Many years ago in a talk, someone spoke about a little known woman in the scriptures, and it impressed me so much that I remembered the story very well. This woman made things with her hands that must have been very beautiful because her friends valued their beauty. Her friends also valued their friendship with this woman, named Dorcas, or Tabitha. When Peter was shown the beautiful things which she had made, he was so impressed that he raised her from the dead. Her story is found in Acts 9:36-42.

36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.
37 And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.
38 And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them.
39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.
40 But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
41 And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.
42 And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.

For some reason I always have remembered this story. Maybe it reminded me of the beautiful things my mom would make. She made our clothes, quilts, all kinds of crafts, afghans, pillowcases, tablecloths, so many beautiful things. I learned to work with my hands from the example of my mom and I enjoy keeping my hands busy each night and for a few minutes each morning. I still have one more Christmas stocking to get done by next Christmas and I will work on it constantly to get it done. But I will need to divide my time with doing something else because of a phone call I received yesterday.

The woman who called me was a worker at the Manti Temple. She said she had been told by people in our ward that I crochet and do work with fine thread, which means the thin thread for tableclothes, edgings, etc. She is looking for someone to help make altar cloths for the temple. She said the coverings on the sealing rooms get washed regularly and so they get worn out. Sometimes they get snagged from buttons, etc. They also need doillies and coverings for the arms of chairs, the tables, everywhere that hands might rest. She also said that with all the new temples going in and the need for replacements at other tables, the church is in need of many items. She was asking me to help make these alter cloths.
This is such an honor for me. I enjoy doing this work so much anyway, but to know that something I create might be good enough to be in the temple is so humbling. I am so excited about this chance. I understand you need to be an endowed member with a current temple recommend, which means that there aren't very many women in the world with the credientials to do this work. A lost art I suppose. She will send me the patterns and dimensions and all instructions I might need. She emphasized that I might have to change the size of needle depending on how I crochet.
For those of you who don't know, if you crochet tighter the items will end up smaller so you might need to larger needle to get the same measurements. I crochet close to the required gauge, relatively speaking, so I usually match the same requirements as the patterns. I just know it will have to be done perfectly, no cheating to get the required stitches.
So, you will probably be seeing me crocheting a lot in the future. Along with at least one more Christmas stocking!