Many Latter-day Saints have sacrificed countless hours to aid in the completion of the Paris France Temple. And as the temple's May 21 dedication date nears, we can reflect on the love of the Savior these members showed as they contributed to the beauty of this new temple.
It is almost 11:00 in this quiet village of Le Chesnay by Paris. The lights are off in the surrounding homes and the traffic has quieted on the road as most people have long ago retired for the night.
We are circling the Paris France Temple to capture some night photography, hoping to capture the spill of flowers on the art glass window as the light streams through it. We stay just outside the fence that is now locked for the evening, searching for angles, watching for the shots that can show the radiant beauty.
But something else captures our eyes, something that will linger with us just as long as the majesty of the temple. There in the yard is a mother with a young child. Doesn’t she know how late it is?
We have dimly seen other Latter-day Saints through the temple windows too. Each night, after the crowd of an open house, forty people come to clean the temple and the grounds to assure it is perfectly ready for the next day.
From our vantage point outside the wall, we can also see into the hall of the patron’s building, which is also on the temple grounds. Upstairs we see a man, standing in the hall, dressed in a gray suit, checking a stack of papers. He too is burning the midnight oil doing some work for the temple. Doesn’t he know how late it is?
A stranger might wonder how much these people are being paid, or if perhaps they are getting extra for taking the night shift, and would be surprised to learn that this is an all-volunteer crowd. That wouldn’t surprise any Latter-day Saint, who understands why people would stay up late to clean a building that hardly needed touching.
It is what we do for love of the Savior, one small way we can begin to express our cascade of gratitude for his atonement, which cost Him everything and gave us everything. This gift we give back of work and dedication is never more apparent than when a new temple is built, igniting Latter-day Saints to sacrifice what they can in love for the Lord.
It is so apparent in France just now.
All images from Meridian
