Our Gilbert Temple Experience

Three weeks ago Merle and I and my son Mark and his wife, Sherri, and 11-year old son,Nathan, visiting us from Vancouver, went through the new Gilbert Temple Open House. I had to reserve a wheel chair since I can’t do that much walking, so we got a V.I.P.tour. It was the last day of the Open House and they had 25,000 people go through in one day, or over 400,000 for the whole period.

It was very well organized and nothing was left out. The beautiful theme carried out in the temple decorations was the lotus blossom. The temple had a feature I had not expected, a 3rd floor waiting room for wedding guests. The sealing rooms themselves were much larger had than those in Portland. You could seat large families or half a ward in one such room or 30 chairs on one side times 4 sides.

Last Saturday we had an outdoor cultural event put on by the youth in that temple district but shown in all the valley stake centers and on TV. We also had rain–lots of rain–sheets of rain but the show went on. My son Mike had three daughters in it. All the youth were smiling and you could say, singing in the rain. His oldest daughter, Chelsea, who has received her mission call to Puerto Rico was part of a group of 45 young women who have their mission calls but haven’t left yet, who performed in a flag waving part of the celebration. [I stayed home and watched it on TV]

The next day all the stake centers in east and west valleys were turned into temples, as those baptized members eight years and older were admitted by ticket to watch the cornerstone ceremony and temple dedication. No other meetings were held in any of the church buildings all day. It was so peaceful and reverent as we listened to the music of the Tabernacle Choir before the meeting started. There was no whispering, no babies crying. It was very sacred. Sisters, if you ever get this experience please don’t wear 4 or 5 inch heels on the gym floors.

Merle and I have been reading Tad R. Callister’s books, The Inevitable Apostacy and The Infinite Atonement, so we were thrilled to hear Elder Callister as one of the dedicatory speakers . President Eyring gave the dedicatory prayer which was marvelous. I recalled other temple dedications I have been to. The first one was at Los Angeles in 1956. Merle and I have been to both Seattle and Portland in person, and to the Winter Quarters, Palmyra, Nauvoo II, and now Gilbert, AZ temples via television. Within the year the Phoenix Temple will be dedicated and we hope it will be when we are back in Arizona next time. How blessed we are!

For now, we look forward to coming back home to our friends and family in Washington, about the last part of April. Sunshine is nice, but it gets boring too.

February, A Time for Love

February is kind of a bittersweet month for me. Gleindale, the next town over, is holding, a chocolate festival this week and I hope I get to visit those vendors and choose a yummy treat! The reason February is bittersweet is because February 10th is the anniversary of my mother’s death and February 14th is the anniversary of my dad’s death. They died nine years apart, my mother being nine years younger than my dad .

Today I choose to remember one of each of their best attributes. My dad held several accounting or banking jobs during the Great Depression. I have a box of letters he saved from these employers stating that he was an honest man and a good employee. I have never known him to do a dishonest thing.

My mother’s best asset was her ability to make friends. Even during her nine years as a widow her friends always seemed to be around. One gave her a surprise 80th birthday party. Another did Twelve Days of Christmas with her. She shared her garden with them. Even when she lived at a senior care center she was encouraging the staff to listen to General Conference on TV, sharing her Ensign magazines with her neighbors, and inviting the visiting teachers to visit her.

Today’s theme on the Tabernacle Choir program on TV was also about love. Charity is the pure love of Christ. Love One Another was one of the hymns they sang. The Spoken Word ended with the thought: Love is Time, meaning that the time we give to others shows our love for them.

One other event of this day came up when we learned that a man who lives across the street from us, had his mother pass away about 3 a.m. Helping him through the early days of mourning is something we can do to show our love. Just letting people know you care helps them recover.

Give someone you love a hug today.

Just Think

This message was on a calendar I just bought, written by Roy Lessin of DaySpring products.

Just think,
you're here not by chance,but by God's choosing,
His hand formed you
and made you
the person you are.
He compares you to no one else --
you are one of a kind.
You lack nothing
that His grace can't give you.
He has allowed you to be here
at this time in history,
to fulfill His special purpose
for this generation.

Roy then quotes Ecclesiastes 3:1
To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under
heaven.

Thank you Roy!

Book Review - What Would a Holy Woman Do? by Wendy W. Nelson

Are you willing to read a small book in an hour or two, and write your impressions in a journal for the next three days? It will change your perspective on life, and probably change your life as you read it.

You Get Out of Christmas Exactly What You Put Into It!

We get out of Christmas exactly what we put into it. [from a great RS lesson]


President Monson listed four ingredients

   Children [ideas from the our class]
     Talk about Christ and the reason we celebrate Chrstmas
     Begin an advent Calendar
     Let them have their own nativity scene in their room
     For each good deed you do, or others do to you, add a piece of straw to the baby’s manger
     Read aloud a portion of A Christmas Carol each night.

Remembering
     Homemade special treats
     Caroling
     Knock and Run-leaving a treat or gift at someone else’s home anonymously
          [Mike. David & Steve will remember The Candy Lady]
     Going to an assisted living home
     Being in a Christmas pageant or play

Giving - The only true gift is a gift of yourself
     Send “thank you” cards to people who have touched your life
     Have a family day of service

Prophecy Fulfilled - Abinadi only converted one person but the results were great
     Invite people to see the Mesa temple lights
     Invite people to Peoria Stake’s Remembering Christ at Christmas

One additional idea from the class: Simplify
     Make banana bread as gifts instead of 12-dozen kinds of cookies
     Don’t get over-scheduled in activities