Eternal Love

This past weekend I had an amazing experience. My sister (in-law) was converted later in her life. No one on her side of her family has ever been baptized. Her mother, brother, and nephew have all passed away. She had been working on their temple work and was ready to do their endowment session. She was kind enough to come up close to where we live and invite the whole family, who could, to join her. It was one of the most powerful experience I've had in the temple. Because it was so special I don't feel that I can share my entire experience with you. But I do feel that I can share some of the feelings I felt there with you today.
To help you understand a little bit of the feelings that I want to share, I need to first share with you a quote from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk he gave at the October General Conference from last year entitled, "The Love of God". It is a wonderful talk. When I first heard it and then read it again when I got my copy I was touched. No one had ever explained the Love that God has for us quite like he had. He said, "Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount--that is the measure of God's love for you...Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God's love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked."
That, to me, is so beautiful. I've felt God's love for me before. I've even been blessed to feel His love for others while serving in His church. But it wasn't until I was in the temple last Saturday that I felt that love on a whole new level. His love is truly encompassing! I felt it so strongly. I felt His love not only for me but for everyone I was surrounded by. I felt love for the family I was there with. I felt love for the wonderful temple workers there. I felt love for those who we prayed for. I even felt love for those who have gone on before us. It was so powerful I couldn't help but weep.
Part of the infinite love that God has for us is evident because of the temple. He loves us so much He wants us to return to Him and we can!! We can because He sent His son to die for us. His only begotten son. And that son, who is Jesus Christ, loved us and His Father, so much that He completed His mission. He died for us so that we could return to live with Him and our eternal Father in Heaven. That is an eternal love. An eternal love that I was so blessed to feel a small part of that day in the temple. Know that you are loved. Know that God does love you.