United States and Canada. We're going to talk a little bit about their favorite temples and nuances and all those kind of surface-level things, but we're going to get very quickly into the depth as to why the temple matters to them and how it brought them together at a very painful time in both of their lives. Kirk is going to talk about his story coming back to the church. He wrote a book about it that will be promoted. And then Delynn is going to be talking a lot about how she lost her husband and how she went to the temple to overcome grieving. So themes in this episode I want you to listen for would be themes like how to find peace at the temple, how to find our Savior at the temple, how going to the temple creates greater power for us to overcome our trials, our challenges, and why, and so I'm so excited for today's episode.
Speaker 1:Enjoy the show. Well, kirk and Dylan, thank you so much for being on Temple Bound. It is such a pleasure to have you guys on the show, thank you, thank you. We're happy to be here. Yeah, and I'm so excited because you guys have something very special in your world as it comes to temples A goal, if you will. Do you mind sharing that with the audience? Sure?
Speaker 2:I'll do that. We'll just throw these numbers out really quick and just realize that it's not about the numbers, right? So some people will hear numbers and think that we go to temples just for this specific goal. Okay, but as the podcast goes, then we'll explain why. Okay, but as of right now, I've been to 110 temples. I've been to every temple in the United States except for the latest two dedicated ones, tallahassee and Casper, and I've been to every temple in Canada except for Halifax, nova Scotia.
Speaker 2:So I just need those three. So I've, and then I have a like Rome and London I've been to, and then some in in Mexico, and Dylan and I've only been married for a little over two years and when I was single and I hadn't been active in church for like 20 years or something and I got a divorce and then some miraculous things happened and I came back to church and I at that time wanted to go to the temple because I knew that I needed to go to the temple and I was excited to go and there was an elders quorum president who had been to almost 50 temples and he says and I had made you know over the years decided that, depending upon where I lived, I should have attended the temple X amount of times. So I lived in Idaho Falls, rexburg. So I said, well, I should have gone to the temple at least once a week, okay. And I lived in Montana, bozeman. I go well, maybe I can get there every three months, maybe, so that would be four times a year. And I kind of did that. And I go, well, maybe I can get there every three months, maybe, so that would be four times a year. And I kind of did that and I said I want to make up for all the times that I missed going to the temple, that I felt that I should have gone because I was inactive. So I started going to temples and my elders quorum president said well, why don't you start going to different temples? And so I said oh, I'm going to catch you, I'm going to different temples. And so I said oh, I'm going to catch you, I'm going to try and get 50 temples and catch you.
Speaker 2:And then it just became a thing that every time I was on a trip or going somewhere, I looked at where the temples were and I made it a point to try and go to that temple on my trip, whatever I was doing. I worked in the oil field in North Dakota a little bit and sometimes we'd have to drive equipment from North Dakota to Texas and Texas back up, and so Oklahoma City or Kansas City and I would plan, or Winter Quarters Temple, and I started doing that. And then all of a sudden I caught up to him and next thing I knew I had almost all the temples in the United States. So I would post them. Sometimes, not all the time I would post pictures. And Delynn was married to my friend Adam and she would see those posts and Adam passed away from COVID a couple years ago.
Speaker 2:And then when Delynn and I started dating, I never thought about dating her or anything. It just one of those things that happened. Heavenly Father brought us together and she said, after being without Adam and being single and going to the temple by myself, that must have been lonely like going to the temple. Yeah, I went to Hawaii to go to the temple and I was there by myself and it's not very fun driving on the North shore looking around or going to the temple in La'i or whatever, however you say that and then thinking I have nobody to share this with, it's just me going to these temples. And so then I asked the Lynn when we started dating how many temples she'd been to, and she then I asked Lynn when we started dating how many temples she'd been to, and she'd been to seven, you know, like Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, newport Beach, san Diego and then of course some here in Arizona.
Speaker 2:And then we just kind of talked and she goes I'd like to go to all those temples as many as you've been to, and I said, do you want to make that our thing. And she said, yeah. So it was in August two years ago. We started going to the temple. The first one we went to was Mesa, and since then, in that two years and four months, we've been to 84 temples together Amazing.
Speaker 1:It's such a great story too. What I love about it is that, again, you're not making this whole thing about like, hey, the numbers are what matters. The motivation is a lot deeper, but it's become your thing, and I love, kirk, how you talked about how lonely it can be to not have someone to go to the temple with or share parts of life with, so it's interesting how that came together. So, del Dylan, from your perspective, when you met Kirk, in this new light of someone you're dating and you heard about that it sounds like you were intrigued by what he was doing. Was it something that interested you right away, or was that something over time, as you dated him, that you got interested in?
Speaker 3:Well, I was definitely when I about a year after Adam died, I was starting to date and I was looking for somebody that that was important already in their life. I didn't want to be somebody's ball and chain. I was already a temple worker. It was important for my healing. I have some amazing stories of experiences being in the temple and the things that I experienced. It's kind of hard to explain sometimes.
Speaker 3:But, so when we decided to start dating, I was like, yes, this is the kind of man I want to be with that's already doing it on his own, because we're still in charge of our own salvation. We can't pull our spouse and make them do what we want, and so that was important. I was excited.
Speaker 1:So you lose your husband of how many years? Almost 35. I mean, that's a relationship and a half, that's a whole life. And then, out of nowhere, you're on your own. And so the temple, it sounds like, was a huge part of your healing. And so you knew, hey, this is the priority for me, moving forward. And so when Kirk shows up in that light, you had seen his travels and you knew that the travels were like that's cool and exciting. But it wasn't about that. It was about what mattered to him in that regard.
Speaker 1:So it feels like an interesting bridge between you know, that relationship that was your whole life up to that point, all the way into knowing which path to take in the future, which is Kirk Exactly. Wow, how beautiful is that. And so, as you guys are going through this I mean immediately I think a lot of people are listening to this. Obviously, this isn't for everybody, right? Not everyone who has a recommend should set this up as their goal. But I also think it's really cool that you guys have personalized this journey and these things called miracles that can happen by going to the temple, by finding something that really speaks to you about it.
Speaker 1:Kirk, I'm going to go back to you for a second. You know it's interesting. We just met around this and, although we're fast friends, normally I'd be really hesitant to ask you anything about your past, but Kirk has gone ahead and published a book about his past and it's an amazing story called my Prodigal Story that I loved. I think this book is phenomenal and I highly recommend it to anyone who is going through a faith crisis or someone who's coming back in some way and maybe struggles in that regard. So my question to you is this why did you feel like it was necessary to make up for all those times that you could have gone to the temple versus just start fresh, like what was that about you that made that kind of your focus?
Speaker 2:Well, I always had a testimony and, even though I got kind of led astray maybe by my ego and worldly things, I got off track. When I got back on track, I just feel like I had to make it up for myself. Right, and yes, there's going to be people that listen and say, well, heavenly Father doesn't require that, which is true. The moment that we ask for forgiveness and turn to Him, we're on the path and we're forgiven and we're right there and that's good enough. We don't have to make it up.
Speaker 2:But for me, one of the reasons was because in my patriarchal blessing it said you will go to the temple often and there receive great insight into your life. Wow, okay, and that was something that I had in my patriarchal blessing. So then I thought, well, I haven't been going to the temple, and if there is really ever a time that I need great insight into my life, it's now I need it. I gave up everything that I was, or who I thought I was, or what I was trying to be, and had to totally reinvent my life and change my life, and I knew that I needed to go to the temple in order to get that. And that's what the patriarchal blessing kind of gave me and I'll tell you a story about that here in a little bit, about that quest to do that and then not always getting answers. And then the answer that I got one day yeah, why don't you share?
Speaker 1:You want it right now. Let's do it Okay.
Speaker 2:Well, so, being single and trying to get on with my life, I would keep going to the temple all the time and I went all the time and I ended up finally after living here in Gilbert and meeting Deline and her husband, adam, and then moving away and I would still keep in contact with them. Then I was up in North Dakota and I would take my mom to the temple on my, on a. You know, I'd have a day off and we would drive from Minot, north Dakota, down to Bismarck and go to the temple. And it's one of the smaller temples, and every time I'm going to the temple I'm saying prayer Heavenly Father, where am I supposed to be? What do you want from me? What's going on? And then you know you're single. You can't find a good person that likes to go to the temple, or someone who keeps their covenants, or someone who has the same goals or feels the same way about the church that I do. And you date people and then all of a sudden they say something and you go okay, yeah, this isn't the person, because they don't feel the same way. Just the same thing with Dylann when she met me and decided to start dating. She didn't have to say, well, I want a guy that wants to go to the temple, but Kirk already wants to go to the temple. And this is something. If I say, let's go to the temple, we go.
Speaker 2:And I came out of a session and my mom was in talking to the people because she was a temple worker in Bismarck, and I went to the temple and I got out and I walked out to the car and I opened up the trunk and I was a little upset, because sometimes people go to the temple and they think, heavenly Father, I want it right now. Yeah, you just got to give it to me now. And I have learned that Heavenly Father likes to teach me patience, so I don't always get my answers right away. I don't. I have to fight and I have to wait. I'd waited years, right, I changed my life in 2009 and now it's 2017, 18 around there, you know, and I'm up in North Dakota and it's like I'm still single.
Speaker 2:What's going on? My life's not moving forward. What's happening? And I took my temple bag and I threw it in the trunk and in my mind mind I said, well, I didn't get anything out of that, and I slammed the trunk down and then one of the most beautiful things that has happened from going to the temple was all of a sudden all this stuff just flooded in my mind and the spirit was like you didn't get anything out of that. I look after your kids for you, I do things for you that you know nothing about.
Speaker 2:And all of a sudden I just had this vision of just all the people I've done temple work for, being guardian angels over my kids and over me and helping me out in ways that I didn't know that I needed help, or protecting me from dangers in my life or protecting my kids. And it was like it's a wonderful life, like Clarence has to earn his wings, and it's like do we think that we just go to the temple for our ancestors and they get baptized to get their endowment done, and then they just walk into the celestial kingdom and they just sit there singing praises to Heavenly Father? They probably sing praises thanking Him for you know for what our Savior did for us in that opportunity. But they get sent on missions, they do things for people whose names are on the prayer roll. They get sent to help us out, and I think that's that power that President Nelson talks about learning to get power from on high, and people go what is that power? That power is our ancestors and being able to ask them to help us and call on them.
Speaker 2:And at that moment I said I'm never going to the temple just for me to get some answer. If Heavenly Father wants to give me something, he will give it to me, but I'm going to go and do work for my ancestors and I know that they will help me when I need it most and that if I do need help, I can call on them and pray and ask for their help. And they have helped me. And that's what I've learned from that. And so I say, okay, if Heavenly Father wants to give me direction and great inspiration in my life, I'll get it when he wants to give it to me, but otherwise I'm going to go to the temple and just do the work for my ancestors and just leave it at that. And then I have learned to start calling on help from our ancestors and learning what that power from on high is. And it's not huge miracles, it's small, little miracles, little things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that, kirk. What I love about what your story highlights is a couple of things. The first is this concept of patience. I love the story of you throwing your bag in the trunk because that's me. I have had those moments, without a doubt, where I have just struggled with something, multiple things over my life, and I want relief, I want an end and I feel like I've done what my part is.
Speaker 1:But right now, this week, as we're recording, this is a couple of weeks before Christmas in 24, and we're studying Moroni and we're studying how he was out in the wilderness all alone, and if there was ever a human being who ever had an opportunity to just like throw his hands up and be like, come on, this was a man who was completely on his own and he stayed obedient and he just kept going patiently. And we don't know what that individual journey was like. I'd like to think that he had his temple bag in the trunk moment in the forest, whatever that was, but at the end of the day, just like you, he stayed obedient. And how could he have known, through the atonement, that that effort was going to get magnified to where literally millions and billions of people were going to be impacted by the words that he wrote on those plates. In those moments of loneliness and despair and, like in your case, all of the while, the Lord knew that there was a Delin in your future.
Speaker 2:I know I was going to say that because you got to be patient. And I used to tell my bishop, like when I'm trying to go through the repentance process and go to the temple and do things, and they put me off. Like they got a new bishop and they said I want you to wait for the next bishop to come in. And I was like mad. I was so mad, I want to go to the temple, I want to do this, and he goes no, you need to wait or whatever. And I was mad.
Speaker 2:And then I used to tell the new bishop and I go, well, at least the pioneers, they had a destination. They knew what their destination was. They knew what their destination was. I don't know what my destination is, I can't see anything. And I was a pessimist and I was just upset. And then, just the other week, two weeks ago, when we were walking into church and I'm holding Dylan's hand and I just had a moment, sun was shining, it was beautiful and I thought, okay, so the pioneers knew they were going to the Salt Lake Valley and Kirk. If you would have known that, you could be here hand in hand with Dylan and been to all these temples and be having a beautiful life. Was that worth it? Was that worth the wait? And I said yeah, but it just came flooding into me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the blessings are so amazing how the Lord in his own timing and it's always richer and more beneficial. Delane, one thing that you kind of alluded to is that you know you're mourning the loss of your husband and you went to the temple for comfort and you said there was a couple of things that had happened there. Do you feel comfortable sharing anything that was an experience that you'd had in the temple that may have created some comfort for you?
Speaker 3:Yes, I can. He's pointing to my phone because I read him a Facebook post I wrote three years ago in December. But before I read that, one of the things that usually some of my biggest spiritual experiences in the temple are the paintings. Usually some of my biggest spiritual experiences in the temple are the paintings, and I had an experience in the Gilbert Temple. It was about January three years ago. I was an endowment coordinator and so I was on the early, early shift, which means most people get there for the 6.50 am prayer meeting. But when you're the endowment coordinator, you have to be there for people going through the 6 am session.
Speaker 3:So that means you have to be there at 5. I had to leave my house. You know, quarter to 5, 4.30. So you're up.
Speaker 1:Super early.
Speaker 3:Really early and I walked in to the chapel. They had changed all the paintings in the temple that week and I didn't know this and I had had some experiences where the pain was so excruciating it would actually physically hurt in my chest and right here in my forehead. It was so painful. One day I got home from the temple and I was really struggling. Sometimes I'd leave the temple feeling like I can do this. I felt refreshed.
Speaker 3:But this one particular day in January I just had so many burdens with my children the things they were struggling with and trying to figure out financial things with the house and I decided I need to take a nap.
Speaker 3:I was overwhelmed and I was like I need to go to sleep and I remember that pain in my forehead. I woke up where you're still asleep but you recognize you're awake and there was like a light right there, like while my eyes are closed, I could see this light. It was incredible and I just felt this healing. I can't really describe it, but when I walked into the chapel there's a painting over the pulpit and the Savior's standing there with His arm extended and a woman is kneeling at His feet and right over His head is that light and the Spirit just washed over me like that was Him. Every time I look at that painting that's a reminder of that healing that I got, and the thing I was going to read is kind of long. So when you edit this you can decide, no, you're fine. So this was one of my experiences.
Speaker 2:Do you want to preface that with the story leading up to your post, or does your post say my post kind of describes all of it.
Speaker 3:I just read it to him because I don't even know if you're on my facebook during that time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it came up in a memory and I read it to him. So, december 2nd 2021, yesterday, I brought lexi is my middle daughter to los angeles to meet her byui roommates for them to go to the bts concert for those like me in your 50s, it's a korean boy band, actually super great music. And they have a to meet her BYUI roommates for them to go to the BTS concert. For those like me in your 50s, it's a Korean boy band, actually super great music. And they have a dance move like the slide move that the Osmonds and the Jackson 5 used to do. I know that really dates me. I'm the Uber driver and hairstylist in this deal.
Speaker 3:We got here and it was dark and the fog was rolling in actually physically rolling in and emotionally, that dread, dark feeling, fear. I wasn't afraid of anything specific, but I have learned fear and grief feel the same, so it gets all mixed up together and I feel terrible. I dropped the girls off at SoFi Stadium to buy merch, as they call it In my day it was to buy a concert t-shirt and started back to the hotel. I just had this overwhelming feeling. I was near the LA Temple, so when I got off the 405, I pulled into a parking lot and looked on maps. I was five miles from the Temple. I got an appointment for this morning.
Speaker 3:I'm writing this after I went to the Temple for this morning. But then I realized all I brought were jeans and leggings. I could have walked in like that and I would have been welcome. But then I realized all I brought were jeans and leggings. I could have walked in like that and I would have been welcome, but I'm old school. I thought where can I find a skirt? I looked up from my phone to think and I was in the Target shopping center. I went in, bought a dress, got up early and headed to the temple. What an amazing experience. The memories kept flooding in. The last time I was in the LA temple was about 29,. 30 years ago, after McKenna died. We had a daughter that died also.
Speaker 1:Oh, I didn't know.
Speaker 3:To think. 30 years later, I have now experienced the unthinkable. The temple today, with all the fog, was like a lighthouse in the dark. The light shining and guiding me home was my thought and the Lord letting me know I am not here alone. Grieving is like living life in fog. We used to live in Tulare, california, when McKenna and Tinley were born, where the fog is so dense in the winter we couldn't see the high school just across the street from our apartment. It felt like we were in the wilderness, but we were actually right in town.
Speaker 3:That's how my life has felt since Adam died, holding on to the iron rod, feeling my way through this path and journey and not willing to let go of my covenants and my knowledge of this glorious plan of salvation. The fog all around me, my feelings of home and trying to remember that home are what I'm seeking, as well as the path to now undertake. I'm thankful for the knowledge I have a Savior, jesus Christ, who suffered and died just for me so he would understand me and know how to help me. This life isn't home. That's the beautiful understanding I learned in the temple, my premortal life, my life here and then home. I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz the tornado, the disarray ofortal life, my life here and then home. I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz the tornado, the disarray of my life and feels like a house was dropped on me. I'm not lost, I'm just finding my way. I'm looking for my lion, tin man and scarecrow to walk alongside me, learning and growing all the way, taking me back, walking me to Emerald City, Finding a future, because I just don't know what I'm supposed to do now. I have dreams of serving a mission with my husband. He's serving one. Without me, I'll keep walking on that yellow brick road. I'm on my way. I'm walking towards home. I'll see what I see and what the Lord wants me to do now. Today I got a peek at Emerald City and it's glorious. I have a lot to still learn.
Speaker 3:When I left the temple, I spent some time in the visitor center and talked and cried with the couple who serves there, then went out to my car. I started to laugh at the car Adam bought and was delivered while he was still in the hospital. Those thinking why did a man his age buy a minivan? That's a story for another day. I'm a truck girl. Then I remembered the Toyota app. You have to name your car. I named her Ruby. Even my license plate when it came shows I have Ruby slippers. My Ruby's license plate is DMA Dillon Marie Albright C. It says DMA slash 5EE and to me, when I look at it, it says Delimbre. All Right, See, when I got the plates in the mail I laughed. I'm beginning to see better than before and see things as they really are and can be, not just how I think they should be. He left me ruby slippers, a card named Ruby for safe travels and plenty of room for those that are willing to ride along the yellow brick road of life back to Ambo's city with me home.
Speaker 1:Wow, it's amazing how much life has changed in these last three years for you guys, and thank you so much for sharing that, delynn. As people are listening who might be struggling with loss, what would you say to them in terms of Temple and what you've experienced in this journey? Go to the Temple, temple and like what you've experienced in this journey, go to the temple.
Speaker 3:There's power there that sometimes we don't see. If we just occasionally go, we're always blessed with it, keeping our covenants, understanding them. But I feel like working in the temple and going on top of that weekly and doing work for my ancestors, it created a power that as I look back I can see it made me stronger. But while you're going through it, sometimes you don't see it. Because you want that instant relief, I want this to go away now. But I feel like, because I just kept moving forward and going, it was a blessing.
Speaker 3:They asked me to be in endowment quarter because I had to actually show up. I couldn't just call in sick and go. I can't deal with this today, and so I feel like in the temple serving, like I said, some of the paintings, I would have these spiritual insights that came because I was there and sometimes we just have to walk forward and do it and then we get those blessings. And if I hadn't been there, I think it would have been easy to become more cynical and angry, and I really was fighting that because I had children that were watching me.
Speaker 1:Man. Isn't that a big part of it? You know both of you guys and your story too, kirk. You talk about your kids, how they were, this inspiration for your coming back to the church and your kids, and what a wonderful example that both of you have set in terms of this temple-centric worship that you guys have built over your lives, and then to see it merge the way that it has is so beautiful. So thank you for sharing all that, dylann, and you know, kirk. One thing that you said too, that Dylann just mentioned a little bit about, is this power. You know, when you're referencing it, Kurt, you're talking about like ancestors being angels. I just want to quickly state that when I learned that that's part of where we generate that power from going to the temple is basically, I call it, I'm a recruiter, basically in my professional world.
Speaker 1:I think of going to the temple as recruiting. I am freeing ancestors and relatives to do the work that they need to do to help me and my children, and I think that's why I'm so passionate about it is because when I made that connection and, by the way, I was looking for a miracle about three years ago, dylann, and so it kind of touched my heart to think that you were working in the temple. Maybe there was a day where we were there at the same time and I was looking for my and you were dealing with your grief and we didn't know each other from Adam. No pun intended, that's funny. Yeah, not intentional, but we just were there.
Speaker 1:And here we are, all three of us coming together now, and the way that you guys have transformed this into this thing about visiting temples is so powerful. So, kurt, from your perspective, having gone to all these temples, what is different about your temple experience having gone to so many? Is it different? Like, when you go to that many different temples? Does it give you a different perspective on things? Like, what is the difference between doing one temple that many times versus seeing that many temples? I'm sure there's a difference.
Speaker 2:Well, we like to go because just to see where the temple's there, and then we get to meet some of the workers and hear their dedication and their sacrifice in order to be there. I mean, we live five minutes from the Gilbert Temple, so you know, I can get home from work and I go. I got nothing going on, I'm going to go to the temple and I can just go, whereas when we went to Winnipeg, manitoba, and they're saying, yeah, before we got our temple we would have to drive 12 hours to Cardston or drive down to Minneapolis, st Paul to go to the temple and they would do it and they were so blessed to be able to only drive, I mean, just down the road. Now a guy said, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm all. I'm like two hours from the temple now but I can come and serve. Or when we went to Oklahoma city and there's a couple that would drive down from Wichita which they're going to. There's going to be a temple in Wichita and they're excited about that, but they drive the three and a half hours down, they rent an Airbnb for the week and then they work in the temple one week a month, the entire week, and then they go home and that's their sacrifice, that they do in order to be temple workers. And the ordinances are the same. The things are the same. Some of the temples are different, the decorations are different. Those things are fun things to look at and to enjoy because they're trying to make the temples, you know, fit in with the regions of what's going on and we find that interesting and that's fun and that's things that we talk about. But it's mainly the people and the temple workers that are there and seeing their dedication and seeing how thankful they are when a temple does open in their area that's closer to them.
Speaker 2:When we were in Minnesota, my brother died and that was in my book too. He died a few days after he was baptized and I thought of my parents. We went to my brother's grave and we cleaned off the headstone and we were talking about that experience and then we were thinking my parents were converts and then they got sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. That's where they had to go to get sealed. They lived so far away and then they're in Minnesota and their son dies and they couldn't just up and go to the temple and get some comfort, or how can they go and remember what their covenants were that they made?
Speaker 2:It might have been five, 10 years since the last time they went and did an endowment session or an initiatory session. And when we go we get reminded every time, right Every time, and it's repetitive, but it's getting in you and seeing Heavenly Father's plan of what it is. And we were just amazed that there's so many temples being built closer to people and we just thought of my parents. We're like, what did they do? Like Delynn, her husband passes away and she can drive five minutes from the house and go to the temple and try and seek relief. And then here's my parents back in the 70s and they're in Minnesota and what do they do?
Speaker 1:They got to go all the way to Salt Lake City. It's amazing how the world is shrinking and you have the capability. I wonder what your parents would think of this initiative. Like to people who are alive today, this is really cool that you're able to go and you have some cool things that are unique in your world, like you work for allegiance, some things that you can leverage to help you get that done. But just the fact that there's that many temples and that they're all these different places, that is such a wonderful gift. It's almost like you're the way.
Speaker 1:I heard you say that Kirk is that one of the reasons you're doing this is because it reminds you of the sacrifice. Like there's a way in what you're doing here that number one helps you connect to the children of God in different cultures, communities, and you're learning about that, which is so cool. But the other thing is, too, it's keeping it fresh. You know, like everything else we do in the church, there's a lot of repetition involved and I think that one of the dangers that we fall into when we live so close to a temple because I live five minutes away as well I've got it timed to where, within an hour, I know when to leave at a certain time of day to get back within an hour completely done with initiatory. It's like I've got it hacked, you know.
Speaker 1:But like, what do you get out of that? Versus like taking it in, being intentional with, like seeing what's around us, and so when you travel, I think that pulls us out of our bubble, our comfort zone. I really like that. Yeah, oh good. Well, that's what I heard you saying.
Speaker 2:But no, but it's making me really think about that even more now. Like we're going to go to Fort Wayne, Indiana, because Allegiant flies there, but we're going to drive down to Louisville, and that's four hours away, Sure, and then come back up to Indianapolis, but then think about the people who live in Fort Wayne. They got to drive two hours to a temple you know to at least get to Indianapolis. Any of those people in those areas and and we live so close, right? Yeah, absolutely. And so if I can get back to a thing about ancestors helping out, yeah, absolutely. And so if I can get back to a thing about ancestors helping out, yeah, absolutely. I'm going to give you a little miracle that happened with us just recently. That's kind of top of mind.
Speaker 2:So, with Adam passing away, he doesn't really have anybody doing temple work on his side. Okay, Sure. So I don't know, five or six months ago I came home from the temple one day and I said Dylan, I said give, give me some of Adam's names. I feel like he wants me to do or I need. I just feel it inside. You know that I need to do some some of his names. And she goes, okay. So he gave me some names and I had some good experiences and I think people who are listening to this podcast and who go to the temple, sometimes you do a name and you get to the veil and you can really feel it like they're there with you. Sure, and other people maybe not so much, and I had a few of those people that I felt like that.
Speaker 2:So Dylann has a son, Chandler, and he's struggling a little bit and he was trying to set some goals. And he's struggling a little bit and he was trying to set some goals and Dillon had to ask him to leave the house, kind of make him be a big boy and support himself and take care of himself, because he wasn't doing very good after his dad passed away and she found the only thing that she could do was give him some money, give him dad's old car, 4Runner, and say you're on your own, I got nothing else for you, I can't help you. So he in his life was kind of like me way back when, starting to see the way life is and go, I got to change, I got to change my life. So he calls and says, hey, mom, I need some money, I want to go to this school up in Idaho, I need some money.
Speaker 2:And she's mom I need some money, I want to go to this school up in Idaho, I need some money. And she's like I already gave you everything I could give you. I can't give you any more money. I don't know what to do. You're going to have to figure it out, and that's hard for a parent to do Hardest thing Hardest.
Speaker 3:For any person to do.
Speaker 2:For anybody. Oh yeah, I agree with that 100%, I mean and she'd forgiven debt that he owed right and gave him money and said that's kind of like your inheritance Go. I'm sorry, I can't do anything. And so we're praying about it and I said, all right, heavenly Father, we need a miracle. What do you we want?
Speaker 1:to help Chandler. But we know it's not going to help him, to just give him money.
Speaker 2:But you're at that point where helping hurts, right? Yeah, so please help us with our ancestors or whatever. Help us. Then I went to the temple a few days later and I came home and I said dylan, I think the chandler needs to call his grandpa. Now, chandler does not have a relationship with his grandpa. This is Adam's father, right? Okay, adam's dad didn't even come to Adam's funeral.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, that pretty much defines that, yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, your son passes away and you don't come to his funeral.
Speaker 3:There was some problems.
Speaker 2:Right. So there's problems there. And then you don't have a relationship with your grandkids and I said I just, I just feel he needs to make that connection.
Speaker 1:You have no idea why, if anything, it didn't make any sense for him and she said and Dylann, what did you say, dylann?
Speaker 3:I said that will never happen.
Speaker 1:Right, you knew the background and you lived in it. Right, you knew the background.
Speaker 2:She said no, she goes. No, she goes, no, she goes. He already feels, with some things that happened at church and stuff already feels rejected from church and if he calls his grandpa and his grandpa says no, then he's going to feel more rejection. That's not going to help. So she said no, okay. A couple of days later I come back from the temple and I'm like delin chandler needs to call his grandpa. She's like no, that's not gonna happen, I'm not gonna do it. And then he calls and asks for some more money. You know, and I go. We keep praying about it and I say delin, that's what he needs to do. I go. The answer is already no. Just call him and ask him. Tell Chandler, okay. Well then Chandler wants to go to this school, needs the money bad enough and is desperate enough to reach out to grandpa.
Speaker 1:Desperate right yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, and I said to Dillon, and I said don't you think that we need to let our ancestors whisper in grandpa's ear to help him and maybe say you can help your grandson, right? And maybe that's why and I only put this together now, after what happened, because to have faith enough that the ancestors that I did work for, maybe that's why I felt inspired to do that so then they go to their grandson, their grandson, which is Chandler's grandpa, right, and say, hey, you can help your grandson. So all of a sudden, we were on a temple trip. I don't remember where we were. We get out of the temple and we're driving down the road and dylan's like oh my gosh, oh my gosh. And I'm like what, what, what happened? I'm thinking something bad happened.
Speaker 2:And she goes jean is gonna give chandler three thousand dollars for that school to go to school. She goes. He called him and told him what he was doing and he wanted to change his life. And he said I'll give you the money, man. And I'm like that's a miracle. And that's what she said she goes, it's a miracle. And I said I told you, I just felt like he was supposed to call his grandpa, but now, because of that now he has. He's building a relationship with his grandfather that he never had before. And now he's building a relationship with his grandfather that he never had before. And now he's gone to the school.
Speaker 1:And he, by the way, also feels this sense of independence because he's not going to the source, he's going to his own source which, by the way, could have well just been any other stranger at that point in his life other than that connection.
Speaker 1:So he created. You guys did that leadership role of like we feel like you should do this, and it doesn't. You know what I mean and so I love. But I also love the part that, like Kirk, like this is like you're owning this, as if it you know what I mean Saying like it's so easy when, when we're in these relationships, when they're you know, second marriages, where there's some boundaries and we don't know if own there's such a unity here.
Speaker 1:It's kind of going back to the temple. What we learn is this deep, eternal connection that binds us to where you're loving this family. But you'd also have some nice distance to be okay with the miracle, because if I was in your shoes, dylan, I would have been like no way, no way, why even try? We're just going to stir more problems because we're already in this rocky place, so why would we send him down a dead end? Yes, that's such a powerful story. Yeah, I love that man. Okay, so I have. I have a number of like kind of. So, listen, I love this. Okay, I have a couple of rapid fire questions for both of you, since you guys have been to so many temples. The first is, more before we get into the rapid fire. The first would be do you guys have desires? After you see all the North American temples in the United States and Canada, do you have goals or aspirations to want to go international?
Speaker 2:Yeah, probably Europe would be the next one.
Speaker 3:But we'd also like to go on a mission, so we don't know which would come first.
Speaker 1:Got it Okay. So the goal is to see all these temples in American Canada, and you're almost there, but you're only another 20 or so away from hitting that since you've been married.
Speaker 3:So we're looking for miracles for retirement and going on a mission too, Okay putting it out there to the universe.
Speaker 1:Retirement mission and hopefully hit some international temples while we're at it. Okay, so first of all, favorite temple, Favorite temple Out of all the temples you've been to do you have a favorite?
Speaker 3:um, probably because it's so personal the las vegas temple. And the reason is is because it's a long story how we got there, but we decided we were talking about getting married. We'd call all the kids yeah getting married with a big wedding was a little on the stressful side. I had a daughter in Idaho. He has a son in Florida. Getting everybody in the same place. Chandler was struggling with me getting married period Not necessarily to him, but just the grief and we called all the kids.
Speaker 2:And we'd only dated a couple months.
Speaker 3:Right, and they already knew him, so it wasn't him, it was just oh my gosh, this is happening.
Speaker 1:I can only imagine, guys. I can only imagine to have your parent like falling in love with someone. New, right it was weird for them. It has to be.
Speaker 3:So they loved him, but they were also. My oldest daughter would say but can you live together? We love Kirk, but can you guys be married and we're like I don't know?
Speaker 1:We kind of have to try it.
Speaker 3:No one ever knows you don't know, but it's different when you're older. It's a little scary. There's more at risk, there's more life habits, things that you-.
Speaker 1:Routines are dialed in. You have these adult children and you have those routines dialed in and do those intersect or conflict Right.
Speaker 3:And his kids have always wanted him to get married. They were happy, but my kids the grief interfered a little. So we called the kids. We were on our way to Las Vegas. That's such a long story why we're struggling with how and when to get married. We were never together long enough to get a marriage license. On a weekday we were heading to Las Vegas to go to the temple and we just decided we were just going to get married and I didn't really want to get married in Vegas. But we were on his way to his nephew's, who lives there.
Speaker 2:And I was going to fly back to North Dakota. I had come down to go to Las Vegas and play golf with a friend and then I was going to Albuquerque. Dylann said I'll drive to Albuquerque and then meet my brother and my sister-in-law and we went to the Albuquerque temple. We went to the snowflake temple because we're just dating, but we had gotten up in the morning and and we talked about we might want to get married because we like talked on the phone all the time.
Speaker 2:We got this book called. So you Want to Get Married and they have all the questions and every young couple needs to get this book and you have to answer the hard questions. Some of the questions we didn't have to worry about because we weren't going to have any kids, right, right and all that other stuff. But we talked about everything over the phone. Every time we were together we would go over these questions and we got up and we were doing our Come, follow Me. And it was the Old Testament and the first scripture. It said he that doeth that which is lawful and right shall live. And all of a sudden the Spirit just hit us. It's like I looked at her and she looked at me and I said Are we supposed to get married today?
Speaker 1:No way, seriously, you're in Vegas. You said that, well, we're on our way to this, but you're in Vegas.
Speaker 2:And we're like, yeah, I think so, because we were trying to figure out if we were going to do it at Thanksgiving or Christmas, you know, and this is October 26th, all right, so she starts filling out online the Las Vegas thing. Because it's a weekday and we're together, I'm going to fly back to North Dakota the very next day and then she's going to drive back to Gilbert. Okay, so I called my nephew and I had been an elders quorum president up in Las Vegas, and he called the guy from the state presidency who was a bishop over the singles ward so he could marry people. And so, brother Alexander, so he called him and he said, hey, do you still have your certificates? You can marry people. He goes, yeah, he goes. I think Kirk wants to get married today and he goes. You tell him I'll be at your house 5 o'clock Just let me know Amazing.
Speaker 3:But we decided we called the kids and talked to them, we called him, we filled out the paper for the marriage license. But we decided we weren't for sure going to do it until we went to the Las Vegas temple, and so we decided we'd do initiatories and then meet in the celestial room.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:And we'd pray about it separately, without each other being there to influence each other, or whatever.
Speaker 1:You got an answer. You got an answer, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So the reason that is my favorite temple not only is it where we decided to get married, but when I walked in, kirk was sitting on the couch and this is a celestial room that's all white with a little bit of silver and there's only a handful of temples that has a painting of the Savior in the celestial room and when I walked in, there is a painting of the Savior with his arms outstretched and I looked at that and I felt the words in my mind I've healed. You Go and live, go and have joy, just go and be happy. And I just knew right then it was the right decision to just get married and not fuss with the whole wedding thing and the awkwardness that it would put our children kind of in and just let them slowly get used to this.
Speaker 1:It's almost this healing of letting go of the expectations of, of formality, because in that sense all that really mattered was already achieved. And then by having that done and having it just be like, oh it's over, like for your children, right for it to be like oh, that's that nothing, nothing was different.
Speaker 1:There's no, nothing to anticipate because it's already done right and there's, and I feel the same, like like that reality, that gift that I've already healed you and your kids. You know that kind of thing, or I'm in process with your kids. So you have an interesting answer to your favorite temple Kirk. After that story, I hope it's Las Vegas, for your sake, it's not.
Speaker 2:There are many things I love about a lot of different temples. Like, let's say, the foyer of the Ochre Mountain Temple has two stairways, that kind of meet down in the middle and you go up to the chapel and then they have the endowment rooms on either side, with this railing that goes all the way around, and then the celestial rooms on the front side and then you come out of the celestial room, then you walk back down the staircase, so I love that. Oh wow, then you walk back down the staircase, so I love that. But probably my favorite celestial room would be the San Diego temple. And let me tell you why. Because I said something to a worker at the San Diego temple and they never, they didn't even realize this.
Speaker 2:But we took a road trip to go to Lubbock and we love Lubbock. Lubbock is one of the smaller temples and it has the spire, but it has glass on the spire underneath the Angel Moroni, so it lets in the natural light into the foyer and then a big, huge glass window that looks into the baptistry but it lets all that outdoor light in right there in the foyer and that's beautiful. And they have this really dark wood and that one's great. And the theme of the Lubbock temple is the sun and wheat. And so you go in the celestial room and they have different shades of the sun at times of the day, with the rays shining down in, and when we were there the sun was in a perfect spot where the sun was just shining right in the celestial room and it was beautiful.
Speaker 2:But I would say San Diego, because on the way to Lubbock we had stopped at Carlsbad Cavern and the stalagmites and stalactites. I've been there, I know all about it, right, yeah, well, when you're in the celestial room at the San Diego temple and a lot of people don't notice it, you got to look around and there are small pillars of stalactites coming down from the ceiling along the walls and then all of a sudden they stop at different heights above the ground. And I looked at Dylan and I said look at the outside of the San Diego temple, all the spires are reaching towards heaven. Like I want to be there with Heavenly Father, I want to be there with God, I want to feel His power.
Speaker 2:But here we are in the celestial room and you have these stalactites, it's heaven reaching down to you into your life in the celestial room. That's a beautiful story and it is beautiful. And now they're redoing it and I hope they keep those stalactites in there. And then I had mentioned it to one of the temple workers and they hadn't even noticed that they go what? And I go. Oh, I love your temple, it's so great and I go. What do you love about it? And I go the celestial room. The way the stalactites are coming from the ceiling, it's like heaven is reaching down into my life. Now that I'm in the temple I'm that much closer to Heavenly Father's power and to feel Him in my life. And the guy goes. I never even thought of that that is so powerful.
Speaker 1:You know it's amazing because all these temples have these regional influences. You mentioned a few already, Kirk. Is there any other uniqueness? When I say unique aspects of temples that you've seen, is there anything that comes to mind from other temples that stand out, like the Lubbock Temple with the sets of the sun, or the stalactites in the San Diego Temple? Is there anything else unique in other temples that you see?
Speaker 3:Well, along that line of the stalactites and stalagmites. While we were in this doing this, after we were in the slusher room, we went and did a sealing session and I started looking at the altar and the chandelier that's over it.
Speaker 3:And I felt the same way. You've got the chandelier with one little drop of crystal coming down out of the bottom like a drop of dew from heaven over the stalagmite coming up, and they're almost touching and that's the ceiling altar, and so to me that was really special. I think the other, like I said, mine is usually the feeling I get with some of the paintings. So the Washington DC temple.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:That is one of our favorites. So they just redid that temple and there was a man I can't remember his name now he painted a painting just for that temple and it's huge. I can't even describe the size. It's life-size.
Speaker 2:Wow. And what's it about, it's called His Return.
Speaker 3:His Return and so when you, they have an annex. So when you go behind the recumbent desk, there's a long glass hallway into the temple and it's got seating all along. You know, and as you're walking down that glass hallway I guess you would call it you can see this painting at the end and when you stand next to it, the Savior's life size. And then I'm standing next to it and it's a painting of Him coming to the earth and it kind of looked like Arizona.
Speaker 1:You know Sure.
Speaker 3:He's coming and there's the desert and he's got got his red robe and behind him is all the angels and the man that painted it. He used every nationality of the world in the faces of the angels.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's awesome. It's called His Return. Yes, and if you get on YouTube and you look it up, they have like Elder Stevenson and maybe Elder Cook I could be wrong or Elder Renlund when they were going to open that up. And just look up Washington DC Temple Open House and they have like a little 15 minute video and at the end they show that painting. But it is so beautiful because when you walk into that annex and you give your temple recommend, they have the stained glass of the tree of life and then you can go around either side right, the right side or the left and then you come around that corner and at the end of the hallway there's the Savior waiting for you At the end, like life size, bigger than life. That's all you see. The frame of that whole hallway is that painting and then once you get there, you're looking at it and then you're looking at all these angels and then you turn around and you look back the opposite direction down the glass hallway.
Speaker 2:But they strategically put mirrors on either side and they just have them angled enough. So when you look at either mirror, there you are standing with the Savior mirror, there you are standing with the Savior, and it's like the Spirit is saying I want you right here with me when I come for my second coming. I want you to be with me, and isn't that what it's all about, like doing our temple work for our ancestors so they can be standing with us while we're standing with the Savior when he comes again. Standing with us while we're standing with the Savior when he comes again. So, yeah, I'm glad you reminded me of that. There are so many different things that are just beautiful.
Speaker 3:The other favorite is Pocatello, because I had experience after Adam died, and this is to talk about my ancestors too and how they help us. But their stories also help us. So I have one side of my family that's a pioneer, one side that's a convert. But my dad's side, that's a pioneer. My family ended up in Canada, alberta, canada after they came to Salt Lake. They ended up going up there and they were part of the Cardston LDS building the temple and I didn't really know a lot because my family moved to Arizona. So we'd go up there in the summer and I'd see all my family. But they didn't really talk about this pioneer side. They talked about this one that was baptized by Wilford Woodruff. But then on the other side of the family that same family there was a single sis, a widow, who came on the Martin Hancock company with her three kids, and her 11-year-old son is my third great-grandfather and I never knew that story and I remember I would get up in the morning and go out in my backyard and read my scriptures and do my come, follow me and pray.
Speaker 3:It was the only way I could function and if I did that I could go to work. I could function. I'm a hairstylist, I have to be up, I have to be happy, and so I started a habit of doing that. And one day I was really just pity party sitting in the backyard just feeling sorry for myself and her face came into my mind. Sorry for myself and her face came into my mind and I thought you're such a brat, dylan. You live in Gilbert Arizona, you have a home. I'm sitting in a backyard with a swimming pool and I think my life's hard, like this. Woman came from England by herself with her three kids on the Martin Handcart Company and made it All of them were alive.
Speaker 1:And they saw endless people die on that trip.
Speaker 3:Yes, starving. And when I walked into the Pocatello Temple there's a painting. That's a Minerva Teichardt. I don't know if you're familiar with her paintings. She did a lot of the murals in the Manti Temple.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay in the Manti Temple and she has a lot of pioneer paintings and there's a life-size painting of a handcart, the woman's walking, it looks like an 11-year-old boy and there's angels around them unseen angels and I just started crying. I was just like that's what I pictured, just angels helping us. But we don't see them. We hope they're there. We have faith they're there. I feel like we can call upon them. I mean, we're reading Moroni right now. Moroni 7 talks all about these angels and we have access to them, and so I think by going to the temple, it strengthened my testimony that they're there. Have I seen them? No, but I see these small little miracles that we've already talked about, that I know they're there, I believe it, I have hope.
Speaker 1:Well, and you have both walked the path of trial in every form. To me, what's inspiring about today's episode is the idea that we don't have to go to all these different temples to get that access. And there is so many different ways to see our Savior. There are so many different ways we can connect to Him through our ancestors and other brothers and sisters on this planet, by experiencing their cultures and seeing how they're honored. And so, at the end of the day, I think what you said there is poignant and a great way to kind of just bring us to close is that by going there, we get the unseen ancestors and angels to give us the support we need to overcome our trials. So, guys, thank you both for spending this Sunday evening with me. I am so grateful for this very sacred opportunity to talk to both of you. Any final parting thoughts before we wrap up, kurt.
Speaker 2:We just love the temple and we have a testimony that if you go to the temple, that Heavenly Father will heal you and that, even though you don't see the end from the beginning like I wanted to, that in the end you might not get what you think you want, and I might have chosen a bunch of different things, but where I'm at right now is exactly where I need to be and where I love to be, and I'm thankful to be here and I'm like I didn't know I needed. I didn't know I needed what I have.
Speaker 1:And what?
Speaker 2:he gave me is so much better, and I leave that testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:How about you, Dylan.
Speaker 3:I guess I can just bear my testimony about the healing power of the temple and I agree he gave me something I didn't know I needed. I think that that's part of the healing. I feel like we get to also make choices in our life and I felt very early on. I had this vision, kind of as I was praying one day about where to take my life. It was two roads and I got the distinct impression that the Lord was telling me I could choose either path. If I wanted to stay single, He'd help me. If I wanted to seek being remarried, he would help me. And it made me realize just how much he gives us agency to choose our life and he's going to help us. He's going to help us along the way. And I feel like I can't always describe my feelings, but the temple is where I have felt my deepest grief and my highest joys.
Speaker 1:Wow, thank you guys. Well, thank you both again for being on the show. And final thoughts. As you're listening to this, listeners, I just want to thank you guys for tuning in because, at the end of the day, we're all looking for a miracle, and I know that Kirk and Dylan shared some experiences that are going to guide you as you're going through not just current trials, but future trials. They've overcome insurmountable situations only to find the Savior. They're looking for them and helping them and providing an outcome that they couldn't have dreamed of. So thanks for tuning in, until next time. Thank you for listening to today's episode of Temple Bound. If you enjoyed today's content, please leave a review and share the episode with others so that people who are looking for this information can find it. Thank you again for listening, until next time.
