I have a GREAT heritage that I am pleased to be a part of. Several of my ancestors walked across the plains with the early pioneers. I have some ancestors who served in the Mormon Battalion.

My parents both served as Temple workers for about 15 years. My mom’s parents served as workers in the St. George Temple for many years. My dad’s father served in the Baptistery at the St. George Temple. I am pleased to be carrying on a family tradition of Temple Ordinance Work. I was called to serve in the Jordan River Tempe on Friday January 5th 2001 and started my service on Tuesday February 7th. My schedule was Tuesday morning from 4:20 to 10:30 am, and Friday Morning from 5:20 to 11:00 am.

On Friday morning March 22nd 2002 I was surprised with a call, which was extended by President Burt to be an Assistant Coordinator on the Friday Morning Shift. It was an Absolute Joy to serve in this position until mid January 2005. I had many wonderful experiences and opportunities for growth while serving in this capacity. Probably one of the best experiences was the opportunity to get to know not only the Brothers but also the Sisters on the shift. Due to the nature of temple work the Brothers and Sisters don’t get much opportunity to “mingle”, so the opportunity for me to get to work with and get to know the Sisters was a cherished experience.

While on medical hold for knee surgery the entire Coordinator Staff was released. I was released from the position of Assistant Coordinator on Friday April 1st 2005. I will always treasure the time I was able to spend in this assignment.

On Tuesday morning January 20th 2004, I was again surprised by a call extended by President Longson to serve as the ASL Coordinator for the Jordan River Temple. This heavy responsibility meant that I needed to improve my VERY limited signing ability to being fluent (at the time of this writing I am still not fluent but am improving).I made the decision to leave my comfort zone and start attending the Sign Language Ward this was very uncomfortable for both of us. I missed the easy two-way communication (especially in the lessons) that I was used to in the Hearing Ward, and hearing the Hymns sung as opposed to seeing them signed. TediAnn was no longer with the “Widows” she had to leave them and sit with a husband. Still to this day a few of he widows resent me taking TediAnn away from their circle.

The ASL Program took off and some wonderful things happened almost immediately. The deaf workers had never done anything other than work at the veil (partly because the previous Coordinator had not desired to have them do more and partly because previous Temple Presidencies did not support the program). But almost immediately the deaf workers started Conducting Sessions, doing Baptisms, working at the Recommend Desk, and in the Initiatory Area. There were Deaf Assistant Coordinators and Instructors called. The annual Temple Devotional included a Sign Language section in the choir (TediAnn and I “sang — signed” there several years. I do not take credit for these accomplishments. I had a hand in it yes, but the credit goes to the Temple Presidency for following the promptings of our Heavenly Father and acting upon them, and the wonderful workers who so willingly accepted the new assignments without a clue what the assignment required. I experience “GREAT JOY” as I see the Deaf Workers go forth and do more and more on their own.

Most people seem to think I was doing it which makes me VERY uncomfortable because I know it was not me but a combination of factors of which I was just a small part. I feel that my responsibilities are more as a liaison between the Temple Presidency and the Deaf Workers. My Assistant Coordinators were the actual Coordinators for the program. I merely attempted to give direction from the Presidency and voice concerns to the Presidency.

I realize that there is a great need for better communication between the temple workers and the deaf. I am excited to see the tremendous growth in the ASL Program at the Jordan temple is now.

I am very passionate in my temple service especially with the ASL program becauseof the experience TediAnn and I had when we received our own endowments and were sealed. At the time we went to the temple there was a big controversy about whether a deaf person should be taught to sign or to speak. My mother—in—law was a strong supporter of speaking and not signing. So when she took TediAnn to the temple to make appointments for our receiving our endowment and to be sealed, (Mother Ercanbrack had to help with this because I was in San Diego with the Navy.) The temple told them they had qualified interpreters to interpret the Endowment and Sealing. The problem was that they signed and that was NOT acceptable to Mother Ercanbrack. She would not allow the ceremony to be signed and the temple president would not / could not permit a non—temple called interpreter to “oral interpret”. TediAnn didn’t fully understand what the problem was and was very confused and upset. I got a letter from her that I could tell she was crying as she wrote it, saying that she was going to have to go to the temple on a certain day with deaf people. I would have to go to the temple another time and that after we were married we would not be allowed to go to the temple together again because she would be forced to attend with the deaf and no hearing were allowed to attend the deaf session. Fortunately the situation was not as bad as it sounded and we have been able to attend many temples together. I am determined to do all that I can to insure that this situation does not happen to anyone in the future.

Effective April 12, 2009, the church has accepted ASL (American Sign Language) as the language for the deaf and not a handicap. What this means is that there is now the opportunity to have ASL the “official language” of a session. This has allowed us to put ASL on the main screen in the temple as well as other Sacred things in the Session that I will not mention here. In June 2009, Brother Mike Davis, was given the Sealing Power and the authority to Seal in ASL at the Jordan River Temple. We at the Jordan River Temple are pleased to provide ALL temple ordinancesfor the deaf in ASL without the need for an interpreter.

I was asked to serve on the Recommend Desk on my Friday Morning Shift, I reluctantly accepted. I had the feeling that I would miss out on many Spiritual Experiences serving on the Recommend Desk. Within the first hour of my service I found that I could not have been further from the truthI to this day feel that the most enjoyable and often most spiritual position in the temple is serving at the Recommend Desk. On that first Friday I was blessed to meet one of the most influential people I have ever met, her name is Breann Thueson Jenks. Breann had just turned 12 and was at the temple to preform baptisms for the dead for the first time. This adorable young woman came to the temple EVERY Friday morning in time to be one of thefirst to go down to the Baptistery. After she was finished with her Baptisms she would come up to the upper lobby and send a text to her dad asking him to come get her. After about a year of this her dad started not only bringing her then leaving to return home only to come get her again but he started to attend with her and actually baptize her. There were a few instances where Breann didn’t attend on Friday Morning, once she had been out late Thursday evening and her mom didn’t wake her up so she came Saturday instead. Another time she knew she had a school obligation and would miss Friday morning so she came Thursday morning instead. There were a couple times where her family was on vacation but I would get a text from her showing Breann and her dad outside of the local temple where ever they were showing that she did indeed attend the temple that Friday morning. On the Friday before she Graduated from High School she didn’t come to the Jordan River Temple because the graduating class was having some sort of “catch me if you can” activity where if you were caught you got bomb-barted with water balloons. Breann knowing that everyone knew she attended the temple on Friday mornings went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple thus ful filling her promise to attend the temple and avoid being bomb-barted by the water balloons that awaited her outside The Jordan RiverTemple. Before Breann left to go on her Mission to Brazil she Received her Endowment on a Friday and continued attending the temple Friday mornings until she left for her Mission. Now that she is home she continues to attend the temple on Friday mornings. Breann and others like her are the reason I have hope for the future, these young people are indeed strong enough to withstand the buffitings of the adversary.