I hate having to teach a lesson where I am failing so miserably at the doctrine being taught.

Today it was making your home a Temple, from the May Conference talk by Elder Gary Stevenson, Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples. 

He asks us to take a “virtual tour” of our home to see if it compares to the Temple – let’s take a peek behind Melissa Mc’s door, shall we?

Is it a place of love, peace, and refuge from the world, as is the temple? No, it is a place where children are fighting and mother coming unglued and everyone running for the doors.

Is it clean and orderly? No, it is a place with several loads of laundry sitting in baskets waiting to be put away, and several layers of dust on every horizontal surface (and if dust can settle on a vertical surface, it’s there too); and Barbie dolls in a state of half dress under her daughter’s bed, and hundreds of matchbox cars in every corner. 

Do you see uplifting images which include appropriate pictures of the temple and the Savior?  Well, I see lots of pictures, and one is a James Christiansen, but it’s of Shakespeare and his many characters, but most are slightly askew, and I think they are dusty too. 

Is your bedroom or sleeping area a place for personal prayer?  My bedroom is barely a place of 6 hours sleep and an occasional meeting with my husband…not much else goes on there. 

Is your gathering area or kitchen a place where food is prepared and enjoyed together, allowing uplifting conversation and family time?  Food is prepared here, but the children are mostly complaining about what has been cooked and how they don’t like it and how they wished they were eating rocks instead of what I fixed. 

Are scriptures found in a room where the family can study, pray, and learn together?  The scriptures are usually found under months of old magazines.  But I learned today, that a lot of sisters keep theirs in their bathroom, because that’s the only place they get any time alone.  May have to try that. 

Can you find your personal gospel study space? If I could travel to Mars, possibly. 

Does the music you hear or the entertainment you see, online or otherwise, offend the Spirit?  Does The Disney Channel or Radio Disney count? 

Is the conversation uplifting and without contention?  I’m almost positive that whatever I say, does not count as uplifting or without contention. 

Finally, he adds:  That concludes our tour. Perhaps you, as I, found a few spots that need some “home improvement”—hopefully not an “extreme home makeover.” 

I need to call Ty Pennington to see if there is anything he can do about my home’s abysmal state, but something tells me, he is busy with other projects.