In 1970, having been baptized a member of the Church a year earlier at age 21, I was excited and anxious to receive my temple blessings. Although there were plans to finally build a temple east of the Mississippi River in the Washington D.C. area, this was not to happen until 1974.

One night, as I prayed about what to do about my temple endowment, the answer suddenly came into my mind: go to the Los Angeles California Temple and stay with my grandparents, Edgar and Rhoda Kump, who were not members.

I first broached this idea to my non-member parents, and my dad agreed. However, he cautioned me not to mention my new LDS Church affiliation to them because it would offend my grandparents' fundamentalist religious affiliation. And so I followed my Dad's counsel, inviting myself to visit his parents but not mentioning to them the larger purpose of my visit.

However, when Grandfather met me at the Los Angeles airport, I felt prompted to tell him of my newfound faith and my desire to go to the temple. He became very quiet upon hearing this news, and the drive back to his home seemed to last forever.

Arriving at his housing development, he spoke for the first time since I had borne my testimony to him of my conversion, asking me to go with him on a walk before we finally went home to see Grandmother. He knocked on every door of every home of that little retirement community within Tustin, Calif., whereupon, at each door, he stuck out his chest and proudly introduced me as his "Mormon Elder" grandson.

He confided in me that, many years earlier, he was converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but, because my grandmother refused to change her faith and religious affiliation, he reluctantly opted not to join the Church.

Having said that, he bore his testimony to me, and promised me that I never would regret the choice I had made, and how proud he was of me. Neither of my grandparents joined the Church, and they long since passed away, but it has been my blessing and privilege to have their vicarious temple work done. — Larry D. Kump, Antietam Ward, Martinsburg West Virginia Stake