Like many of you we were privileged to fulfil what we now can see was the 2018 prophetic announcement of a home-centred Church supported plan to ‘..learn doctrine, strengthen faith and foster greater personal worship’. (Quentin L. Cook, October 2018 General Conference). Little did we all know that within 18 months of this announcement a pandemic was in full progress that to this day has continued unabated and this announcement became not only a concept but a way of life the Gospel for millions of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Living in Asia when Covid struck we were among the first members of the Church to be confined to homes, and Sunday services were held on-line. When home Sacrament approvals were granted, like hundreds and thousands of others we used disposable plates and cups to administer the Sacrament with. And like these tens of thousands, we spent many months completing this most sacred of ordinances without thought to what we used. The most important issue was to have the ordinance, to be able to renew our covenants and strengthen our faith and desire to improve.

In October 2021, I was thinking about how were missing the opportunity to visit the temple, particularly as the Hong Kong Temple was closed for refurbishment. I was also avidly following the incredible lengths being made to secure the Salt Lake Temple against natural disasters. I thought howmuch time and effort was being put in to making the Temples not only secure physically but physically beautiful in the same way that Solomon in ancient times procured the best materials and workmanship to present to our Lord and God. Was using a paper plate and paper cup in keeping withthis spirit of beauty and desire to show the Lord the best we can do, to honour Him in every possible way with the best of our ability? If the Lord was present, would we serve His remembrance on a throwaway plate and cup? Then the thought came that although not physically present, how much do I feel His presence during the ordinance and how can I show Him the very best of what we can offer?

With these thoughts in mind and I thought how I could design something that would be more appropriate to the ordinance and in keeping with the thoughts I was experiencing. I sketched some ideas and after brainstorming the idea with Jan, my wife, we came up with a design that we felt was in keeping with these and further thoughts.

The thought process began with looking to produce a quality piece that was not only functional but reflected the symbolism and simplicity of the ordinance itself. So much of the design was influenced by Gospel symbolism and a desire to have it bring a memory of what the ordinance means to us and of the sacred nature of the Gospel both current and past.

In my next blog you can read about this design and how each part was created with offering the Lord an item worthy of the ordinance we were still holding in our homes.