Busy Latter-day Saints, each with individual tasks, bustle about on the temple block to further the work of the kingdom.

Some are involved in one corner of the block at a mission headquarters. Others go to a nearby distribution center, or to a family history service center, to apartments, to a microfilm vault, to a meetinghouse or to a missionary training center.Here is carried out the three-fold mission of the Church: proclaiming the gospel, perfecting the Saints and redeeming the dead. Towering above in symbolic immensity, representing the ultimate purpose for which they work, is the Mexico City Temple.

The temple stands in relative serenity. The outside appears quiet only because its patrons are inside. And many arrive before daybreak.

The tempo at the temple increases on Saturdays and holidays. The peak work at the temple is done during vacations when members have time available - Christmas, holy week, and school vacation, said Pres. Agricol Lozano H. of the Mexico City Temple.

He said more members are coming to the temple, and they are coming better prepared than ever before. One busy Saturday morning, he counted 35 buses in the parking lot.

"The stakes are coming in excursions fully self-suffcient with their own temple workers, their own temple clothing and their own names."

He explained that some stakes in the interior of the country visit the temple, but due to the infrequency of their trips, do not have enough trained workers.

"There are many ordinances to do, and the stakes grow spiritually through their experiences," he said.

Accommodating the needs of the patrons is important to Pres. Lozano and his counselors, Presidents Guillermo Garmendia Leal and Angel Sandoval.

"The temple is open early and on Mondays. Saturday hours have been extended," Pres. Lozano said. And because "people have more time in December because of vacations," the temple workers' vacations were moved from December to another month.

He said the temple opens at 5 a.m. for youths who want to be baptized on behalf of their kindred dead. He recalls up to 70 youth participating at one time at that hour.

"We give the youth the opportunity to come regularly to do work for the dead," he explained. "Their love, their spirituality, their faith - all contribute to their participating in the goals of life. They help in the temple often."

In a recent excursion, for example, a stake brought 169 adults and 46 youth, and during the day stake members performed 500 baptisms, 1,351 sealings, and 305 initiatories and endowments. This stake brought many of its own temple workers.

At the temple, patrons such as these find a ready welcome. "The workers and missionaries are very attentive and solicitous," Pres. Lozano said. "We are not perfect, but everyone who comes knows the feeling here."

After serving in the temple the workers and patrons carry these traits into their homes and their jobs, leaving a great impact, he continued.

He said that the sealings at the temple are particularly enjoyable experiences. These experiences are frequent because the Mexico City Temple is one of the busiest in the world for temple marriages. And, added Pres. Lozano, "We want many more."

During the marriages, temple sealers teach two points: They emphasize the importance of eternal marriage, and the atonement of the Savior.

"This strengthens the spirituality of their sealings," he said.

The experiences of parents and children being sealed are also highlights that leave a long-lasting impact, said Pres. Lozano.

"The temple continues to bless our lives," he said. "It blesses the lives of returned missionaries, single members, couples, families and leaders in the branches, wards and stakes."

He said the temple missionaries and ordinance workers all have the goal to serve the Lord Jesus Christ more fully.

"It is sweet to see the love extended, and the sweet solicitude, always done with peace, in which all are made welcome," he said. "There is growing number of workers in the stakes who feel the power of the Lord.

"Patrons are lifted enormously by the temple missionaries and workers. This is celestial work within the sacred walls of the temple. This is part of the culture of the Saints in the temple; the temple is sacred in the lives of the Saints."