Sisters

During our temple visits, Kevin and I do a lot of sealings. With the headaches being as unpredictable as they have been, the sealing sessions have been a good fit for us over the last little while. It is a shorter session so if I’m headachy, I can get back home a bit sooner. And while reservations for endowment sessions can be very hard to make unless you are doing so months in advance, we can almost always find a sealing session at a convenient time within the next week or less. Which means that if I’m having a hard headache day or week, we can easily reschedule. And honestly, every time we walk in and ask to do temple names instead of family names, the temple workers get excited. There are so many people who are waiting for sealing ordinances, whose names have been printed or waiting in the queue for a long time. It is wonderful that there are so many people taking family names to the temple, but it can also be really neat to do temple names. I’ve had some really amazing experiences performing ordinances for strangers.

For many years, Kevin and I did mainly endowment sessions with occasional trips to do other ordinances. I think a lot of people do the same. But I have really loved participating in so many sealing sessions. It is an opportunity to listen to the words of the ordinance time and time again, which has given me a chance to really learn them, to ponder on the covenants I’m making, and to find joy in the promised blessings. And while it doesn’t happen in every session, there are times when the sealer running the session will impart some knowledge they have learned over the years or invite us to think about one particular part of the ordinance. For example, today our sealer talked about the fact that in the sealing ordinance we “receive” our spouse as opposed to the commonly phrased “take” your spouse that is used in many other religious or even civil marriages. Think about that. There is a world of difference between those two words. 

We have also learned about several differences in the way sealings can be done. First of all, you don’t have to kneel if there is a physical reason you can’t. Those nice cushions that surround the altar can be lifted out so that a chair or wheelchair can be placed right beside the altar. Makes sense, right? Another thing we have learned that I suspect many people don’t know is that if there are multiple siblings that need to be sealed to their parents, the ordinance can be done once to seal all of them instead of doing a separate sealing for each sibling. The ordinance is valid either way, but it can be kind of neat to have an entire “family” gathered around the altar at the same time.

I have been able to stand as proxy in such a sealing several times over the years, and today I had another chance to participate in this less common type of sealing. Kevin and I were proxy as the married couple as two sisters were sealed to their parents. And as I knelt at the altar, the Spirit reminded me in a powerful way that because I am sealed to my parents, I am also bound to my sisters with the same eternal, unbreakable bond. Everything that has happened with Esther in the past month has been a harsh reminder of the fleeting nature of mortality. And this morning the reminder of the eternal nature of my family was a blessing. We are sisters. Always have been. Always will be. And that is a joyful thought.

Divine Light

For a good year now, Matthew’s goal was to get to the temple for his own endowment as soon as possible after he graduated. He fulfilled that goal today and it was very much as soon as possible since graduation was last night! Our church leaders were a huge support in getting all his interviews done in a timely fashion, and our stake president was fantastic because he was completely fine with ordaining Matthew to the office of elder a few days before he actually graduated from high school so that temple day could happen today. 

Matthew has been a temple hopper ever since he got his driver’s license. He has driven all over the state doing baptisms at as many different temples as he could get to. During all those visits, he has come to list two particular temples as his favorites: the Brigham City temple and the Provo City Center temple. Brigham City is far enough away that it was not incredibly practical in terms of having any of his grandparents in attendance since age related health issues have seriously colored all their lives in the past few months, so Matthew settled on the Provo City Center temple. The only time I have been inside this particular temple was during the open house, so it was neat to be able to be able to spend some time there.

Since it was a weekday and there were family members who had to work or had health issues that prohibited their attendance, our group was fairly small. Besides Kevin and I, Daniel, Tawni, Nathan, Rachael, Esther, Michelle and Corynn were the only ones in the session. My parents were able to join us in the celestial room as attending the whole session was too rough today, and Aliese did baptisms at the same time as our session. Matthew has never been one who really liked being in the spotlight in his day-to-day life though, so a small group was perfect for him. 

While there were some nerves last night due to just doing something he had never done before, Matthew was very ready to take this step. He has been actively preparing for years and with the switch in the church to talking and teaching more openly about what happens in the temple, which we have taken to heart as a family, I think he was probably more prepared than many youth are to take the next step on the covenant path. When we met in the celestial room after the session, his eyes were so full of light. He has always been a person whose light shines brightly, and today he was just beaming. His first joy filled comment to me was, “I made it!” 

I know Matthew will return to the temple often. It is his refuge, his place of peace amongst the storms of life. When he is feeling stressed or anxious or overwhelmed, he retreats to the temple to quiet his mind and regain his perspective. He has already told me that he has so much more to learn, and I know that over time, he will continue to be taught. I suspect that regular temple attendance is one of the things he will miss while serving his mission. But I also know that taking this step, making the covenants he did today, will strengthen him in his missionary service.

Now we just need to let a few more years pass and continue to let Malia learn and grow so that she can join us in all the ordinances of the temple as well. And what a joyful day that will be! 

Isn’t it About…Time?

Today was our now traditional after Christmas temple trip. Everyone was home for a few days, and we all wanted to take advantage of that and spend some time together in meaningful ways. That means that today was also a game day featuring Dominion, the new card game that Daniel got from Matthew, a quick stop at a park for a family picture before the snow started, and dinner at Tsunami. 

Lunch or dinner at Tsunami has also become a bit of a tradition for us and I know it is because Matthew loves to be able to enjoy the same restaurant meal that the rest of us are having. For most of his life he has brought his own food when we eat out. We don’t eat out a ton and that is one of the reasons why, but when we do, he has always been good about it. He never complains and in the past several years he has just started to make comments about what he wants to smell as accompaniment to his meal. So, we fully support his desire to enjoy a restaurant meal with us and the fact that we all love the food at Tsunami doesn’t hurt. 😉

It has been a bit of a busy day with all those things on the schedule, but honestly, I feel like we need to squeeze in as much quality time as possible while we can still get everyone home at the same time. I know that in years to come it may not always be that way. Scheduling time for all of us to be together is just going to get harder and harder. Even now, Daniel and Nathan are home for a few days rather than a few weeks. Their home and their lives are no longer centered here. That is why I feel like we need to take advantage of the time we have. And luckily for me, all the members of my little crew agree and want that quality time as well.

Cherish the Temple Time

Going to the temple the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas has kind of become one of our holiday traditions. It is one I think we all look forward to. Today we drove to the Taylorsville temple so that everyone could have a chance to serve in this temple that has such close ties to our family. I think Kevin and Daniel were the only ones who have not been since the open house, but we were all glad to be there. I know this is a tradition that may not include all of our family members in future depending on where our adult children end up, but for now it is one that I cherish.

The Final Trip to Finals

This weekend was our typical marching band St. George weekend. As always, Matthew traveled with the band while Kevin, Malia and I made our way southward separately. The Red Rocks state finals were held on Friday night so that was our activity for the evening. The marching band has not done super well this season, for reasons that Matthew will gladly rant about, so he wasn’t overly optimistic about their chances of doing well in the state finals. As expected, they did not walk away with any awards. The Bands of America competition was yesterday and although they didn’t win any awards there either, Matthew felt like it was a good performance, and a good way to end the season.

As for our non-band related activities, Kevin, Malia and I visited a dinosaur tracks museum yesterday morning. About twenty years ago, a local businessman was doing some work on a property he owned and uncovered a layer of fossilized dinosaur footprints. He was smart enough and conscientious enough to know that his discovery had value to the scientific community, so he worked with a variety of different organizations that helped gather enough funds to build a museum over the site. It is still actively being excavated, which is cool, and it was far more interesting than it may sound. Due to the many different footprints, tail marks, and even butt prints left by dinosaurs, they have been able to learn quite a bit about dinosaur behavior. I found it fascinating!

We also stopped by the Red Cliffs Temple. We didn’t have time to go in, but we took some time to wander the grounds and take some pictures. It was a pleasant way to while away an hour before hitting the road.

This was our last marching band related trip to St. George. In some ways, it is kind of sad that we are done with that part of our lives. It has been nice to get away for a few days and we have discovered and seen some fun things trying to fill the time between marching band events. But maybe that just means that we will explore some new places in future. Because these short getaways have been fun.

Hawaiian History

Today was our visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center. My Uncle Allan needed to head out to Laie to pick up a car and when he heard we were driving there today, he asked if he could ride along. We readily agreed and while he felt like he got a good deal because going with us was much better than riding the bus, we felt like we got the better deal because he is Hawaiian, has lived on Oahu for the majority of his life, and was like our very own built in tour guide. He gave us all kinds of interesting tidbits as we drove, and it made for a wonderful trip. We stopped at China Man’s Hat to take some pictures and with Uncle Allan along, we didn’t even need to do selfies!

Once we dropped Uncle Allan where he needed to be, we headed to the Laie Temple. This is the temple where my parents got married and due to the tropical local, the grounds look quite different from the temples closer to home. We didn’t have time to do any temple work, but we did enjoy wandering the grounds and exploring the visitors’ center.

After we ate lunch and visited the temple, we headed to the PCC. We opted to do just the villages, skipping the night show because with the drive back to the hotel and the fact that our bodies are still functioning on Utah time, it would feel like 3:00 a.m. to us by the time we got to bed. And the migraines really, really don’t like that. So, we explored the villages, saw some traditional Polynesian performances, did some shopping at the Hukilau Marketplace, and enjoyed some ice cream in tropical flavors. We ate dinner at the buffet that is located at the PCC though. We tried a little bit of everything and enjoyed most of it. I even tried some poi in the vein of trying foods I disliked when I was younger just in case I like them now. But I still don’t like it. The stuff still reminds me of wallpaper paste. 😝

It was a rather long day, but we had a good time. We ate some good food and found some little goodies for our family members at home. The only negative about the day was the fact that we missed going to lunch with my mom’s cousins. But we purchased our PCC tickets before leaving home and the lunch was scheduled only a day or two ago, so we opted to stick with our original plan. Oh well! At least my parents had a good time!

Modern Day Army of Helaman

Today was another cousins’ temple trip to the Taylorsville Temple. Jacob, Rachael’s oldest son, came home from his mission in Germany exactly one week ago and was in attendance today, so Nathan took the day off work and came down to join us. In addition to Nathan and Jacob, we had Matthew, Malia, Drew, Sabrina, and Kate. Matthew, Jacob and Drew all performed baptisms as well as being baptized and Nathan and Jacob both performed confirmations. It was so neat to be there with this group of worthy youth and young adults. The world they are growing up in is far less than ideal and to see this rising generation stand strong amidst the storm is both humbling and inspiring. Their love of the temple and their willingness to serve there often helps strengthen them and is such an amazing example to me. I know I’ve said this before, but sometimes I feel like I’m learning just as much from them as they are learning from me. This is one of the many things that brings one of my favorite scriptures to mind. “For the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal.” (Alma 1:26) I may be one of the parents charged with bringing up this rising generation, but I feel immensely humbled by that role as I catch a glimpse of their potential and the great force for good they can become.

Holy Ground

In October of 2019, I took Malia to the one and only women’s session of general conference she has attended. It was the first one that she was old enough to attend and she was super excited. We met with my sisters and Rachael’s girls for dinner at my mom’s house before the meeting. Lona, Kevin’s mom, who is in the same ward as my folks, joined us. After we ate, the two grandmas, Malia and I headed over to their stake center to watch the broadcast of the meeting. Malia, who was super excited, wanted to sit in the very front row, so Lona and I sat with her right up front. My mom needed to sit further back so she left us to crane our necks while she chose a more comfortable viewing location.

This particular stake center was my stake center from the time that we first moved to Utah until I moved out to go to college. When we first settled in Taylorsville, it was our normal Sunday meeting house for a while. It was an older chapel, even then, and had the original unpadded wooden pews in the chapel. I remember loving the primary room in that church because it had identical wooden pews but sized to fit children.  I absolutely loved that they were just my size! Not too long after we moved, a church was built across the street from my parents’ house, so we began having our regular Sunday meetings in the new building. But there were still plenty of events that took us to the stake center, one of which was our stake conferences. Things are different now, but back then, there was a separate meeting for the primary children. We would gather in the primary room to sing and have activities and lessons while the adults attended the general meeting. Our stake also did road shows and stake musicals and all kinds of fun things. And many of them were held either in the stake center or on the adjoining property that had a big, covered pavilion and a softball diamond as well as a large expanse of grass. Ward BBQs were held in the pavilion and I remember many happy events spent eating and playing and enjoying the company of my friends. 

Now let’s jump back to 2019. As we have come to expect, there were new temples announced in that general conference. But in all my memory, that was the only time the new temples were announced in the women’s meeting instead of a general session. In addition, while announcing a dozen or so new temples has kind of become the norm in the past few years, at that time having just a small handful was more normal. So, when Pres. Nelson announced the building of eight new temples, it seemed like a lot. Not only that, but the last temple on the list was to be built in Taylorville, Utah! A palpable wave of excitement rippled through the congregation there as the sisters assembled rejoiced at the news that a temple would be built right there in their city! My mother-in-law was overcome with emotion and even for me, although Taylorsville is no longer my home, it was an exciting announcement! Little did we know that at that moment when the temple was announced, we were sitting on the very spot where the Taylorville temple would be built. Only two months later, it was announced that the old stake center would be razed, and the temple would be constructed in its place. The following year, the church was demolished and construction on the temple began.

The temple was completed this April, and we were able to view it during the open house in May. My parents, Kevin’s parents, Daniel, Nathan and my sister Esther joined us, so it really was a family affair. The temple was beautiful, of course, and it was so neat to be able to see it with our families. Although Daniel is the only one of my kids who ever attended church in the old stake center (and he was far too young to remember that), the traditional Thanksgiving gathering we have had with Kevin’s family each year was held in the cultural hall of the stake center up until the time that it was torn down so we all have memories of the old building. And those of us who were together in the stake center when the temple was announced were together again for the open house.

The temple was dedicated on June 2 and although I thought we would not be able to attend because we don’t actually live in that temple district, the procedures for attending a dedication have changed so Kevin, Matthew, Malia and I were able to go! Once again, we were joined by my parents, Esther, and Kevin’s mom, who came with Connie, Kevin’s sister. This is the first temple dedication Malia has attended, and I was so glad she was able to experience such a special meeting. For a while there we got to attend quite a few dedications as the ones for all the Utah temples were being broadcast over a wide area, but that has changed and now they are only being broadcast for the specific temple districts. It makes sense, it just means Malia has not had multiple opportunities to attend temple dedications like all our boys did. In addition to participating in a wonderful event, we got a little bit of a surprise in that my high school choir director was directing the choir that sang for the dedication. It was fun to see that he is still able and active, and my kids were able to see the teacher that I spent a lot of time with during my three years of high school. 

I feel like today has brought us full circle. This morning Matthew and Malia were joined by Kate, Sabrina (Rachael’s girls), and a friend of Sabrina’s to do baptisms at the Taylorsville Temple. I sat in the baptistry while they worked their way through the ordinances, and it was a tender mercy to do so. The headaches have been so bad the last while that I have not been able to go to the temple as I normally would. So just being able to be there today was a balm to my soul. And it provided Matthew and I a time for a quiet mother/son talk that was definitely guided by the Spirit. 

I have a tendency to get teary every time new temples are announced because I know that there are saints all over the world who will be able to go to the temple a bit more easily and a bit more frequently. I have been so blessed to live somewhere that has many temples close at hand, but I know that outside of Utah that is not the norm. And when I have those quiet moments of revelation, guidance, and peace in the temple, I am reminded of just what a blessing it is. While this new temple is close to so many others, it will, like all the others dotted across the world, provide more faithful members opportunities to serve and learn in ways that can only happen in a holy temple.

A Very Important First, But Hopefully Not a Last

For most people, taking the family out to dinner is a simple thing. For us, not so much. It always involves advanced planning, prepping a meal for at least one of my children, and then the emotional toll that occurs when the effected child or children have to watch the rest of us eat something that looks and smells delicious. As you can imagine, we don’t eat out all that much. Even on vacation we have tried to keep eating out at a minimum to help ease that feeling of being left out at the table. So, I’m sure you can imagine what a landmark event our first ever restaurant meal where all six of us were in attendance and were all able to eat was destined to be. We have been planning this meal ever since Matthew’s successful outing to Tsunami in October, and honestly, I think this was the most important event of this holiday season for all of us.

We started off our day with a trip to the temple. Over the past year, it has kind of become our routine to try to schedule a temple trip when Daniel and Nathan are home for a few days. It has been so nice to be able to attend together and it something I suspect we will continue to do. After lunch we drove downtown to take our yearly family pictures. With two kids away at school, scheduling a photo op for all of us has been a challenge. We had originally planned to drive to Logan in October, but work and marching band foiled that plan. We tried again over Thanksgiving weekend, but once again work schedules were tricky to navigate. Everyone has days off work and school this week, so we took advantage of the day to snap a few pics. Kevin and I know that the times when we can get all our kids together for a family photo are only going to become more difficult to arrange as time goes by, so this one kind of feels like the end of an era. Moving forward, we plan to take pictures with Matthew and Malia whenever it works for the four of us and invite the older boys to be in attendance if they can. If not, we totally understand. And encourage their continued foray into adulthood. 

Dinner at Tsunami was the culmination of our day of family outings. We all ate sushi, even Matthew who had his own specially prepared allergen free rolls, and Malia, who has gotten a lot braver about trying things and even liked some of the rolls she tried…minus the fish. 😂 We talked, we laughed, we ate way too much, and we had an absolutely amazing time. This was another remarkable first, one we never thought we would have. And hopefully, there will be more meals, and days, like this in the future. I suspect there will be. We all value family time and while we can’t always make it work, that will make the times when we can even more special.

As time goes by, I am becoming ever more aware of just how precious these family times are. Daniel and Nathan have only a few days at home as they both need to get back to work and honestly, my home is not their home anymore. When they are here, they are only visiting. We all know that. And we are all okay with that. I have raised my children to become capable, independent adults, and I’m not going to mourn the fact that my efforts have been successful. I will just enjoy the times when they are here, take advantage of these fleeting moments when we are all together, and continue to support and love them in the ever-changing ways that having adult children brings. Having said that, I do reserve the right to feel just a little bit sad when they leave to return to their home and their lives. It’s a right that twenty-three years of motherhood has earned me. But I won’t wallow in it. I’ll let that bit of sorrow prick my heart, then I’ll jump right back into the continuing task of raising my younger children. I’m not done with this whole mothering gig yet!

Oh, and as a sidenote, apparently Matthew is still the poster child for food allergies. When he was four or five, our allergist mentioned that she had a medical student in the office and asked if he could come in for our appointment. I agreed. When our doc brought the student in, she told him, “This is an example of a highly allergic individual.” That was our first experience with Matthew being the face of food allergies. The manager on shift at Tsunami was the same manager we met last time, and the same manager Kevin talked to on his first Q and A visit when we were trying to find out if Matthew safely eating there was even a possibility. The manager asked Kevin if the owner of the chain had gotten in touch with him yet. He had not, but the manager said that Matthew’s successful visit was used as a refresher course on food allergy protocols for all the locations and that the owner had asked for Kev’s phone number. I have to admit that cooking for someone with so many allergies can be quite daunting and getting it right in a commercial kitchen is a huge accomplishment. As such, I’m perfectly fine with the fact that once again Matthew seems to be the poster child for food allergies!

Family, Food, Fun, and Faith

This past week has been a good week and a hard week all rolled up into one. As part of my ongoing battle with the migraines, I began seeing a physical therapist last week Friday. He evaluated posture, pressed pretty hard on a bunch of places on my skull, evaluated my dentation, current headache levels, etc. When he was done, I was dizzy, something he said is pretty normal considering everything he did. The dizziness passed after about five minutes and I felt fine the rest of Friday and all-day Saturday, so I figured I was doing ok. But I was wrong, so wrong.

Sunday was when the effects of the PT really kicked in. I woke up dizzy and remained that way until midway through the day on Tuesday. For those unfamiliar with the ravages of migraines, the symptoms are far more numerous than the blinding pain most people are familiar with. Symptoms can include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, flashing lights or visual blind spots (aura), flashes of heat, extreme fatigue, shaky hands, inability to focus, feeling like the world is literally spinning, and the list could go on. 

For me, sometimes the dizziness is bad enough that I can’t get out of bed. This time it was milder so I was at least functional, but I was definitely not functioning well. I could manage things if I was upright and as long as I didn’t look up, down, bend over, change my position, etc. All those things increased the dizziness. And it was the week of Thanksgiving, so I had a lot on my to-do list. Luckily, my extreme tendency to prepare in advance meant most of our feast was already prepared and in the freezer. Otherwise, we probably would have ended up eating chicken nuggets for Thanksgiving instead of turkey. I knew going in that things are going to get worse before they get better, but there was no way for me to know exactly what the ramifications of this first appointment would be. If I had, I would have postponed it, but hindsight is 20/20, right?

Having given that preface, this week’s events can be sorted into four basic categories: family, food, fun, and faith.

Family:

This one is obvious. Daniel and Nathan came home on Wednesday. They came by way of pie day at my mom’s house. That was when we got to visit with my parents and sisters and the cousins. My kids don’t get to see their cousins as often as they once did, so that is always a treat for them. 

On Thursday, my fabulous foursome spent the day together, playing games, laughing, joking. Matthew and Malia miss their brothers and don’t get to see them as often as they like, so they spent as much time with them as they could over this week. I love that my kids have gotten to the point where not only do they like each other, they spend time together on purpose and stay in touch regularly via the amazing technology to which we have access.

Yesterday was our gathering with Kevin’s family. Again, the kids got to visit with cousins they don’t see as often as they might like due to busy lives all around. But I know that these young ones stay in touch vis digital means as well, so they just might talk more often than I’m aware of, which is great. We had lunch, shared a few family history stories, some highly entertaining ones involving some…colorful ancestors. We listened to some musical numbers presented by my boys and watched a video of one of my niece’s recent ballet performances, one that we unfortunately missed due to conflicting schedules. Daniel and Nathan both had responsibilities in their own ward today, so they headed straight back to Logan after the party with a goodly amount of food in tow. 

As always, being able to spend time with family in all its various permutations was one of the highlights of the week. The older my kids get, the more I appreciate the time we have together. It is finite and never quite long enough, but we take advantage of the time we get. I did miss out on most of the fun board and card games due to the fact that I was not feeling my best and that was sad for me, but there will be other days and other weeks and hopefully the PT will end up being helpful over time.

Food:

Let’s face it. Food is an integral part of Thanksgiving. We all look forward to enjoying the traditional turkey dinner with a generous helping of pie by the side. I did manage to get all the expected dishes ready to eat at the appropriate times, but there were some necessary concessions made due to my headache status. The first were the pies. 

Tuesday was pie making day for me and while I managed to get them all baked, thankful that all my pie crust was made ahead of time and frozen, the aesthetics of said pies were far below my normal standard. They still tasted delicious, but they looked pretty darn sad. Don’t look for pictures. I’m far too particular to take photos of less than picture perfect food unless it is so bad it is laughable. And this year’s pies were not that far gone. They were just a little…rough around the edges. I managed to haul myself to pie day at my mom’s house on Wednesday, but I was most definitely not running on full steam, and I did not manage to stay as long as usual. I came home before all my kidlets did, and I’m glad most of them are old enough to drive so they could stay and visit with their cousins.

When I woke on Thanksgiving, I had taken another downhill slide headache wise. I wasn’t dizzy, but I felt pretty terrible. Since our inaugural Thanksgiving dinner at home in 2020, it is something we have come to love. One of the big reasons is the fact that everything on the table is safe for Matthew to eat, something that rarely happens elsewhere. There have been years when all he could eat was turkey and the rolls that I baked, and that is pretty sad. The downside to our smaller gathering this year is that cooking the whole dinner alone and with migraine symptoms is hard. But with the help of my fam, I managed the bare necessities foodwise which was roast the turkey and reheat all the previously frozen dishes. Once again, prepping in advance worked very much to my advantage this year. Due to my headache induced malaise, we simplified and ate buffet style rather than pulling out all the serving dishes for a nice, sit-down dinner, but being a little more casual this year was good and did nothing to diminish everyone’s enjoyment of the much-anticipated feast.

Fun:

As previously mentioned, as my kids have gotten older, they have come to value the time we have together more than they did when they were little. That is normal though, as they grow up and move out. At least, it is normal for families in which the siblings get along and actually like each other, and that is exactly what has happened for us. There were card games and video games (although not as many as in years past) and jokes and laughter and enjoyment all around. Sometimes it feels like my house is the location of a giant pun war and/or the residence of every bad dad joke in existence, but yes, that is fun too! Personally, I did not find this week as fun as I normally do, but that was another casualty of the headache. I hate missing out on the board games, but I was really not up to most of it this week. I am glad that the rest of my family still had a good time though. Matthew and Malia miss their brothers when they are away, so I know these times together are precious for them as well.

Faith: 

Friday morning was spent at the temple doing baptisms for the dead. That is another thing we have come to love since Malia was able to join us at the temple at the beginning of this year. Being in the temple as a family is always a reminder to me that one of the big purposes of the whole plan is just that: to bind us together as families. And remembering that the work we do in the temple allows other families to be sealed gives me such a sense of purpose as we serve there. I love that my kids love the temple as well. On Saturday morning, my boys spent another morning in the baptistry of another temple. It was a very early appointment and Malia really needed to sleep, so she did not join them, but that is ok too. Sometimes my boys need time with just their brothers. 

Our faith is an important part of our lives and being able to spend time together in spiritually focused activities is a blessing. While my older boys were not on hand early in the week when Kevin gave me a blessing related to my abysmal headache status, there have been times in past when we have had all three Melchizedek priesthood holders rotating to give blessings to each other, to me, and to Matthew and Malia. On those occasions, the Spirit is even stronger than normal in our home, and we grow even closer together and stronger as a family.

I suspect I will need to lean on my faith often as I continue down the PT path. I have been told there is help to be found through doing so, but if this week is any indication, it may be a rocky road to get there. I also know that these trying times can strengthen my faith if I allow them to do so, and that is one of the things I hope I can gain from this: increased faith in the Lord as I pray for ways to lessen the headaches and reclaim parts of my life that have become casualties to the migraines.                      

To sum it all up, this week has been a challenging one for me, but overall, the good eclipses the bad. I have been actively trying to simplify my life as I often make things much more complicated than they need to be. Being forced to simplify due to headache was not a great reason to do so, but the end result was good. It led to a relaxed, calm, enjoyable holiday where we were able to enjoy the company of our family in all its permutations, consume not quite obscene (but fairly close) amounts of food, laugh and joke and have fun with each other, and cap it all off by finding strength to do all things through our faith.

Marked Differences

Today we left Washington and started on the long road back home. However, we still had one last important stop to make. As we have made plans for this trip over the past year, one of the things we knew we wanted to do was visit the Portland temple. Some months back I was able to make a reservation in the baptistry since that is where all six of us can serve together and we left Forks nice and early this morning so we would arrive in time. 

As Utah residents, we are accustomed to the crazy busy baptistries is our nearby temples, the ones where you are in for a good long wait if you don’t have a reservation and sometimes a decent wait even if you have a reservation. We were there on a Saturday afternoon, typically one of the most popular temple times for teens, so I expected to see some other people. What we got was an empty baptistry and some very excited temple workers who were enormously glad to see us. As we waited in the chapel one other small group did come in, but that was it. It was a solid reminder that the church outside of Utah often looks somewhat different. But no matter where we are, the gospel is always the same. In some ways, being a church member in Utah is easier. And to be honest, I think in some ways it can be more challenging. Nevertheless, I think it is good to be aware of what life is like as a member of the church in different parts of the world.

I always love being in the temple with my family. With the older boys living away from home, the opportunities for all six of us to attend together are few. This was only the second time we have all served together and it was marvelous. After the general hubbub of the past two weeks, the calm and quiet were a balm to my soul. Not that our vacation has been super stressful or anything, because it hasn’t been, but walking into the temple is always like taking a big sigh of relief for me. It is a much-appreciated chance to let the outside world slip away for a bit.  

There was a vast difference once we left the temple grounds though. As we traversed downtown Portland on our way to our hotel, all of us were kind of on edge. It was sort of weird, but the feel of the city was not one we liked. It was a general unease and an “I need to be on my guard because something about this place doesn’t feel quite right” kind of a thing. As we discussed it, Daniel did say that apparently the Portland slogan of “keep it weird” seems to be quite accurate. I think what we were feeling was the lure of the world, so different from what we usually find in our own little part of the world. And I think the feeling was amplified by the fact that we had just come from the temple. Our general consensus was that we don’t want to live in Portland. I know there are many wonderful people who call Portland home and the presence of a temple is an indication of a solid church membership, but our general reaction to the part of the city where we found ourselves (which is admittedly the heart of the city and probably one of the rougher areas of town if the graffiti and barb wire topped fences are any indication) was not a place we think we would be comfortable living.

Yes. I know we live sheltered lives in our little valley. Even though it is much more diverse than it was when I was a kid, it is still fairly homogenous compared to the world at large. And the percentage of residents who are church members is still far larger than in most other areas. That in itself is a driving factor in what creates such a unique culture in Utah. And yes, there are pros and cons to our culture. I have no illusions about that. Nevertheless, it is home. 

Second Time Around

Today was another temple day for us and another one with family. Daniel and Nathan weren’t able to join us this time, but Rachael, Kate and Sabrina accompanied us for another visit to the baptistry. We visited the Mount Timpanogos Temple this time and although the ordinances are always the same, each temple has its own procedures as far as dressing, waiting, etc. go. I’m really glad Rachael was with us to help shepherd us around. This is her normal temple, and it was so helpful to have her tell us where to go!

We had a lovely time and we have decided we need to do this again!

Eternal Laughter

Malia is the youngest of my children by a fairly sizable margin. She is 11 years younger than Daniel and 4 ½ younger than Matthew. As such, she often feels like she’s being left behind. And that’s a valid feeling. Daniel and Nathan no longer live at home and are only around for occasional visits. Now that Matthew is in high school, he is gone more and more often and when he gets his driver’s license next month, I fully expect his time away to increase. So she’s completely justified in feeling like she’s the lone child at home. There are advantages to that, but it also means that she spends a lot of time waiting to catch up with her brothers. 

Today was one of those days when she finally caught up. After years of patiently waiting, today was the first time she was able to go into the temple with us. We scheduled far in advance so that Daniel and Nathan were able to come down, and all six of us went to the baptistry together. I’ve said many times that I love being in the temple with my family, and today was very sweet indeed. All of my children together with Kev and I in the temple. We had expected to wait another year for this event since Nathan was originally slated to be in Texas until next year, but another tender mercy of his early homecoming was the fact that we were all together for Malia’s very first temple trip. It was a day of pure joy.

As a side note, today was also Nathan’s first meeting with the ASL Institute Council. As I mentioned before, the members are scattered all over the U.S., so the meetings are held via Zoom. Also remember that only two or three of the council are hearing. All the rest are deaf. The rest of us were working on our Saturday jobs while Nathan was having his meeting. It was Matthew’s turn to vacuum, but he was web browsing instead of vacuuming so like a diligent mother, I asked him why his job wasn’t done yet. He told me that he was waiting to do the vacuuming so he wouldn’t disrupt Nathan’s meeting. While that was thoughtful and all, my response was, “Ummm, Matthew, the meeting is in ASL. Running the vacuum won’t matter.” There was a huge “duh” moment and then he got out the vacuum. And I laughed. 😂

My family laughs kind of a lot. We chuckle, we giggle, we snicker, we chortle, and sometimes we outright guffaw. We honestly enjoy being together and that is reflected in the way we interact with one another. As such, it seems oddly appropriate that this post has ended up being a combination of a glorious afternoon spent in the temple with my eternal family and an occurrence at home that made me laugh. I know a lot of the world thinks of heaven as being a peaceful, serene place where we float around on clouds all day playing harps. But not me. My version of heaven is a joyful, happy place where my family and I are engaged in a rousing game of Phase 10 or And It Came to Pass. There will be laughter, and light, and endless quality family time. I hope to see you all there. And bring your favorite game. We’ll have lots of time to play!

Divine Design

Nathan has wanted to be a temple worker since about five minutes after he went to the temple for his own endowment. He has a deep and abiding love for the temple and the work we do there, and his desire to spend time there has led him to go as often as he can. One of the tender mercies associated with his early homecoming from Texas has been the speed at which he was called and set apart as a temple ordinance worker. The longest part has been waiting to begin since last week Saturday was general conference and our temple was closed for cleaning the Saturday before that. But he was finally able to begin his service today and despite the fact that he still has a significant headache, he found great joy in serving today and is already looking forward to his shift next Saturday.

As part of this first day of service, he was given a tour of the temple and learned some interesting things. We all know that the temples are adorned with numerous works of art depicting the Savior, people from the scriptures, events of the restoration, etc. One of my favorite things to do as I wait in the temple for one thing or another is to enjoy the artwork and I’ve always been certain that each one was carefully selected to bring the right spirit into the temple. But one tidbit Nathan learned today and shared with me is that the temple design committee not only gives much thought and attention to which works of art are to be housed in the temple, but the location of each piece is also very carefully selected. As he spends time in the temple, he was encouraged to look at each painting and ponder what we can learn from that particular painting being placed in precisely that spot. 

As I think about several paintings that have particularly caught my attention when I’m in the temple, my mind is already working on why they would have been placed where they are. I am looking forward to the opportunity to ponder on and learn from the placement as well as the subject of the various works of art as I attend various temples in the future.

“The Hearts of the Children”

One of the many things that makes our church different from the many other Christian religions is the fact that we perform ordinances for the dead. We know that the ties that bind us in life can continue into the eternities, and we want to allow everyone, including those who have already died, the opportunity to claim these blessings. As a result, there is a great focus on family history work in conjunction with temple work. I have been blessed to have children that have a deep-seated desire to serve in the temple, and since technology has made family history work simpler and more accessible than ever before, more often than not they are taking family names when they go. That is where this particular story begins.

During the summer of 2019, Nathan had a goal to go to the temple as often as possible. He used the Family Tree app and located many family names, including the names of seven siblings who needed all their work done. They just happened to share our last name, which was extra cool. My parents had scheduled a family sealing session at the end of August to do some sealings for family names which they had been working to complete ordinances for, so we made a goal to have all the siblings ready to be sealed to their parents at the end of the summer. My boys and their friends did the baptisms and confirmations for those seven siblings. Daniel and I spent the summer doing the initiatory and endowment work for them all. And by August, we were ready for them to be sealed to their parents.

August 23, 2019 was the family sealing session. Nathan and Matthew did some more baptisms while those of us who were able gathered in the sealing room upstairs. Being together in the sealing room with my parents, my sisters and their spouses, Kevin and Daniel was an amazing experience. I love being in the temple at any time but being in the temple with my family is truly the best of the best. Being sealed as a family is the culminating ordinance that is performed in the temple, so being there with my kin is kind of like a glimpse into the promise of eternal family. The sealings of those siblings to their parents were done one after another and when the last one was completed, Kevin told us that they were present, and they were so excited about the work we had just done. However, that was not what I felt. I had an overwhelming feeling that we had forgotten someone. The feeling was so strong that it brought me to tears. Yes, I know that’s not hard to do, but it was an unmistakable impression, one that I could not ignore.

As soon as we got back to the car, I pulled out my phone and looked up the family in question in Family Tree. Sure enough, there were two siblings for whom we had not done work. One of them, a brother, had his name reserved by someone else. Another, the youngest sister, needed more time to elapse before we could do her work because her birthdate was too recent. We took note of how much longer we needed to wait (just a few months) and made a mental note to check back then. In the meantime, Daniel started working sideways and found Myrtle, the wife of one of the brothers. We got her baptism and confirmation done in the last few weeks before Daniel left on his mission. In October when it had been long enough that we could do her ordinances, we checked back in with Ida, the youngest sister for whom we still needed to do work. At that time, her name had been reserved by someone else. That was fine with us. We didn’t care who did the work as long as it got done.

A few months later, the world changed when COVID-19 became came crashing into our lives. Everything closed, including the temples, and as we grappled with a variety of troubles and anxieties, doing work for our ancestors took a back seat to more immediate concerns.

It was more than a year later when the temples began to reopen for proxy work. The baptistries opened first and appointments filled incredibly quickly. Like us, everyone was anxious to return to the temple. I felt very blessed to be able to snag an appointment for my boys to go do baptisms for the dead in mid-June of 2021. While they waited for that appointment, Nathan was preparing to go to the temple for his own endowment. It took a while for the necessary appointments to be made and the interviews to occur, but once all was in order, he scheduled his endowment for the beginning of July. All my menfolk attended the temple for our baptistry appointment on June 12. While they were there, one of the temple workers mentioned to Kevin that we should be sitting at our computer at noon on June 30. The kind temple lady was not able to tell him any more than that, but I tucked that bit of info into a corner of my mind and watched the calendar.

Near the end of June, the email announcing the opening of our temple for all proxy ordinances arrived. The date on which proxy work would resume was June 29, 2021, just three days before Nathan’s July 2 live endowment session. I immediately got online to try to schedule a visit. All the timeslots for endowment sessions were filled, but I was able to schedule a sealing session for August 6. I then turned to initiatory hoping I could snag a time to do the next step in Myrtle’s work. Unbelievably, there were still two appointments available on July 1 which meant I could complete Myrtle’s initiatory work and then do her endowment work the following day when Nathan did his live endowment. It felt like a huge blessing, which it was, and I was incredibly excited.

On Sunday, June 27, we were sharing with Daniel all the excitement about the reopening temples and our upcoming appointments. Talk of the temple brought to mind those last two siblings, Alonzo and Ida, and Daniel checked their status in Family Tree. We were all surprised to find that both names had been shared with the temple which meant he was able to reserve them so we could do the work. Alonzo had been baptized but not confirmed and Ida’s work had not been started yet. We bemoaned the fact that there were no available appointments in the baptistry because if things had lined up right, I could take Ida’s name to my initiatory appointment on Thursday and then to the endowment session on Friday. We had plenty of family members coming to be able to do all the endowments, but there was no time for baptisms. I only half-jokingly suggested that one of us could stand outside the baptistry on Tuesday morning and beg for someone to take those two names but thought that might not be well accepted by other temple patrons in the middle of a pandemic.  

On Wednesday, June 30, I was sitting at my computer at noon just as the kindly temple worker had advised. I was hoping that new baptistry appointments would be posted so that I could schedule another time for Matthew to go to the temple. I watched and refreshed my browser continually for several hours and nothing new appeared. At that point I assumed something must have changed since we had been given the tip, stopped watching and got on with my day.

After dinner that evening, it occurred to me that I should check one more time, just in case. I did so, and to my great astonishment, one appointment for baptisms was available for that very evening. It was the last appointment of the day and we had just over an hour until participants needed to be at the temple. I immediately reserved the appointment, crying all the time, because I knew that it was a miracle for my family. The only reason I had even checked for appointments that day was the tip the temple worker had given Kevin several weeks previous, and I felt a great amount of gratitude for her comment. It helped us be in the right place at the right time. Having that one appointment pop up meant someone else had cancelled, so whoever they were, they had my gratitude as well for the miracle they helped create. My appointment to do initiatories was the next day and we had been blessed with a way to get Ida’s baptism and confirmation done in preparation for the next ordinance. The first roadblock cleared, we drove into the next one. Both Nathan and Matthew were going to the temple, but neither of them could stand as proxy for Ida. Kevin and I were in the process of refinancing our mortgage and the closing was scheduled for 7:00 that evening so I could not go. We needed a sister.

Nathan and Matthew got on their phones and started texting everyone they could think of to try to find a friend to attend with them. I pulled up the ward list and started calling everyone who had a daughter who might be able to go. As it was the very last minute, everyone we contacted was unavailable. I was starting to get discouraged but had a thought to try Samantha, a young sister in our ward who is Nathan’s age and had just graduated from high school. I called her mom, but she did not answer and her mailbox was full so I couldn’t leave a message. I figured that was a dead end and went back to my list to see if I had missed someone that I thought might want to go. A minute later, Nathan said that he should just call Samantha directly, which he did. She answered and told him that they were out to dinner as a family which is why her mom had not answered. But her mom is the relief society compassionate service leader and when a member of the relief society presidency called followed immediately by her son calling, Samantha figured they had better answer just in case someone had died. In short order, she told Nathan she would be going to the temple. I’m not ashamed to say that I actually cheered and did a little happy dance. A bit later, Samantha told Nathan that she had been praying for an opportunity to go to the temple. While she was an answer to our prayers, it seems we were an answer to hers. That’s the Lord’s hand in our lives. Nathan performed Ida’s baptism and Samantha acted as proxy. Nathan told me that as he said the words of the ordinance, he felt a little gush of excitement that was not his own and in his mind, he felt someone urging him to say the words faster. It would seem that the veil was thin, and Ida was sharing her joy. Alonzo’s confirmation was also completed that evening.

The next day we faced our next hurdle. I was ready to do the initiatory work for Ida and her sister-in-law Myrtle, but we had no way to get Alonzo’s initiatory done. Both Daniel and Kevin had to work and there were no appointments available when they were not working. I arrived at the temple with Alonzo’s name card in my hand, prepared to ask questions about the possibility of having someone else do the next step in his work. I asked the temple worker who was checking reservations whether or not it was possible to get his ordinance done. She didn’t know and suggested we ask her shift supervisor. Before she even completed the sentence, her shift supervisor walked through the door. I repeated my question and when she didn’t know either, she suggested we ask the temple recorder.

We made our way to the temple offices, and I explained the situation to the temple recorder. My son was going to the temple for his own endowment the next day and we had been unable to get an appointment for my own menfolk to do the initiatory. Was there any way to get that ordinance done so we could do his endowment the following day? If the temple were open as it normally would be, there would be ample opportunity to get the ordinance done, but the need to schedule everything had left us with few options if we were to get the work done in time. The temple recorder asked who would be doing the endowment for Alonzo and I told him it would be either my husband or my already endowed oldest son. After a moment of thought, the recorder responded, “We’re living in uncommon times. I’m willing to make an exception to policy because I have a feeling this will be a very special experience for your family.” And then I cried. Of course. Bawl baby gene, remember? And I thanked him profusely. He took my phone number and told me he would call when the work was done.

The cool thing about doing proxy work for Ida was the fact that my last name is the same as hers and as such, whenever they said my name (which is also her name), I felt a little bubble of excitement. She was there with me and thrilled at the progress. I was able to complete Myrtle’s initiatory as well. As for me, it was wonderful to be back in the temple. The world had been extra chaotic and stressful over the previous year and a half and walking in the temple door and feeling the weight of the world lift off my shoulders was a true blessing.

Later that afternoon, at 4:23 p.m., to be precise, the phone rang. It was the temple recorder letting me know that Alonzo’s initiatory work had been done. That was another little miracle. I didn’t even note this dear brother’s name, but he helped facilitate another of our temple miracles and I am enormously grateful for him.

The following day was Nathan’s live endowment. I took Ida’s name and Kev’s sister-in-law took Myrtle’s. Daniel took Alonzo’s. Once again Ida shared her rush of enthusiasm with me, that little bubble of excitement when our name was said. Because of the COVID restrictions, our family members were the only ones in the session with us. It was small and intimate, such an amazing experience to look around the ordinance room and know that my covenants bind me to every single one of them. As I’ve said before, being in the temple with my family is the most amazing thing. And being able to do more work for Ida, Alonzo and Myrtle was another blessing.

A month has passed since then and this afternoon was our scheduled sealing session. Kevin, Daniel, Nathan, Kev’s mom and I attended and were finally able to seal Alonzo and Ida to their parents and Myrtle to her husband. As I knelt as Ida’s proxy one more time, I didn’t feel excitement. What I felt was peace and a sense of completion. In my mind were the words, “It’s finished.” Ida was finally sealed to her family. And she was at peace. After more than two years of waiting, which included a pause in temple work and many miracles for our family, one more family who is finally all bound together. Someday I’m going to meet Ida and I’m going to be able to thank her for letting us be a part of her story. Her great desire to be sealed to her family provided my family the opportunity to serve her and her family, the chance to see the Lord at work in our lives, and the blessing of increased faith and testimony of temple and family history work.

I have gained several important things over the course of this adventure. First, I have learned to love and appreciate the temple even more than I used to. I hope I never again take it for granted. I think that’s another blessing that has come in the wake of COVID. We usually have such easy access to so many temples that it can be easy to make going an ordinary occurrence. But it really shouldn’t become ordinary to us. It should always be viewed as a blessing, an opportunity to learn, to draw nearer to the Lord and to leave the world behind for a bit. I know that doing an endowment session is what most people do most of the time, but I have loved participating in the other ordinances as well. There are such amazing blessings associated with the other covenants we make and being reminded of them has helped strengthen and guide me.

Second, I have experienced firsthand the power of family history work and the love and blessings that doing temple work on behalf of our own family can bring to our lives. They are more than just names on paper. They are people, real men and real women and even more than that, they are kin. Ultimately, that’s what the temple is all about. It’s about sealing us to those we love the most so that we may be with them forever. D&C 2:2 says “And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.” I have seen that happen in my family. As we have all worked together to complete the temple work for another family, we have learned to love our ancestors a bit more.

Third, I have gained a greater testimony of the fact that our spirits are eternal and that all we are taught about what comes after this life is real. Ida and her family have touched me and my family. We all believe that Ida was anxious and ready to get her work done. She had waited long enough to be sealed to her parents and as soon as possible, she was pulling strings on her side of the veil so that we would have the miracles we needed on our side. During the first week that the temple was reopened for proxy work, my family was able to go into the temple three days in a row. You can’t tell us that’s not a miracle. We know it is. I’m not sure why Ida chose me to inspire, but I’m so grateful for her. She has been in my mind and in my heart and as I’ve told my family, Ida was driving the bus. I was just along for the ride. And what an amazing ride it has been.

Relaxation

Today was a low-key vacation day. Sometimes we get so many activities packed into our vacations that there isn’t a whole lot of time set aside for actual relaxation. One of our goals this time was to really just take it easy for a bit. So we ate breakfast at a leisurely pace (and that was only in part because the free hotel breakfast was not one of the better ones I’ve had and we were all a bit reluctant to consume the drier than the desert baked goods) and then drove over and walked the Cedar City temple grounds for a bit. That gave everyone an opportunity to take some pictures. Temples and flowers seem to be two of the kids’ most loved subjects to photograph and the temple grounds always have amazing greenery which makes it a “two birds, one stone” situation. After our jaunt to the temple, we played some games and just hung around until lunch time.

After lunch we attended our second show, the musical “Ragtime.” Kevin and I have seen this one before, but none of the kids have so it was a whole new experience for them. It was a long show, and a sad one, but it was enjoyed by all. Malia much preferred “Comedy of Errors” because it was funny, but she did a fantastic job sitting through the show and said that she liked it too. We ate dinner and then stopped at the grocery store to pick up ice cream that was safe for all, took it back to the hotel, and proceeded to eat way too much ice cream. Occasionally eating more dessert than normal is just one of those vacation things, right? We had a bit of a sugar coma after the ice cream and then we hit the pool for a late-night swim. Malia loves the pool and for her one of the perks of a hotel stay was access to the pool, so we all joined her for a dip. When we had swum long enough to have raisin fingers, Kevin and the kids headed out to do some star gazing. I was a party pooper for that activity though and stayed at the hotel for a bit of a relax before bed. It was late, after all, and I don’t do well with too many late nights in a row.

That may seem like far too many activities to make it a relaxing day, but it actually was. We didn’t need to rush from one thing to the next or hustle through meals to make sure we time for everything. We did take time to play some games and just talk. It was a good day, enjoyed by all. And there was a surprisingly small amount of bickering between my quartet of offspring. That is always a sign that everyone is feeling pretty darn mellow.

And as a parting comment, we stopped in at the gift shop and did indeed find a “book of that” which is just the right reading level for Malia: Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. Malia has already claimed dibs as the first reader.

 

A Joyful Day

When I was a young adult, the standard in the church was that people went to the temple for their endowment when they were preparing to leave on a mission or when they were getting married. In fact, many women went to the temple for the first time on the same day that they got married. I was an exception to that tradition. I received my endowment when I was twenty-two. I was not getting married nor was I going on a mission, but I knew that it was the right time for me to go and was blessed to have a bishop that agreed. When I met with my stake president (who happened to be Truman G. Madsen) for my temple recommend interview, he asked if I was getting married or serving a mission and when I responded in the negative, he exclaimed, “What is ‘Bishop’s Last Name Here’ doing to me?” I was not cowed however, and when I explained the spiritual promptings and course of events that had led me to his office, he showed trust in me and my bishop and proceeded to hold the interview and sign my recommend.

Unlike many friends and schoolmates who had been shocked or felt completely overwhelmed upon their taking part in the temple ordinances, I was completely at peace. Everything felt familiar and right and I came away feeling spiritually uplifted and strengthened. In fact, when I returned to my apartment the day after my temple trip, I remember ward members in my BYU student ward commenting that I looked happy and light. Well, that’s exactly how I felt.

Throughout the past year as Nathan has planned and prepared for his life after graduation, he didn’t feel a need to wait until right before his mission to go to the temple. In fact, he had a great desire to go to the temple as soon as possible after his eighteenth birthday. He felt like the temple was an important step of his spiritual progression and not just a footnote to serving a mission. Kevin and I were in complete agreement on that matter. We knew that the temple and the covenants he would make would bring him greater peace as well as give him the spiritual strength and protection he needed to withstand the attacks of the adversary that are not only becoming increasingly bold in general but were escalating in his own life as he was preparing for college and mission.

As soon as he graduated, he met with the bishop to interview for his temple recommend. He was told that he would be contacted by the stake to schedule his interview with the stake president, so he waited. And waited. And then waited some more. He waited patiently at first, then with increasing stress and impatience as the wait stretched to weeks and weeks. He had scheduled his date with the temple and was starting to be concerned that he would have to cancel his appointment because he didn’t have a signed recommend. He started texting and calling the stake executive secretary regularly and when that proved fruitless, Kevin finally texted one of the counselors in the stake presidency to see if he could get a response. A few days later, the stake president finally contacted Nathan and within a few days, his interview was held. There was a general sign of relief once the recommend was in his hand.

Today was the appointed day and we have had some miracles along the way. We were able to bring several family names to the temple and there will be a story to tell after one more trip to the temple next month. With COVID accommodations still in force, Nathan was able to invite only sixteen people to be in the session with him. That number worked out exactly right for Kevin and me, Daniel, grandparents, aunts, uncles, his friend Tate and one of his adopted mothers who was a bright spot at school during this past year. Those on Kev’s side of the family were able to go to the temple in November when his niece went for the first time and a few were able to attend the sealing when another of his nieces was married in March, but my family has not been able to enter the temple since COVID forced closures last March. As such, it was a tender mercy for my family to be back in the temple. I always love attending the temple with family because that’s what it’s all about and being there with two of my own children brought me joy. I can hardly wait until Malia is old enough to come with us. She has another year and a half until she will be able to do baptisms for the dead and my little crew is all looking forward to being able to gather together in the temple. It will actually end up being closer to three years since Nathan will be on his mission when she is finally old enough, but we are all anxious to be there together.

Since the session this morning, Nathan has been unbelievably happy. His experience was like mine in that he was not surprised nor overwhelmed. Everything felt familiar and right. He was definitely spiritually ready to take this step. He has been asking questions like crazy and talking nonstop about how amazing the temple is. He has shared some things that he learned and gushed about how at peace he is. He has an enthusiasm and joy for the temple that I love to see. He can hardly wait to go again.

It was nearly a perfect day in the temple. Two kids to go and then it will be a perfect day in the temple.