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
Finding Refuge & Connection in the Temple with Derek Johnson
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Derek Johnson as he shares his powerful testimony of the blessings of temple attendance. Derek recounts personal experiences of miracles, divine connections, and spiritual protection that have strengthened his faith and transformed his life.
In this episode, you'll discover:
- How consistent effort in the temple leads to gradual yet powerful spiritual growth.
- How God orchestrates divine connections and shows He is mindful of us.
- Overcoming Challenges and Returning to the Church
- How prioritizing the temple can bless families across generations.
- How the temple serves as a true home where we feel the presence of our Heavenly Father.
Derek's inspiring story will leave you motivated to prioritize the temple, overcome obstacles, and experience the undeniable blessings that await those who seek a deeper connection with God.
Hello and welcome back to another episode of Temple Bound. My name is Will Humphreys and our guest today is just a regular guy. Derek Johnson, who's our guest, wanted to make sure and when we were doing our pre-interview that people knew he was just a regular guy who had extraordinary experiences. As he started to increase his temple attendance and his worship, it became very evident to him that the more he put effort in, the more he started to see and connect to Heavenly Father and the Savior. This episode is very special to me because Derek overcame a lot to get to this episode and film these stories with you. These stories are inspiring because they're just normal stories of what can happen to anyone. When we just consistently put forth just a little bit more effort, the Lord is able to unlock the door in the windows of heaven and pour down blessings on us.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited for you guys to listen to this episode, so enjoy the show. So, Derek, thank you so much for being on the show today. You know, when we were talking just before we hit record, you had really expressed the desire to to share something today through the Holy ghost. That would really mean something to the people that were listening. Would you mind sharing that again, that thought of like what your intentions were by being a guest on the show.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I I feel like I'm just a regular guy who, uh likes to go to the temple, uh, who has made a conscious effort to go to the temple and as I've done that, I've watched changes in our lives and my own life and the life of my wife and I as we've gone together, and I just feel like I just hope that we can say something that inspires someone to attend to the temple a little bit more, maybe a little bit more intentionally, and really open themselves up for spiritual experiences and draw themselves closer to Jesus Christ. I think that's. I hope we have something to say that will help that. I guess that was my goal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love that you shared that. The reason I asked you to share it is because I was touched, as we were preparing for this, that you really were coming from a place of service. So I believe that there's someone out there who's listening to this show today who is going to hear something that they need to hear. So I hope, listeners, that you'll pay close attention, because there's been a lot of prayer, a lot of effort that's gone into this episodes that you can receive the message that you're meant to receive. And you know, derek, obviously one thing that the audience needs to know is that you're Kirk's brother.
Speaker 1:Kirk Johnson and his wife were on a couple episodes back at the time of this filming and he had that goal and has that goal of seeing every temple in the United States and Canada and he's just about there and you were able to see that journey from the sidelines, as you know, as his brother, and hear his comeback to church story in those elements. And I just wonder, from your perspective, what was that like for you? You know, to hear his journey coming back to the church? Obviously, you were there and you lived it.
Speaker 2:It has been a really remarkable journey. The one thing I will say is that it's been really, really hard. It's been really hard for him and I know he's had a lot of dark times and a lot of challenges coming back to the church. And the one thing I would say is that as we look around at people in our wards, at people we may not know, sometimes people are visitors and we don't know them. Sometimes we're the ones who are new or trying to come back.
Speaker 2:And he shared with me one time it was all he could take sometimes to stay seated, not just get out and walk out. Many, many times he just had that feeling and he's always had a testimony of the church and of Jesus Christ. It's just that pathway to repentance and that pathway to come back for him has been very long, and I know it's very long for a lot of people, and so I guess extend grace and mercy to those around you and for yourself If you're coming back. The one thing that really is solid for him is his temple attendance. That has really helped ground him and recreate a foundation for him that he really needed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that temple connection that you guys share is is really powerful, because that's the reason you felt inspired to be on the show is because you had a very strong experience, a set of experiences in your world that have changed. I loved how you said I'm just a regular guy and I think you know. If there's a theme for today's topic is regular people having not irregular but extraordinary experiences in the temple. Like we're very capable of having these experiences that can change us and help us bring us closer to the Savior. Happened in your world that started changing this Like cause. Obviously you'd been going to the temple for years, but do you know why? Things started evolving for you over time? What was it that was the impetus for your, your increased attendance and setting goals and all those things that you started doing?
Speaker 2:Well, we lived in Wisconsin and we were about four hours to the temple, you know each way. So, um, I remember we were in the Chicago Illinois temple district and, uh, between where we lived, chicago Illinois or St Paul, minnesota we're about the same distance. Um, and I remember going to the temple one time with my wife she was, uh, working on a master's program, a little bit out of the out of the direct path to the temple, and I just said, honey, we really need to go to the temple, I really feel like I need to go. And we took that time and went to the temple and you know, it ended up being 10, 11 hours during the day on a weekday. We got in very late and, um, you know, I just was like, oh my gosh, that was so worth it. I'm so glad we did that.
Speaker 2:My daughter was at school, at um, byu and, um, my oldest, she really puts a lot of pressure on herself, she's a high achiever, she's really really puts a lot on her plate and she's like, oh, I have this test, I have this paper and I'm working and I have to get to the temple yet this week. And I, you know I'm being a wise father, I thought I was. I said you know, honey, maybe if putting to the temple is putting that extra stress on you, I said, maybe make the goal and go three times a month instead of every week, that way if you have a week like this where you really can't make it, you don't beat yourself up too much. And she said, dad, I don't want to get in the habit of not doing something that I'm I know I'm supposed to do. And I was like, uh, okay, uh, scratch what dad just said, forget about dad's bad advice. And uh, you know, to hear, to hear her want to go to the temple and know that she needs to go to the temple was something for me. Anyway, we ended up moving down here to, uh, the New Mexico.
Speaker 2:The temple now is 53 minutes from my door, from the door of my house to the door of the temple, and I said I need to go to the temple more and so I made the goal to go once a week. Um, so I started doing that and a lot of times I would just go to the temple just because I had the goal. It's like, well, I have the goal, I'm going. They closed my temple for one of those extended cleaning periods, so like six weeks, right, I said, man, I really miss going to the temple. And I realized that when I said that the temple had only been closed for two weeks, wow, and I thought, okay, it's having an effect on me that I didn't even realize that it was having and that really kind of increased my resolve to continue to go.
Speaker 2:And we were at, we were skating, there was a young men's activity or youth activity and we were ice skating and, uh, I was really having a hard time with these skates. I go, I don't know what's going on. I'm not that bad of an ice skater. There is some problem here. And I kind of looked at the skate and I'm like you know what? I don't even think they sharpened them, I think that they're just they're hockey skates and they weren't sharpened.
Speaker 2:And I thought let me go around one more time, I'll go around and if I'm having that much trouble, I'll go through the hassle of going and exchanging my skates. And I slipped and fell and I went directly back onto my head. So you know my I didn't touch the ground with my arms or shoulders, I went straight back to my head and, uh, I got a mild concussion that day and I thought, in my line of work I've seen plenty of people with head injuries and they can be really devastating. And I just thought to myself, wow, that could have been so terrible, that could have been so devastating. And the words in my mind came you were protected because of your temple attendance, which subsequently increased my resolve to go more.
Speaker 2:Because, these two things really reminded me of the power of the temple. One, I didn't even realize that it was having an effect on me in perceptible changes, I suppose. And the other one was a direct correlation. Like, this just happened and this isn't a devastating tragedy for you and your family as you're going to the temple. So that's been that. So we've decided to. You know, I go to the temple weekly. I've we've decided to. You know, I go to the temple weekly.
Speaker 2:But something I heard in a general conference talk and I couldn't. I couldn't find the reference and they had talked about going to the temple while on vacation and I thought, oh, I'd never really thought about that. So so we started to do that. We said let's, let's go to the temple while on vacation. So, um, when we go to some places, we'll, we'll go, oh, we'll definitely have to go to the temple. Like, I'm looking, I was looking for a place for spring break coming up and I'm going. If there's no temple there, we're like we're not going. You know, we we want to go some nice beach place but also has a a temple nearby.
Speaker 1:What a switch, by the way, what an amazing switch Because you were going from like yeah I don't go to like I should go because my daughter's setting a good example for me, to now it's like you're picking your vacations based on this, because of these small but perceptible changes that have added up over time for you. That's pretty amazing to think about how that's shaped your travel world. Now you know you just you want to go experience these temples in different ways.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, last, last year we were in Seattle in the fall. We were in Seattle and we went up to the Vancouver temple in British Columbia. So we were only up there for a day. We drove up, went to the temple, went around Vancouver, coming back and coming across the border, the border, the immigration control guy says, you know, what were you doing up in Canada?
Speaker 2:And I said, well, our church has temples and we like to go to see these temples. They're different than a regular meeting house. And he kind of stopped me and he goes. So you're kind of like on a little temple tour or something. And I looked at him and I go are you a member? And he goes, yeah, and I go, yeah, we're doing, we're going to do, we're going to do six temples up here in Washington and Portland, uh, and this week, and he goes. That's really cool. He goes, I want to do, I want to do Thailand, I want to go to the Thai temple and my screensaver on my phone is my son's on his mission now, my son and I in front of the Bangkok Thailand temple from last year and I showed it to him. I showed it to him and avoided them taking apart, taking apart our car and strip stripping down our car, looking for contraband. So I guess that was good.
Speaker 1:It was a good like inside thing to make sure you cross over the border safely. But tell me, tell me about this Bangkok Thailand trip. What was?
Speaker 2:I would love to hear about that experience of going to Thailand and experiencing the temple over there. We, you know the first thing, when we decided, we found, you know, like a cheap trip to Thailand and we said, well, we got to go to the temple Right trip to thailand. And we said, well, we gotta go to the temple right. So, um, it was like a 25 hour flight by the time. We left, uh, out of here and got into bangkok and, um, so the first night we were going to go to the temple. I already made appointments in the temple.
Speaker 2:So we uh went to the hotel and changed and went over, went over to the temple and you know, in some of the busier temples here you'll get like five. You know you can only do five names, you can only do 10 names or whatever. And so we're kind of ready for that. We're like, okay, you know, we'll do five names. Everyone brings some names and if they'll let us do more, they'll let us do more. And we went into the temple and, um, the, the sister, comes over to me and says, are you willing to stay here longer and do you have more time? And I'm like, yeah, I mean, this is what we're doing this Saturday night. This is what we're doing. We're here.
Speaker 1:Aren't you like jet lag at this point, Derek? Aren't you like super tired? And jet lag I mean cause I've, I've gone to Southeast Asia Like that's not an easy thing, yeah.
Speaker 2:Southeast Asia. Like that's not an easy thing. Yeah, no, no, yeah, we're pretty tired, but this is what we're doing. So we it was. It was amazing. And she said, well, will you stay longer? And we said yeah, and a young woman came in and she said, can you help this young woman do the names that she brought in? And and we said, of course, and how many of you have? She had 50, 50 family names she brought in. We helped her do those baptisms. We helped her in the confirmation.
Speaker 2:My son had been complaining about his achy shoulder. My son, who's on his mission now, does a lot of weightlifting and he'd been complaining to me for three weeks that his shoulder was hurting. And he goes in and does 50 baptisms. He comes out of the water and he goes Dad, my shoulder doesn't hurt. I'm like, oh, good, good. And as we go into the changing room he kind of says something like, so that's what it's about, right, dad, just meeting, like doing all that work for a family. And I go yeah, yes, you felt that I go. Well, I felt it Just the spiritual experiences that he was having.
Speaker 2:We did confirmations and then I asked the sister we'd like to go upstairs and see the celestial room. We'd like to look around. She goes okay, we'll wait here. And I knew we had to change. And so someone else came along while we're waiting and they said oh, you know, I told them we'd like to go upstairs and look in the celestial room and they said oh yeah, we'll take you up and show you where you need to go. And we found the lady who had been down in the baptistry earlier when we were up there. She misunderstood us. She thought we wanted to do ceilings.
Speaker 2:It's a. It's a Saturday night, at eight, 39 o'clock at night. She's upstairs Wait, no, we haven't slept in a day and a half a little on the plane. She's upstairs looking to see if someone will help us do ceiling. And I'm going okay, yeah, this is what it's about, right? She's not like oh, it's time to go home, we're closing down. She's like no, what else would you like to do? And it's one of those experiences that that we will always remember that just simply would not have happened if we'd not gone right. And I think that's what I'm finding. A lot is that if you just go, just go. It's not like a miraculous thing, it's not that hard, like it's being in the right place at the right time.
Speaker 1:Wow, I love that. I want to punch that really hard that the power of going to the temple is just being in it, like there's definitely things I've talked about on other episodes about preparing and all these things, but consistency and effort trump all Just showing up. I love the simplicity of that, derek, just being able to walk in there. And I will tell you, you know, I relate to you, derek Like most of my temple experiences have been very normal.
Speaker 1:Experiences over time have created a change in me that I can't describe. But this last week, this last week, man, I have some tremendous pressure in my personal world going on and it was palpable. But when I walked into the temple, immediately feeling this calm, internal calm that I did not have before, and I think part of it is that it's almost like there's no effort involved. Our spirits are actually, that's, our home. So I almost wonder if our spirits just naturally commune with the other side when we're there, naturally and organically, and then all those wonderful blessings start to open up for us just because of that obedience. And it feels to me like that's you know, again, I see the effort you put into that with your family, derek, this idea that, like, I mean, that's a long trip. You guys were exhausted. Your son kudos to this guy for being open for it, because that's why the Spirit was able to testify so strongly to you guys and this wonderful temple worker who just modeled heaven of like.
Speaker 1:You want more. Let's do more, because this is urgent. This is important. If you've got the strength, let's go. And Mia, what a powerful experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, a lot of times we're there, I feel, for ourselves, obviously we're doing work for others, but we also never know who we're there to touch. So when my second daughter was about to go on her mission and we went to the temple for the first time again, we were at the time we were in the Chicago Illinois temple district and I said, hey, we've never been to the Nauvoo temple or done an ordinance there, so let's go to the Nauvoo and we're sitting in the Nauvoo temple. They brought us in in the session a little bit early, because it was my daughter's first time, and a couple walked in who was about to get married, and bit early because it was my daughter's first time and a couple walked in who was about to get married, and so we were sitting there, we had some alone time with them and, um, we asked we're beginning to talk to the sister. We always make connections where are you from? You know, what do you do? Who do you know? You know, and, and the world seems to be really small. So this sister served her mission in my mission in trujillo per, peru. My wife is from Trujillo, peru.
Speaker 2:So we start talking with this sister who, you know, recently finished her mission in Trujillo, peru, and she started saying, well, you know, were you ever in this area? And yes, I was. And do you know, do you know so-and-so? And do you know Jorge Silva? And she says, oh, yeah, he was the bishop in my last ward, in my ward. I was in for a long time, he was my bishop. And my wife says, oh, that's my brother. Connection of yeah, not only did like my wife is from there, I served in her mission, but no, that's my brother. That was the bishop while you were there working right. So I'm down changing after our session and they come into the locker room they say is Brother Johnson in here? Brother Johnson, I'm like, okay, yeah, you're wanted upstairs, I'm going. You know, okay, um, you're wanted upstairs going, you know, okay, what does this mean? What does this mean? Um, we were invited to a ceiling, um, this young sister who is getting married, and it was really a beautiful ceremony. And I don't find out till later that, as my wife continued her conversation with this, this young woman, this young woman really had had some doubts that morning, to where, kind of in frustration, maybe desperation, she says to God, do you even know who I am. Do you even know I'm here? No-transcript.
Speaker 2:A couple of weeks ago we were in the Birmingham Alabama temple. I went to see we went to see a friend also from Peru. We went to see her. I lived with her family when I was a missionary. They had missionaries staying in their home and so that's where I stayed and we've kept in contact.
Speaker 2:She's older now and so we said would you like us to take you to the temple? We want to go to the Birmingham Temple. We've not been there before. So we go to the Birmingham Temple and after a session I go outside. I'm kind of walking the grounds, uh, waiting for my wife going. Why is she taking so long? And uh she comes out. She says, oh, guess who? I guess who.
Speaker 2:I ran into, um, the daughter of some friends of ours that we knew from wisconsin and they live in Utah, we live in New Mexico and we ran into their daughter in the Birmingham Alabama temple who was really homesick and just needed a friendly face.
Speaker 2:And she saw my wife and we took her out to lunch and we spent some time with her and we felt some impressions of things we needed to share with her. And again, this goes for me, anyway, it just goes back to uh, you were in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing, and I was going to do that Birmingham temple a couple of weeks prior on a work trip. That ended up getting canceled. And so I said you know what? We made the promise to go see this lady. We should go, we should go anyway. So let's go, we'll just go. A couple of weeks later, the one day this young sister was in the temple she serves in the temple once a month and that's the day we're there. So this is what my brother and I would call a 100% non-coincidental coincidence.
Speaker 1:I got to say that, hold on. I got to punch that A 100% non-coincidental coincidence, Non-coincidental coincidence.
Speaker 2:You know, I think as we watch God's I I just really feel really strong about that Just being in the right place. You know, making that effort is really, I felt, paid dividends.
Speaker 1:I agree, I think there's something so powerful. This is why you know it's amazing how the Lord's hand works in these things, because you know we hear miracles and truly, like there's a there's this thing called coincidence that you guys were jokingly referring to it as a hundred percent non-coincidental coincidence, this idea that like that's there's only so many times where you can, where I have gone into these experiences, where I have these moments of like wow, that was a really rare coincidence that just so happened to communicate to my heart peace and love, and it's one of those things that I could tell it to other people who maybe aren't, you know, a member of my faith. And they go wow, that is really rare and how special, but what a coincidence. But when you're living it and you experience it over and over and over again, it's just that's why I think I wonder if that's one of the reasons why we're told to keep going back and go often, as often as our circumstances allow, right, because the more we go, it's not a matter of like, hey, you need this to bless other people, it's like no, we need you to know. You know what you can't see unless you're going.
Speaker 1:And this idea you know when you're going, like when you went to Nauvoo, for example Derek, I love that righteous to go to the temple and you just felt like you need to go to Nauvoo. It wasn't like this big angel going, derek, you need to take your family. It's because you're already committed to doing something righteous that I don't think it requires a lot of effort from the other side of the veil to go. Just go this way, and then all of those angels on the other side are coordinating and conducting these things to where, at the right moment, when a daughter was going to predictably question whether or not God even hears her voice, that there would be such a non-coincidental coincidence that would show up for her to remind her that the Lord is so mindful of her.
Speaker 1:And just that joy her, and just I want that joy. I know I loved how it started with your daughter being like, hey, I just want to keep doing the right thing. And you just have a layer after layer of evidence, evidence of of of the spirit working in your life to tell you hey, your attendance matters not just to you but to a lot of other people yeah, I, I agree, agree, and a lot of times I really really do is just being in the right place, and you'll see these tender mercies that are there all over.
Speaker 2:They just seem to really abound when you make the temple a priority. We were blessed to go back to Peru for the dedication of the Trujillo Temple.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And so we're like, well, we have to go, right, we have to go. So we got into a session and my wife, because she grew up there after the session everyone's so quiet, like you're just really quiet, no one says a word and no one looks around. You're just eyes, quiet, no one says a word and no one looks around, you're just eyes forward. So after the dedication ceremony, my wife kind of leans forward and says to me she looks around and she goes. I can't believe this.
Speaker 2:I grew up here and I don't recognize a single person in this whole room. I don't recognize any of them. And then she kind of leans forward and looks oh, except her which sitting next to me, but on the other side of the aisle was a woman, nancy, that I baptized 25 years prior to that Gosh. So she's sitting right next to me during this, during this thing, and I'm like, okay, I'm sorry, that's not happenstance, it's just it isn't. You know, and the more these kinds of things happen, you just go, okay, if I, if I do the right thing thing and try my best to follow those promptings, we really have amazing experiences and, yeah, it was a really beautiful experience to see her in the temple with me.
Speaker 1:What was that interaction like? Did she remember you? Tell me a little bit more about that and what that meant to you personally she did.
Speaker 2:Well, she did remember me because, uh, we had been there about five years prior to that. I thought I should take my kids down there and, we, believe it or not, ran into her again. Um, uh, I was getting money from the atm, we were going to go to a movie with my wife's family and, um, this lady walks by and says, oh hey, I think I think Derek baptized that that woman. I'm cause it was in her ward. She remembered her and she goes, I'm going to go see if that's her. And it was. So we had this beautiful embrace that I got to, you know, uh, hug her and she just, you know, burst into tears. And, uh, my mom was there with us and, um, you know, this lady is thanking my mother profusely for letting me come on a mission, uh, to find her.
Speaker 2:Um, and so, you know, about five years later, now I see her again in the temple. So we had, we had connected from you know, about five years later, now I see her again in the temple. So we had we had connected from you know previously, but it was still pretty amazing. I mean, if you look at it, go. Okay, my kids always play this game when they're on trips. What are the odds? And I say what are the odds that this happens? And you know they throw out odds. I'm like, really, what are the odds?
Speaker 1:it's just pretty amazing and then to keep rolling those odds over and over again. You know, one experience I'll share quickly with you that relates to this is I was two years ago. I was asked to speak at girls camp here in Arizona, and that took. That was a very heavy ask for me because, although I'm comfortable on stage, I don't have any daughters. I have no idea what I'm going to say to you know 12 to 18 year old girls about life, and it was something that weighed very heavily on me, and so I went to the temple often just to try to get guidance.
Speaker 1:And the day the day before I was, I was going to go up. I woke up early that morning with a strong idea that I needed to go and I live very close to the Gilbert temple and so I got up, got dressed, I went down there without a reservation and I didn't have. It was a busy day. I was going to work all day and then drive up late that night, but I was up extra early and so I was just doing initiatories to kind of just fit them in, and there was a brother sitting next to me in the chairs who was waiting, who also didn't have a reservation, and he turns to me and he's just like man. I woke up this morning and I needed to be here today that's why I don't have a reservation and I went man, that's me too and so we started talking and it turned out that this brother was someone I had never met before. He was giving, he was speaking at young men's camp where my boys were going to be the next day while I was at girls camp.
Speaker 1:And we're sitting there, not knowing each other, being called in totally different parts of Gilbert Arizona, to go to the temple.
Speaker 1:And so when we were there together, there was an immediate what a 100% non-coincidental coincidence that I'd be sitting next to the brother, that we would even start talking, that we'd even make that connection. And he turned to me and goes I feel like you need to say this and I had something for him to say. And then I will never forget that there's something about the way that, when we choose to stand in holy places, that we find ourselves standing with the right people that we need at that moment, whether we plan it or not. And it's so beautiful how, at the end of the day, the most special and sacred miracles we experience are these things called connections you know like, yeah, like the. The chances of that happening were so rare, but to me will always live. Like the. Your stories have you been telling as a testimony that Christ is just mindful of us and that he is surrounding us with not just people we see, but people we don't see, to help us?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I agree, I agree with that 100%. You know, since COVID, where now we have to make appointments for the temple. It seems, because of my work, some days are busier than others or some days get prolonged, and so you know I go, okay, I'm going to go during the week and someday I go. Ah, I can go tomorrow, tomorrow I'm going to be able to go, so I'll quickly make an appointment and I'll look and go. Everything will be going fine in the morning and then turn into a disaster in the afternoon and I'm like, every time I make an appointment, you know it becomes something frustrating, tries to keep me from going. It's, it's crazy.
Speaker 2:And, um, I made this appointment and I and I I was running late and like I know I'm running late, uh, and I made an appointment to do some ordinances. That you know, if you're late you may not get to do as many, but you know they're usually pretty accommodating. Um, but in my head I had all worked up. You know the lecture I was about to receive for well, brother, you should have been here 10 minutes before your time and I'm fighting traffic to get the temple and all this stuff is going through my head. It's really frustrating.
Speaker 2:And I'm going. You know I'm sorry, Satan, today is not your day, Cause I'm, I'm going. I may not like it, but I'm going, you know. And uh, his mission. He just looks at me, dead in the eye and I'm ready for the lecture, like I've already got my defense argument up, I've gone, don't be contentious, but be borderline contentious. And he just he looks at me and says Brother Johnson, thank you for coming to the temple today, thank you for taking your time to be here, and I'm like I'm so sorry that I'm late. Can I please just quickly change? And whatever you can do to accommodate me, I'll accept, I'm fine with that. And he goes. We're just happier here.
Speaker 2:And I will say the way he said that to me, it really felt like God was saying that to me, like God was saying I saw and appreciate and love your efforts thank you for doing what you can to be here and I just I mean that Thank you for doing what you can to be here and I just I mean that changed my entire day. It has changed, you know, weeks. It has changed how, when I'm going to the temple and I am rushed and I am getting the opposition to just kind of keep going, just keep my head down and say I'm going to go, I'm going to do the right thing. Lord wants me to be there. I'm trying to be there. He knows what. I'm trying of going and being accepted.
Speaker 2:And I think we beat ourselves up quite a bit I know we do in the church, I do it too and if we would just say hey, this is the Lord, right, this is the Lord, the prodigal son is returning and he's not standing there, going. Gee, you're late, he's running to you. And I think we need to view and remember that's the character of God, that's who he is, right, he just wants you to come. He just wants to come home. He just wants to give you a hug. Give you the fatted calf, so come home. He still wants to give you a hug. Give you the fatted calf, so come home. Come quicker, but come home. I think I'm feeling that more and more through my temple attendance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's touching to think that there's no wrong way to go home, right, like you know, late, imperfect, inconsistent, consistent. Just God is so grateful that you're there. I know for me. I think about my own kids. Every parent can think about what that feeling is like when, on a routine level and they're a little bit older, they come home after being out with their friends and you're just glad that they're home safe, especially if they're on time. And then you get other things. When they start leaving home for longer periods of time or even leaving the house permanently and they come home, that feeling is just something you can't communicate, right, and it's small compared to what our Heavenly Father must feel every time we make an effort. He's not this angry God that has been painted by the adversary of a judgmental, shaming, minimizing individual. He is the embodiment of love and just. I love that reminder that he's just grateful we're there. There's nothing, there's no agenda beyond that. He's just excited to see us.
Speaker 2:I think so too. I think so too. Agenda beyond that. He's just excited to see us. I think so too. I think so too. You know, I, I, since we've um, since I've made the goal to go to the temple and we've made going to the temple like part of vacations and part of you know, hey, we're going to a temple, this is what we're doing.
Speaker 2:Uh, I really watched my kids, who are now all out of the house, um, be temple focused, and I'm really appreciative that they'll take pictures of where they are and where they you know where they were. I'm at whatever temple today and they'll, they'll take a picture. And, uh, about two summers ago, on the same day, we had kids in Pocatello, idaho, provo, utah and Paris, france, all at the temple on the same day and I'd go. Okay, I guess that makes a parent very happy to watch them do that on their own. I'm not calling them up and saying, hey, are you going? They're doing that, and I think it's important for us to show that to our kids that going to the temple is important, that making time is important and sharing nice experiences that we have in the temple with them, too important, and sharing nice experiences that we have in the temple with them too, and I think they're seeing it.
Speaker 2:I mean, my son, who's on his mission in Brazil, hence the Brazilian flag says the other day he's got plans to go to BYU Idaho and he goes how many temples are there, dad? And I said, oh, there's one. And he goes, oh, that's not good, like well, why? And he goes, it'll be so busy I won't be able to go very often. And I go oh no, don't worry, they're building another one right there. Um, but the idea that he's on his mission, already thinking when I get home I need to make sure I'm going to the temple, really kind of warmed our hearts. This this past week when we got to talk to him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think there's a real common theme in our discussion today, Derek, of coming home.
Speaker 1:I think that's what's ironic, because I filmed another episode right before this with Mitch Johnson and that was one of the major arching themes that he was talking about was the temple and how it's like coming home and just the welcomeness of it all, and so I love that you shared these stories, Derek, regarding you know, the non-coincidental coincidences of your life and the miracles that have happened, not just in the way that you've been blessed, but the way that you've blessed other people. I think, as people are listening to this, I just hope that they remember that the only thing that matters in life is family and God. That's the only thing that matters, and that temple is a great chance for them to be able to connect with that. So, as we wrap things up, I would love you know this is Temple and Family History I would love for you to leave a few words, if you don't mind, to your descendants, your kids, your grandkids, your great-grandkids kids you haven't met yet. What would you want them to know about your love for the temple?
Speaker 2:I guess I would want them to know that by going to the temple I have found out, maybe more than I had before, learned more than I had, how much my Father in Heaven loves me and how much our Father in Heaven loves them. I mean, that's really what it is. I have felt that during COVID and after the COVID and the restrictions were lifted. I remember going into the Albuquerque New Mexico temple and walking up the stairs. You know the first thing you do in ARP you go by the recommendation desk in that temple and you go up the stairs. You know the first thing you do in ARP you go by the recommendation desk in that temple and you go up the stairs.
Speaker 2:And I had that exact impression you are home, this is your home, and I feel lucky that they would even allow me to come in and clean, let alone participate in ordinances there. And I definitely feel like it is home. I definitely feel those impressions of a Heavenly Father who loves us and will do anything for us and he has a way to help us get back to him. And I think for me, temple attendance um, intentional temple attendance, I think has really made a big difference in my life.
Speaker 1:Derek, thank you so much for feeling inspired to be on the show and for believing um that these stories matter. Because they do, I am inspired. You know we talked about the beginning of this episode, how there needs to be one person. Your intention was to help one person hear something they needed to hear, so consider it done. I heard what I needed to hear today, so thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 1:I'm going to be on the show. Absolutely, thank you so thank you so much. Thank you for having me on, absolutely thank you. Thanks again for listening to today's episode of Temple Bound. If you enjoyed today's show, make sure to join us over on Instagram at Temple Bound Podcast to receive additional information as well as previews of our upcoming episodes. See you over there.
