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... :)