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. :)