Sunday, March 6, 2011

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