The Easiness of the Way

Here in Chorley we go to Church in a lovely Stake Center that is between our apartment and the Temple.  (In other words, less than 200 yards away.) There are four Wards that attend here, as well as three other Wards in surrounding villages, that belong to our Stake.  Preston, which is 10 miles away, has its own Stake.  There are people in our Ward who talk about how just 30 years ago the Chorley Branch met in old rented halls, which they had done for decades.  A woman my age told me how it was her calling on Sunday morning to sweep up cigarette butts and clear out beer cans from the rooms before the members arrived.  Then the Temple was built, and the membership grew exponentially.  A lot of the growth came from people moving to Chorley to live by the Temple, and there were, of course, convert baptisms as a result of the Temple being built.

This week the Temple was very quiet - we worked the Afternoon Shift, and most sessions had 5 or fewer Patrons.  There were very few Workers available as well.  While waiting for patrons to come to Initiatory I visited with two Workers who were reminiscing about how busy the Temple was the first few years after it opened.  They said there were twice as many Workers and many more Patrons, and that the Temple was always very busy.  I asked them why they thought people were not coming like they used to and they said they thought the excitement of living close to a Temple had worn off.    

As we have mentioned, we have some VERY dedicated Patrons and Workers, who come from all around the Temple District, some at huge expense and sacrifice.  But sometimes it seems that because of the easiness of the way, some who live in the shadow of the Temple do not make the effort that others do.  We hope that we can always remember the effort made by those who live far away, and be diligent in our Temple attendance, despite the easiness of the way for us.

This picture was taken weeks ago - we haven't
had a blue sky like this for a LONG time!!!