Road Trip = 2 More Temples!

Two weeks a go Heath and I got to take our summer trip! The main reason we went on it was to go down to Mesa, AZ for Aaron and Aubrie Butler's wedding but we made a whole road trip out of it and it was so wonderful! We'll post all about our trip on our other blog but here are our experiences in two more temples! (Our plan was to hit four: St. George, Mesa, Gila Valley, and Snowflake. The amount of driving we were doing was SO much so we were only able to hit the first two. We figured that someday while living in or visiting Albuquerque we can make a trip out of hitting those other two temples. :)

Our trip went from Wednesday night until Tuesday night. So fun! We drove to St. George Wednesday night and got up early Thursday morning to go to the temple. It was already getting hot there at 7am but it was a beautiful morning. We took our picture and then headed inside to do initiatories. There was a perfect "camera stand" so we got a good timer picture for this one! With the blue, clear sky in the background it looked like a backdrop - almost fake! It was crazy but so pretty! When we went inside I gave my recommend to the temple worker at the front desk. He scanned it and said, "Sister West... formally Harrison... before you caught this guy, huh? He a good catch?" I said "yes!" and he said, "Yeah, he looks like it! Thanks for coming today." I love the people that we get to meet inside the temples as well! There are some amazing people that work in the temples and I love when we get to talk with them and enjoy learning from them and getting to know them a little bit. After that we went off into the locker rooms and said we'd see each other after. Heath had a gentleman working that was very hard to understand. It seemed like it was quite the experience. :) I sat in between each initiatory and read about the sisters I was doing work for - where they were from and when they were born. They seemed to all be family - sisters, mothers, daughters - and all from Australia! Because my Dad served there anything Australia is exciting! It seems that way with places loved ones serve - it is especially that way when I hear anything from Montana, Australia, Scotland, and now Pennsylvania (and Russia - my "mini mission of sorts"). The other interesting thing that one of the sisters had on her name card Born: 1867 at sea. I'd never seen that before and it made my mind imagine a scene like I do when reading a book. I imagined her mother on a ship somewhere around Australia giving birth to a little girl - and it was in the midst of a storm (for some reason.) It added to my thinking about the people I was doing the work for. So neat!

Our trip continued with lots of fun in between until Friday morning we were able to go to the Mesa, AZ temple! We were going to do a session but we were running a little later then expected and weren't sure if we would be able to be outside the temple in time for Aaron and Aubrie to come out. Well I must've gotten the time wrong because it turns out we were outside the temple before Aaron and Aubrie even went in but that's okay! We did sealings instead and that was so neat! I love doing sealings... well, I love doing any work in the temple! But doing sealings is extra special because I think back to our wedding day and the first time I got to kneel across that alter from my sweet husband and be sealed for time and all eternity to him! What a great blessing - My heart seriously gets so full when I think about that and I'm so grateful that I get to be with him forever! What a lucky girl I am!!! Doing sealings in the Mesa temple was extra special for me because the whole time I was in there I was thinking about my parents, specifically, and how perfectly they started out our family in the temple 27 years a go! I thought back to my wedding day and having my mom in the bridal room with me helping me get dressed for my sealing and then in my wedding dress after. She made sure everything was perfect! I even remember her tying the bow in the perfect way she does. I felt so beautiful and so blessed to have my wonderful mom by my side! Then I thought back to when I tried on her wedding dress after I was engaged and how we talked about her wedding day and picking her dress and what she felt and did and things - so great! Then I thought back to when I was 10 years old going through the Albuquerque Temple Open House and going through and seeing the Bridal Room. Mom leaned over to me and whispered - this will be your own room someday. (That still fills me with the spirit to have that sweet memory.) And then I imagined back to my parents wedding day - just by thinking of the pictures I've seen of it - and how they must've looked and felt and the similar feelings they must've had on October 26, 1984 as Heath and I did December 21, 2010! It was great! The sealings were so great too and we had a fun sealer - he had some hard names and pronounced them very well. The promises in that blessing is so great! Ah - so fun! Then we had a long time to take a picture, look at the different plants outside the temple, and spend some time in the visitor's center before Aaron and Aubrie came out as Mr. and Mrs. Butler! We couldn't be more happy for them! They are such wonderful people and such wonderful friends!! :)

Yes... that's us! Our timer didn't fail us! In front of the
Big, Beautiful Mesa Temple!

Um... I don't know. Like I said, Lots of time outside the temple! :)

Mr. and Mrs. West & Mr. and Mrs. Butler! :)

The rest of our trip was also full of LOTS of fun exploring, visiting friends and family (and my old house.) :) In 8 months of marriage we've done work inside 10 temples!! :)

Manti!

The Manti Temple was technically the second we went to together after I was endowed. We were privileged to be invited to and be able to attend Brad and Kaysha Hobbs' (he was one of Heath's mission buddies) sealing on December 18, 2010 (three days before our own wedding.) After their sealing, we got to go see the staircases in the temple - one of the workers took us there. They are amazing! They are spiral staircases and are built without any supports. It's pretty amazing and was very neat to see! It was such a blessing to be able to attend another sealing before our own. It was fun to hear the marriage advice they got from their sealer too as we were about to be in the same position they were in. That was a fun day!

In August, though, Heath got a Saturday off. He didn't ask for it or anything, he just happened to be off so we took advantage! We went down and got to do an endowment session at the Manti Temple. It was a beautiful session. We were able to be the witness couple, which was an extra blessing. I always seem to get something a little different from the session when we are the witness couple. This is also the only other temple besides the Salt Lake Temple that still does live sessions. That is also a neat thing because I definitely get something different from the temple workers that are doing the session and how they say and act different ways. What a special experience! :) The rooms are neat as well. We were especially intrigued by the Telestial Room. It was a special session. Doing work in these temples that were built early in church history give different thinking I think. Not only am I thinking about the work that I'm doing and the beauty of the buildings and the session itself but also the work and sacrifice that went into building the temples. The outside of this temple - the stone was carved smooth by hand. You can see each individual chisel. It's so neat!

There were MANY weddings that day but we enjoyed the nice weather outside and got a nice lady to take a picture for us. Manti was Temple 8! After that we got to go over to the Lloyds house and help them pack up to move and have dinner with them too! We love them!

This temple will always remind me of some special times. 1 - this session we got to do together. 2 - The Hobbs' sealing and the feelings I had associated with being able to marry my best friend in 3 days! I'll also always remember that Heath and I were sharing a seat and he had his arm around me. The sealer was moving some people around in the sealing room so that everyone had their own seat. He looked at us, thought there was one empty seat left, and said - I'll keep you two lovebirds there, it seems you like being close to your wife. :) It made me smile so big and blush too, I'm sure. We laughed after that "we could already pass as a married couple!" 3 - We had the opportunity to come to the temple grounds with the Cummins (a family that was in a branch Heath was in on his mission) and the Lloyds (our "grandparents" - a senior couple that served with Heath.) The Cummins came from Utah and stayed with the Lloyds for a little while and we got to spend an afternoon with them. That was a wonderful experience! While we were on the temple grounds, AJ (he's seven, I think) asked what they could do if they couldn't play on the grounds. Brother Lloyd said - look at all these flowers. They are flowers dedicated to Heavenly Father. I'd never really thought about the flowers being dedicated to Him but they are and that is why they are so beautiful - only the best for the Lord. A little while later AJ had gone off and looked at some of the flowers on the other side of the road leading up to the temple. I went over to him and said - they're pretty, aren't they? His response was - Oh, they're beautiful!! It was a sweet moment. :)

When life gets to tough to stand....kneel.

Last Tuesday we spent all day temple hopping! We finally hit the 3 that are in eyesight of each other... Oquirrh Mountain, Jordan River, and Draper -- it was a great day!

We started out by going to the Oquirrh Mountain temple to do initiatories. It's a smaller temple but beautiful, of course! It was about noon on a Tuesday so it wasn't too busy, we went right in and got started doing them. This was the first time that I had done these since I went through for myself. I remember walking out of the rooms when I went through for me and the only thing I said to my mom was, "Wow!" There are incredible blessings promised to us in the temple. Our Heavenly Father truly loves us so much and wants us to be happy. He wants us to be able to go through life with challenges that we learn from but also so much joy. All that He created is so that we could have joy in this life. Though we may be tested and tried, what an incredible blessing it is to learn and grow and have so much guidance from the scriptures, prophets, and through our own revelation from prayer. He definitely did not leave us here alone. It was really neat to be able to go and do this work for five sisters that have already passed on. Not only was it great to be able to think about them and imagine how their life might have been - by the information of where they were born and when - but also to be able to listen more carefully to the words and realize the blessings that they were given the opportunity to receive, as well as those same blessings that I have received for myself. Heath and I were able to talk about some of the things we noticed and thought of after the session that we went to after this.

Next we did an endowment session in the Jordan River Temple. We loved the outside of this temple - it was very unique! When we gave the front desk our recommends, the temple worker said - oh, we have some young ones today! :) As we were walking to the dressing rooms, a lady asked me if we were going through an endowment session. When I said we were she asked if I would do a family name for her, I told her I would. That was a neat little experience - just to see her and know that I was doing work for a member of her family that once lived on this earth. I love thinking about these people - how they lived, the time period they lived in, and to think about them possibly receiving the gospel in the next life. Anyway, after we got changed we met each other outside the dressing rooms to go up to the chapel to wait for the endowment session to start. When we met up, we looked over and realized that instead of stairs to climb there were escalators. It was pretty nice to just ride those instead of climbing stairs... you know, just a side note. :) We were in the chapel for just a little while before it was time for the next endowment session to start. As we were sitting there, the brother working there asked us to be the witness couple - he said it's nice to have young legs to do that job. :) It was the first time we've had the opportunity to do this and it was a great experience. I learned more from that and felt different emphasis on different parts of the endowment. Another interesting part of this was that the temple worker had a prosthetic hand. It was very real and he didn't have any trouble with it. You wouldn't really notice unless you watched him. It's always neat to see people with things that make serving a little harder serve so much. The session was a great one and the celestial room was beautiful as well! The chandelier in the middle was different then most other ones we've seen and we had a great discussion while sitting in there. After a little while and being just so full of the spirit, we left to go to the third temple of the day and do some sealings.

  

We finished inside the Draper Temple. We got dressed and then went upstairs to see if we were going to be able to do sealings. The sealing office was so helpful and they rounded up three temple workers - a sealer and two witnesses and we went into one of the smaller sealing rooms, just the five of us. We knelt down at the alter and did four sealings. After the fourth one, one of the witnesses asked about the words that were being spoken. In answer to his question, the sealer gave us some thoughts about the sealing ordinance and all the words that are said. He talked about the blessings that are given to husbands and wives in this ordinance as well and how much our Father in Heaven loves us. He truly desires all of us to come unto Him and His Son, Jesus Christ and reap the blessings that are given through our faithfulness to Their commandments. After explaining this to us all and providing that great insight for us, Heath and I were both ready for that last sealing we were going to do and intent on listening closely to the words that he spoke in the sealing. Before the sealer started the last one, though, he said - oh, I'm sorry I have kept you on your knees, are you both okay? We didn't even think about it because we both felt fine and said yes, it's fine, go ahead. As soon as he started saying that fifth sealing I started feeling sick and suddenly felt weak. The next thing I knew I was laying on the ground with Heath sitting by my side. I had passed out. The sealer said that it happened because we lock our knees when we kneel at the alter and the blood flow isn't very good because of that. Oh I was embarrassed and still didn't feel great but after lying there for a while and then with the help and oversight of five temple workers, I was able to sit up and then able to stand and walk down to the dressing room where I could change and we could go get something to eat. :) (It probably didn't help that we hadn't eaten since breakfast since we had spent so long at each temple.) Once we got home my wonderful husband made me Macaroni and Cheese and corn - the only things that sounded good to me at the time - and after that and a bit of napping I felt much better. It was a funny, embarrassing, unique, interesting, and great experience as well. I thought about how our bodies are still physical. They are subject to pain, fatigue, hunger, etc. And at the same time - we were in a place that is so perfect. They ordinances are perfect, the work is perfect and eternal, and if we are faithful and doing the best we can, someday we can become perfect like our Father in Heaven. What an incredible knowledge to have and to know that this is true. While at the same time, this means we have a great responsibility - to act on all the knowledge we have and do the very best that we know how. The gospel is an incredible thing. Many say that it gives rules and restrictions but I think it gives help and guidance so that our lives are the best they can be and so that we become the best we can be. What an incredible blessing it all is!

Tuesday was a marvelous day. We were able to go through the ordinances in the temple like we went through them for ourselves - initiatory, endowment, and then sealing. It was an incredible reminder to us of the blessings we have and can receive as well as the covenants we've made with each other and with the Lord. The very best part of all this knowledge, all the feelings of the spirit, all the blessings and covenants, all the experiences and spiritual enlightenment that I received is that I got to and get to (for eternity) spend it with Heath. He is an incredible man and I'm truly blessed to be able to be sealed to him for time and all eternity. I may have written this in every post so far in this temple blog we have but the temple really reminds me of how blessed I am. I'm blessed to have him by my side, we're blessed to have the gospel and temples in our life, and I know that my family will forever be blessed by it as well - current and future family. I love the temples! And when we do several temples in one day, we'll be sure to bring lunch! :) But this was one of the best ways to spend a day -- with my husband in the House of the Lord!

With Kyle!

Yippee - this is a very exciting entry! It happened on March 25th! That weekend was a fun one up here in Utah! March 24th was Chad's birthday so after our soccer game we went out to dinner for it, March 25th Kyle went through the temple for the first time and Chad got selected to read one of his papers at an English symposium, March 26th Heath had a basketball game, we went to a comedy show that night, and it was Mom's birthday! For all that (if you hadn't guessed yet), Mom, Dad, and Shelby came up Thursday night and stayed until Monday morning! It was so fun to have them up here - they're the best!! [And I can't believe my "little" sister is not so little anymore - she's an amazing young woman!]

So... part of this lovely weekend was spending Friday morning in the temple! We were worried about the session being crowded because they are much busier up here in Utah - especially in Provo. For that fact, we went to the Mt. Timpanogos temple for his endowment! The session was at 8am and was actually really small - it felt like we were back home in Albuquerque! It was beautiful though! I couldn't help but look over and watch Kyle during the session. It was so amazing to be able to be in the temple with him! Heath and I also talked about how Chad and Denise, Mom and Dad, and him and I haven't been through a session together (since I received my endowment we have only all been in the temple together for Heath and I's sealing.) It was just really neat to all be in the temple as a family. The neatest and greatest part for me was when we were in the celestial room! Every time I am in there I feel like that is what heaven will be like. Couples together, families together... it's an incredible feeling! Now all we need is Shelby in there and my immediate family will be complete! :)

Since receiving my endowment in November I've thought a lot about the temple and the place that I am in now. Ever since I was little the temple was the greatest goal I had. Every thing at church mentioned getting to the temple, going inside the temple and so many rooms in our home had pictures of temple, and we were often talking about going to the temple. So, for 21 years that was my goal and the goals of my siblings (Chad and Kyle for 19 years and Shelby it still is now for almost 14) and the goal of my husband after he was baptized. So why is that the ultimate goal? Why is everything in the church pointed towards the temple? I understand that it is because temples teach us our role in the divine plan of our Heavenly Father and is where we make sacred covenants with Him that are eternal in nature. Our current prophet, President Thomas S. Monson spoke about temples in General Conference last weekend. He said, "My brothers and sisters, temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service." [If you'd like to hear his whole talk, you can here: The Holy Temple - a Beacon to the World] I love going to the temple. I love being in there with my wonderful husband. I love being in there with family and friends. I look forward to the day when I can be in there with more of my family and friends! I know that the spirit found in those sacred places is the Holy Ghost and is a testimony that the work we are doing is real and true. This church is from our Heavenly Father to help us in this life we are living and this test we are taking. Following Him and His counsel will lead us back to Him so that we can be together as families in His presence.

Temples are amazing places - and so are churches! There are those who cannot yet enter the temple or who don't have the ability to walk in and do baptisms anytime (like we can in Utah temples) - I encourage you to go to church and soak in that same spirit that is only magnified in the temples. And for those of us who can go to do sessions - GO! It is an incredible blessing!

Kyle - we are SO proud of you!! You are going to be an incredible missionary and have already been an example to us!

Salt Lake Adventure!

Let me take you back to when this wonderful adventure happened:

Two weeks a go on Friday night we were talking about what we were going to do the next day. We had discussed spending the whole day going to four temples (Draper, Oquirrh Mountain, Jordan River, and Salt Lake). Once we started talking about it again we realized that although both of us had gone through temple square, we hadn't gone around to the visitor center, etc. together. So, we decided that we'd spend that Saturday at Temple Square together and we'd spend another Saturday going to the other three.

 So... Saturday morning we got up, got ready, and headed to Salt Lake! As we were driving we saw those other three temples. It is still amazing that we can see all three of them at the same time. I remember when the Albuquerque Temple was announced. The closest temple previous had been the Mesa, AZ temple (7 hours away driving.) When we went to the temple, it was a whole temple trip that happened over several days. I was not yet old enough to participate in temple baptisms during one of these trips, but I remember the organization and greater effort, time, and money that it took to attend. When the Albuquerque Temple was announced, we were so excited! A temple would soon be only about 10 minutes away instead of 7 hours! I remember attending the groundbreaking ceremony, the open house (the first time I had been inside a temple), and then to the dedication. It was an incredible experience and one that will always be engraved on my mind. As a ten year old girl I couldn't believe that I would be able to get a temple recommend in a year and a half and attend the temple to do baptisms for the dead every month! What a blessing!

Thinking about that experience eleven years ago, it's amazing how often we can forget what a blessing it is to have a temple so close. And, in our case right now, can see three at the same time. It's an incredible blessing! Another experience that helped me think of this was one that I had in Russia. During a testimony meeting in our branch a sister stood up and talked about her several day trip to Finland (including her difficulty in getting a Visa to leave) to attend the temple. She made an incredible sacrifice and stood with tears of joy in her eyes and explained to us the warm, incredible feeling she had inside as she attended the temple several times. Then I remembered the joy and excitement that I could see in the Russian peoples eyes as they talked about the Kiev, Ukraine temple being built and dedicated only 4 months after I left the country. Here's a link talking about the dedication: Kiev Temple So great! And a great reminder of the importance of temples and how lucky we are to have so many on earth and so many so close!

Sister Dibb with her parents

Anyway, back to our adventure to Salt Lake. Upon getting to downtown SLC we had been told that we could park under the conference center for free if we attended a session at the temple. Since we were going to do a session we parked there. What a great blessing that was, as parking around temple square is not always the easiest to find! As we got out of our truck we started walking toward the elevators that would take us to the main floor of the conference center. As we were walking, we saw a golf cart coming towards us. Once it got close we realized that is was Sister Ann M. Dibb that was being driven to her car. She looked at us and smiled... we were pretty excited! For those of you who don't know, Sister Dibb is in the Young Women's general presidency over our church and is the daughter of our current, living prophet - President Thomas S. Monson. It's always neat to be able to see people like that. We then headed out into the cold, slightly windy day to get to the temple.

The Celestial Room

As we entered the building, it was immediately warm. Yes, the temperature inside was higher then the temperature outside but the real warmth came from the feeling of the Spirit. We could immediately feel that we were in the house of our Lord. The session was beautiful. The building is so colorful inside and so unique to all the other temples because it has more rooms. Heath and I were able to spend a long time in the celestial room talking about different things that we had noticed and learned from that session, reflecting on our sealing and our marriage for eternity, and just on things that we have been thinking about. It was an incredible experience and so enriching. The temple truly is a house of learning. Each time I'm in there I smile the whole time. It puts life into perspective for me. I'm reminded of Heavenly Father's plan for us, His children, and for my purpose of being here on earth. It also allows me to be away from the things of this world - for a few hours I don't worry about housework, about school, about schedules or jobs... I simply think of spiritual things and can listen so much better to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I know He is real and helps guide us if we are willing to listen. I also love being in the temple with my husband. Families are really what the church centers around and is the most important unit of the church. I am able to glimpse the joy that we can have for eternity if we stay faithful to the covenants we made together and individually in that Holy Place. It was just a wonderful experience and time for Heath and I to be able to have and spend together! I'm so lucky to be married to him for time and all eternity! I love him!!

Yeah this man... I LOVE HIM!! :)

After we got out of the session, we put our bags back in the car and roamed temple square for a little bit. Of course the first place we headed to was to get lunch!! We let ourselves splurge a little bit on this Saturday outing and we ate at the Lion House Pantry. I'd never been there so I was glad I got to finally eat at the famous temple square eatery. It was yummy! I had broccoli soup in a bread bowl and Heath had two plates of chicken strips (they were smaller because they were only on the kids menu. :) It was great! Once we were done Heath had me put one of the kids plastic cups he got in my purse to take home so that when Shelby stays with us she can have that cup (oh what a fun, loving relationship those to have with each other! :)

When we finished eating we spent some time at both visitors centers. We went to the south visitors center where they have a neat model of the inside of the temple now. It's cool to be able to see all the rooms inside - and it was especially neat this time because we had just been inside so we were able to see where we had been. We then went to the north visitors center. We spent quite a while sitting in front of the Christus statue. Seeing that large statue of our Savior is always a powerful experience for me. He stands there with outstretched arms - it makes me think of how He is with all of us now, waiting with outstretched arms for us to come to Him and follow Him. From there we went to the show about the family. It takes you through different rooms of a house talking about family and the importance of it. It ends up with a picture of the Savior and it talks about His plan for us and for our families. It was a powerful experience and show - one that brought me to tears. Heath and I discussed how important our little family of 2 is and how much we love our extended families as well! They mean the world to us and we're so lucky to have such wonderful ones on both sides!! I can't really express how much we love our family! I feel so blessed to have such amazing parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws! It's the best!

There is a spot a ways in front of the temple that is perfect to take pictures. We went over there to make sure that we got a good one with all of the temple behind us. When we got there, there was a photographer talking pictures of a young man (about to go on his mission) with his mom standing by. They were having a good time posing him, making him jump of the platform, and teasing him about getting higher. It was fun and funny to witness. They took a break and let us jump on for a picture (and take it for us too) - which was so nice! And then we headed back to the truck.


It was just a wonderful little trip for us to spend together and to be able to see inside another temple. The Salt Lake Temple is such a unique one and so much sacrifice was put into building it (it took the Saints 40 years to build it!) It was such a great chance to be able to go and see it while we are living here in Utah!! We love temples! 4 down... 130 to go... :)

3 Temples Down...

The first temple we were inside as a married couple was obviously... Albuquerque New Mexico! Before our sealing, President Johnson (who sealed us) gave us council and talked to us for a little bit. One thing that we really remember is how much he praise our families and our parents. He said that we were able to be there, worthy to enter the temple and be sealed for eternity, and that we were the great people we are today because of how they raised us. It's so true and we're so grateful to our parents for all that they've done and do for us!

On January 11th we spent half of the day in the temple... two of them! The first one we went to was the Mt. Timpanogos temple in American Fork, UT. The Spirit was incredible. We had a great time there and it was so fun to be able to go inside as a married couple without our jittery excited feelings we had on our wedding day. It was also the first time that I got called "Sister West" (by the brother taking my temple recommend) - very exciting, I must say! One thing we specifically noticed in this temple was the windows. They were really pretty and very unique - especially the deep purple in the stain glass windows. We didn't admire the outside too long because it was really windy and pretty chilly but the temple is gorgeous!

This is a picture of the Provo
Temple I took in 08, since
this is the temple we are
closest to right now we're
waiting for a pretty spring
picture in front of it! :)

The second temple we visited that day was the Provo UT temple. When we walked in the temple, they were asking for couples to go up and do sealings. Since we had just gone through an endowment session at Mt. Timp, we decided to go and be proxys (stand in for other couples that have already passed away) for sealings. This was a very neat experience - to be able to listen to the sealing (marriage) covenant (again, without the jittery excited feelings we had on our wedding day) and really be able to listen to the words and the promises we made with the Lord and with each other less then a month previous. It was a great day, we were very rejuvenated and full of the Spirit! I can't help but smiling the whole time I'm in the temple - and being there in both temples with my husband made my smile even bigger (if that were possible!)



We took a trip home to New Mexico for Presidents Day weekend. It was a three day weekend, so we had a little extra time, and we enjoyed the opportunity to visit our families (as well as go down for a doctors appointment for my neck/shoulder.) It was a great weekend, full of family (and the doctor.) We were able to see most all our family, which was so fun! Saturday morning we were able to go to the temple with my parents for a session. The Albuquerque temple will always have a special place in our hearts - it was the first temple we attended together (in 08), where we both got our endowments out (08 and 10), and where we were sealed forever! It was a great session - always nice to be in there with family and we were able to see many others that we knew as well.

Our Quest...

Now we've explained about temples, why they're important, and why we made it a priority to get married in one. So... what's this blog all about? Well one of our goals as we start our marriage together is to go inside as many temples as we possibly can. There are currently 134 operating temples throughout the world, so we have a big job ahead of us but we are so excited! Each temple is very unique. The architecture inside and out are all very different and it's very neat to be able to notice the differences in each one.

Our goal is to take a picture in front of each temple we go to and post each of them on here with a fun, spiritual, or unique story from our experience there. We are really excited about this and look forward to sharing all of our temple journeys with you.

The Importance of Temples

For all of you that are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), you hear about and seek to attend the temple often. For those of you who are not, I'm sure that you have seen a temple sometime or have heard about them being built all over the world. On the outside of the temple it says "Holiness to the Lord, The House of the Lord." These buildings are truly the House of the Lord. The video below explains why we build these beautiful buildings:

Why Mormons Build Temples

The temple is a very special place for members of our church. At baptism we made promises with our Heavenly Father to follow the things He has told us to do. Inside the temples we make more promises with Him. They are beautiful buildings and the warm feelings and feelings of the Holy Spirit that we feel there are even more beautiful. One of the covenants that we make in the temples is that of marriage. We believe that inside the temples a couple can be married for "time and all eternity." We definitely wanted to have our marriage and our family last forever. Because of that, we made it a goal to get married in the temple. We accomplished that goal on December 21, 2010. Our wedding day was picture perfect - and it all started with our sealing in the temple!

With our families on our wedding day... In front of the Abq. NM Temple!

Another video on the blessings of temples: Blessings from the Temple