Well, our Temple Challenge for 2011 has come to an end. The final bead count for the Deacons was 262 in the first half of the year and 142 for the second. This represents over 4,000 ordinances performed by our quorum alone! What an amazing accomplishment for a group of 12 & 13 year old boys.
Before embarking on the challenge almost 12 months ago, attending the temple was honestly something I did not look forward to at all. In fact, I thought it was a chore – something we had to do in order to be the obedient church members we needed to be. However, after going as much as our quorum did over the past year, my perspective has done a complete 180. I now see just how easy it really is. Not to mention that great feeling of knowing you are actually magnifying your duty to God. It makes me want to go even more!
If this challenge didn’t do anything for anyone else, at the very least, it did something big for me. I now have a love for the temple that I never had before! So THANKS to a Bishop who followed his heart and listened to the spirit – it has had an impact on me in a way that was very meaningful and unexpected. I believe he was truly inspired with this idea.
By the way, here’s how our final collection of beads for the year stacked up to theirs:
