Sunday, May 20, 2018

Happy Day!

Photo Source

Today is a very happy day for me.  The LDS Jordan River Temple has been re-dedicated and will be opening for regular temple service this coming Tuesday, May 22nd at 5:00 am.  DH and DD1 and I were able to attend one of the three dedicatory services this morning.  The service was wonderful, and I came away with a renewed commitment to make regular temple attendance a priority, hopefully THE priority of my life.  Throughout the history of the world, the Lord has provided sacred temples for his people to visit, draw closer to him, learn more of him, and make essential, eternal covenants: The Tabernacle of Ancient Israel, Solomon's Temple, and Herod's temple in Jerusalem where  Jesus Christ visited many times during his life.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is know as a temple building church.  Latter Day Saint Temples  are different from the meeting houses where we hold our weekly meetings.   Marriages are performed there, but other sealing ordinances are performed by proxy by worthy members in behalf of deceased family members who may not have had the opportunity to receive these ordinances for themselves.  Members of our church have often made great personal sacrifices in order to contribute to, build and to attend the Temple.   There are currently 159 functioning LDS Temples all over the world, with more under construction or announced.   I have not had the opportunity to visit each of these temples, but there are several temples that I have visited often and that hold a special place in my heart. 


The Salt Lake Temple is the temple that my parents made it a priority to regularly attend at least twice a month during the years that I was growing up.  The temple was a 40 mile drive from our home, but their planned dates of attendance were marked on the kitchen calendar every single month, and almost nothing would prevent them from making these visits.   This is the temple that I first attended back in 1981, and is the place where DH and I were married nearly 35 years ago.  


The Washington DC temple was the temple that DH and I attended during the years that we lived in New Jersey.   It was a 3 to 4 hour drive from our home (depending on traffic and who was driving), so we usually would visit only once or twice a year.   Often we would drive down on a Friday evening, spent the night, and then spent several hours in the temple before returning home.  Sometimes we would leave the children with friends, and other times we would travel with friends and take turns watching the children and attending the temple.   DH was able to attend more often than I was since many times during those years I had a nursing baby, and he was also able to serve as an ordinance worker there.   It has been several decades since we visited Washington DC, but I would love to go back again some day.


Once we moved back west and bought our home here, the Jordan River Temple has become "our" temple.  I remember visiting the original open house for the Jordan River Temple back in 1981, but I was attending the Missionary Training Center when it was dedicated on November 16th of that year, so had not attended the temple here until we moved.   We have not always been able to schedule a regular time to attend together with young children and a family business, but after the children were all in school and I was only working part time.  I would many times drive over in the morning and attend a session before going in to work.  Since working full time I still try to attend at least one evening or Saturday during the month.   I can't help but think of all of the individuals who have lived on this earth without having the opportunity to learn of Jesus Christ and his gospel and atonement.  Attending the temple as proxy for these sisters of mine, also daughters of our loving Heavenly Father, is one of the greatest priorities of my life.  

Photo Source  Artist's rendering of the Barranquilla, Colombia Temple which will be dedicated  December 9, 2018

Another temple that is very close to my heart is the Barranquilla, Colombia Temple, which is currently under construction, very close to being completed.   This temple is being built very near the neighborhoods where I lived and worked as a missionary for six months during my year and a half mission to the country of Colombia and met many wonderful people!   I don't know that I will ever have the chance to return to the beautiful city of Barranquilla or the country of Colombia, but I am so very grateful that the blessings of the temple are being made available to these beautiful people.

There are many other special temples all over this country that I have visited at different times, and I hope to be able to visit many more during the coming years.  But the blessing of this happy day is that beginning this coming week, I will once again be able to make the short fifteen minute drive to the Jordan River Temple!


Read more about LDS Temples here.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Reflections on A to Z Challenge 2018: Mom of 6 Memories

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/
Dad of 6 with his flag at a soccer game.  I have a Mom of 6 jersey too, but couldn't find a photo!


First off, I must begin by saying that this year's blog theme of  my memories as Mom of 6 would not have been possible without the love and support of "Dad of 6"  aka  DH in many of my blog posts.  Last year during the 2017 A to Z challenge I blogged about our courtship, and this year I blogged about the amazing adventure we have had as parents.   Dad of 6 has been very instrumental in so many ways to making the amazing adventure of being "Mom of 6" possible.  His hard work and sacrifices made it possible for me to be home with our little ones when they were small, and he continues to support me in my mothering and now in my grand-mothering efforts.   Our children are now adults and we have added daughters in law and grandchildren to the mix, and the amazing adventure continues!

My goal as a blogger isn't to generate a large following, though I do enjoy the visits from fellow bloggers, especially during the annual A to Z challenge, and I enjoy meeting new bloggers and making new friends and reading their wonderful blogs too.  The challenge has become a tradition that I look forward to.  It is a challenge that encourages me to make the time to write on a regular basis, if only for the month of April.  The past few years I have also used the challenge as an incentive to help me to record many of my favorite memories during different time periods of my life.  This year has been especially wonderful for me as I have been able to put down memories and thoughts of one of the greatest blessings of my life:  being a mother.

The A to Z challenge has changed a bit over the years since I first found it back in 2012, and I have changed a bit too.  At first I had no theme, and often was not able to complete posts for every letter of the alphabet, but it was fun to sign up on the linky lists, to visit new blogs, and to have new friends visit my blog.   The spreadsheets used this year as found at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/ have been as good as the original linky lists, I think, if not better.  This year I was able to post the link to each of my posts and even change the category if needed to better fit each post.  Sometimes my posts were more of a personal/memoir type of post, and other days they fit more of a parenting type category.   I hope to use the links to continue to visit other bloggers as I have the time, and I hope that if you've stumbled upon my blog that it has been an enjoyable trip for you too.   Thanks for stopping by!