Every Tuesday, Chuck and Therese Steadman’s car is filled with joy, laughter, music, and stories, along with their daughter, Katie Bodell, and their grandson, Gavin Bodell, as they travel to the Gilbert Arizona Temple to serve as temple workers.
“Tuesday has become a sacred tradition for our family,” Chuck Steadman said. “A day we all look forward to with genuine excitement. Our weekly drive to the temple is more than just a routine; it’s a time to laugh, connect, and prepare our hearts.”
For the third time in their lives, Chuck and Therese Steadman are working in the temple together. But this time is unlike the others, they are joined by two more generations of their family. As Gavin Bodell prepares to serve in the Mexico Hermosillo Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this marks the first time both he and his mother, Katie Bodell, have served in the temple.
“To serve in the temple is a sweet experience,” Therese Steadman said. “To serve with family is like icing on the cake. Each temple experience, as a patron and as a worker, strengthens our testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the reality that families are forever.”
Therese Steadman was baptized at the age of 13, after being taught the principles of the gospel. A little more than a year later, her family was sealed. Chuck Steadman, on the other hand, was raised in the Church, though his family was not sealed until later down the road. The Steadmans were sealed in the Los Angeles Temple on January 19, 1975. They have now been sealed for over 50 years.
Serving in the temple together has allowed them to remember their family members who passed beyond the veil and the meaning of their “forever family.”
“Just as temple ordinances bind us to our loved ones who have gone on before,” said Therese Steadman. “Temple service strengthens our relationships in the here and now because we have a greater understanding of the eternal nature of families and the importance of those relationships. Temple service is a reminder that effort is required to maintain strong and happy families.”
The Steadmans and Bodells serve in various roles around the temple. Chuck Steadman and Katie Bodell often serve together in the baptistry, which brings back a special memory for her.
“Serving in the baptistry with my dad brings back sacred memories of my own baptism when he baptized me as an eight-year-old little girl dressed in white,” Katie Bodell said. “Those feelings return every time I see families come to perform baptisms, and especially when I see fathers standing in the font with their sons and daughters. These experiences remind me of the eternal nature of families and the joy of making covenants with the Lord.”
Therese Steadman said that being able to see their own children kneeling around the altar being sealed to their own spouses, grandchildren performing baptisms, preparing to serve missions and working in the temple is “a blessing beyond compare.”
“Working in the temple has given me spiritual confidence and reassurance about my decision to serve a mission,” Gavin Steadman said. “It’s helped me focus more on the Savior and strengthened my testimony in a quiet but powerful way. It’s also been a blessing to share this experience with my family and know that we’re all serving the Lord together.”
Gavin Bodell’s decision to serve a mission came during his senior year of high school, when it became clear that this was the “next step.”
“I’ve always loved serving people, and I know serving a mission is the next step in strengthening my faith and following the Savior,” he said.
He will report to the Mexico Missionary Training Center on Oct. 1. His time in the temple has helped him grow in both faith and confidence in preparation for his missionary service.
“I’ve had the privilege of mentoring Gavin in temple service,” Chuck Steadman said. “Watching him grow in faith and confidence as he prepares for his mission. Seeing his dedication firsthand has been one of the most fulfilling parts of fatherhood.”
When Chuck and Therese Steadman started serving in the Gilbert Arizona Temple, ten months ago, they have seen blessings come to fruition.
“Watching each of [my children] find their own way to the temple has been one of the sweetest answers to prayer I could have hoped for,” Therese Steadman said.
Now, as Gavin Bodell prepares to begin full-time missionary service and their family continues on the covenant path, Chuck and Therese Steadman echo the words of the Apostle John — “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 1:4).
