As CBS News Sunday Morning reporter Ed O’Keefe walked across the entry bridge to the Washington D.C. Temple with two Apostles, he posed a question to them:
“Are we walking into another realm?”
Without missing a beat, Elder David A. Bednar replied, “Yes—symbolically. We’re leaving the world and entering a more heavenly place where we learn about God.”
Elder Bednar and his wife, Susan, along with Elder D. Todd Christofferson and his wife, Kathy, gave O’Keefe—and his cameras—a private tour of the newly renovated temple. CBS News footage shows they visited the baptistry, the sealing room, and the celestial room. The Apostles and their wives taught important truths about temple ordinances in each space. This may be the first time an outside camera crew was allowed to film inside of a temple. Watch the full 5-minute segment from CBS News Sunday Morning below.
In an additional, separate clip published by CBS News, Elder Bednar explained the symbolism of the large mirrors hanging in the sealing room and offered a bit of marriage advice.
“If Susan and I stand here and look into these mirrors, if I look at Susan and Susan looks at me, you can see forever," Elder Bednar said. “But if I look into the mirror just in my eyes, and Susan looks only into her eyes, all you can see is yourself. That’s all the marriage advice anybody ever needs.
“As long as I’m looking to Susan and being concerned about her comfort and well-being, things will work fine, if she’s doing the same. But if I’m self-centered and selfish, then it probably doesn't work very well.”
▶ You may also like: The Bednars’ powerful marriage advice: You do not find a good marriage, you create it
You can watch the the shorter clip from CBS News Sunday Morning in the player below.
Public tours for the newly renovated Washington D.C. Temple will begin on April 28, 2022. Free ticket reservations can be found here.
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