Temple moments: 'Now I understood'
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In 1955, as she investigated the Church, Susanne Daetwyler discussed the gospel with her Bible-reading grandparents, who gave their approval for her baptism. Susanne and her husband, Roland, were baptized in Lucerne, Switzerland, that same year. However, her grandparents never joined the Church, and they died less than three years later.
"It was during this period that we worked particularly hard on our genealogy," said Sister Daetwyler. She sent many names, including those of her grandparents, to Salt Lake City for clearance for temple work, as was the practice then. The names often took a long time to be cleared, and she lost track of them. The Daetwyler family, which eventually included seven children, moved to Biel, Switzerland, in 1965, about 25 miles north of the Bern Switzerland Temple.
"When our children were still young, my husband and I were seldom able to go to the temple together," she said. "One of us had to stay home and take care of the children."
So they took turns attending the temple during the Biel Branch's monthly temple day, a Saturday. One day in 1968, "I felt a strong desire to go to the temple," she said. "Saturday was not our day to go, and it wasn't even my turn. But the desire became stronger and stronger.
"Early the next morning when I was on my way to the temple, I began to question my decision: 'Why am I going to the temple?' I could not understand my decision, but since I was already close to the temple I decided to go anyway.
"Once in the temple I received a paper slip with the name of the person I would represent while going through the temple. I looked at it and read: Johanna Elisabeth Schweizer Niederhauser, the name of my beloved grandmother who had died in the spring of 1958.
"Now I understood why I had this strong wish to go to the temple. My grandmother was ready for the temple ordinances. This was a very happy day for me and, I think, for my grandmother also."
— Markus Gappmaier
