When Draven Flora of Front Royal, Virginia, crossed the threshold into the celestial room during the open house of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple on May 11, 2023, he had no idea how the moment would change his life. Flora wasn’t yet a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but his simple steps that day represent everything miraculous about temple open houses in the Lord’s restored Church.
These unique opportunities for the general public are all about loving invitations.
Three months after that memorable moment in the temple, Flora was baptized back in Virginia. Then, on March 29, 2025, less than two years later, Flora was set apart as a missionary bound for the Spain Madrid North Mission.
“For the majority of my life, I was goalless and unmotivated,” Flora said. “I had developed numerous self-destructive habits and mannerisms. As a teenager, I simply didn’t care. I figured it was far too late for me to change who I was.”
In early 2023, Flora was suffering through an especially sad season of his life. His father had recently passed away, and Flora found himself at a mental and spiritual low. He knew it was time to know for himself whether there was a God, and if so, did He have a plan for him?
At this pivot point in his life, an invitation came from extended family in Utah. “I was invited to my cousin’s wedding,” Flora said. “In hindsight, I have to think it was perfectly timed.”
During his visit, Flora said he experienced tremendous kindness, compassion and selflessness from family and other local Church members. Though he wasn’t particularly familiar with the Church, he saw for himself the fruits of the faith through service and love.
Then came that loving invitation.
“When my family invited me to the open house, I must admit I’d heard some negative things about temples, and so I already had my opinions. But as I meandered through each room, learning more and more, those preconceptions swiftly faded away. The pinnacle was when I reached the celestial room. Sitting there, I felt a stillness and peace that, to this day, I still cannot express.”
Before the sun had even set on that sacred day, Flora started asking questions and getting the answers he needed. Two days later, just minutes before leaving for the airport and his return flight home, Flora asked his cousins in Utah if they’d arrange for him to meet missionaries in Virginia.
Over the next few months, Flora attended church, read the Book of Mormon, and poured himself into learning all he could. Despite his progress, he still had doubts whether the Lord would really forgive him, and extend the fresh start Flora knew he needed.
“Eventually, I came to understand that I chose to be here, to learn from my mistakes and to gain a knowledge of Jesus Christ and His plan of happiness. I finally accepted that [His] Atonement extends to people like me. That’s what convinced me I needed to be baptized.”
On Aug. 12, 2023, Flora was baptized, and the next day confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Front Royal Ward of the Winchester Virginia Stake.
“Since then, I’ve come to learn and experience more things than I could have ever dreamed of,” Flora said. “I’ve established personal connections that would have been impossible for me in the past. And, most importantly, my knowledge of the gospel and my love for the Savior and Heavenly Father has continued to increase.”
Flora’s age and growth in the gospel led to friends and leaders asking whether he’d consider a mission.
“I honestly never thought it was possible, so I didn’t put much thought into the idea. But someone from the ward invited me to dinner and told me about his experience with a mission and how it changed his life,” he said.
The friend invited him to pray about it, and a few weeks later Flora knew he wanted to bless people the same way he’d been blessed by missionary work.
As he begins his missionary training, newly set apart Elder Flora ponders the remarkable changes in his life, including more healthy relationships than ever before. His East Coast family has become increasingly supportive, and even proud of his choices to be baptized and to serve a mission.
Elder Flora believes his new life on the covenant path can easily be traced back to that windy day in Saratoga Springs. “If they hadn’t invited me to the open house, I think my path in life would have been drastically different and probably painful. In more ways than one, I might not be alive today without that experience.”
Elder Flora hopes everyone recognizes how his steps into the temple that day didn’t happen on their own. They began with a loving invitation. What a powerful, lasting lesson for Flora’s family.
And, perhaps, for the rest of us.
