Wherein I attempt to look for the good things in life and recognize and remember God’s kindness to me. During April 2024 I will be posting about Temples. I invite you to follow along starting on Monday, April 1, 2024.
It has been quite a while since I have posted on any of my public blogs, but realized that I probably haven't ever, or at least not recently shared one of my favorite new holiday traditions -- visiting our local Giving Machines with our family and selecting several items that we can purchase and donate to worthwhile charities, a great way of loving our neighbors. At times in the past our family Christmas Budgets have been very tight, but now with the family all grown and me working full time, I'm really enjoying being able to share what I can, especially during the Christmas season as we honor our Savior, Jesus Christ. We can change a life by donating shoes, a meal or even goats! The Giving Machines are now in their eighth year, and are found in many different cities and locations all over the world. All donations go directly to both local and global charities around the world, with all administrative costs being covered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Have you seen a Giving Machine in your area? Check to see if there is one near you. There are even digital versions of the machines this year. Check out the video below!
We often share answers to ice-breaker questions at the beginning of staff meetings at work. For the most part I enjoy this practice since it helps us to get to know each other a little bit better, and it makes for a fun and interesting few minutes in a sometimes stressful work day. This last week the question for the day was "What is your favorite thing about Fall?" This took me a few minutes to decide, since Fall really isn't my favorite season. Yes, I enjoy the cooler weather and the beautiful colorful leaves. There is some excitement with back to school and finding new treats in the garden. Halloween can be fun, but I don't like to celebrate the gory or wickedness or evil in the world, so I usually don't do much other than share some treats with family and co-workers and children in the neighborhood. I might put out a scarecrow and some pumpkins on the front porch and hang my old witchy door decoration up on Halloween.
So what was my answer? Celebrating family birthdays, since we have a few September and October and November birthdays. The week of Halloween has been "birthday week" for many years, and we always over indulge on cake and ice cream and then Halloween treats too. And this year's fall birthday season is already off to a good start since we were able to celebrate DD4's birthday this past week. The celebrations are a bit more low-key these days since there are fewer of us living close by, so we had a dinner and cake and ice cream and presents with DH, and DD1 and DD2 and DD4. I ended up baking two different cakes since the first one fell apart while taking it out of the pan, so dinner ended up being a bit later than planned, but I thought the cake turned out pretty cute!
Since then I have realized that my favorite parts of fall are our church's semi-annual Stake Conference (which was this past week) and the Semi Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is traditionally held the first weekend of October, which is this coming weekend. Both events include uplifting messages and music from church leaders, and they are the real highlights of my year. The spring conferences often coincide with the Easter Season, which is also wonderful in and of itself, and the fall conferences add comfort and hope to a time of year that is often hard for me as the days become shorter and the temperatures colder.
Here is a YouTube trailer message for this year's October General Conference, including a message from God's current living prophet:
Here is a link to where you can watch General Conference on October 5th and 6th:
Back in March I started working on a post for the April 2024 A to Z blogging challenge, and added the widget for the challenge to my blog layout. Alas, I never finished the post, didn't sign up for the challenge, and have so far had a very busy April with family, General Conference, work, the yard, etc and etc. Long story short, the A to Z challenge did not make it to the top of the to-do list this year, but I did want to do at least this one post, since my planned topic for the year was going to be Temples from A to Z! And perhaps I can do that again another year, because there are now more than 300 Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in various locations all over the world. I'm not sure if this Temples Map by Google is completely up to date since 15 more new temples were announced by President Russell M Nelson on the afternoon of April 7, 2024, but it gives a pretty good representation.
So why am I so excited about Temples and a new Temple in Taylorsville? I've been blessed to be able to regularly attend the temple for over forty years, and in recent years I try to attend at least once a month. It is a way that I can serve my Savior and my Heavenly Father, my ancestors, and others who have already finished their life's journey here on this earth. It is the place where I was married to and sealed to my Dear Husband not only for this life, but for ever and for eternity, and to our children and their families as well as our parents and their families. It is a place where I can feel close to our Savior, learn more of him, and of our Heavenly Father's plans and the purpose for life. It is a place where can feel comfort and peace, and clarity of mind when times are challenging and decisions need to be made.
This past week I was able to be a small part of the public Open House for the Taylorsville Utah Temple, which is currently open to the public for tours until May 18, 2024. I was very happy to be able to help as an usher, and hope to return again this coming week. After the the open house and the Temple's dedication in June, the temple will only be open to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who have met the requirements for a temple recommend.
A few of the beautiful spring flowers at the Taylorsville Temple
This video explains in a bit more detail the purposes of the temples and what happens inside:
This new temple is very beautiful, and honors the pioneer heritage of the Taylorsville area. It is smaller than some other temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but feels right, and I feel at home there. I'm very much looking forward to spending many hours there in the coming months and years. We don't take photos inside the temple, but I'll include more photos of the interior here that have been shared by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter=Day Saints, and close with a promise recently shared by our church President and Prophet of God, Russell M Nelson.
Entry, Reception and Recommend Desk
Main Foyer
Baptistry
Baptismal Font
Ordinance Instruction Room
Bride's Room
Sealing Room
Celestial Room
Celestial Room Chandeliers
"My dear brothers and sisters, here is my promise. Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world's mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement or help you understand God's Magnificent plan more. Nothing!
The temple is the gateway to the greatest blessings God has in store for each of us, for the temple is the only place on earth where we may receive all of the blessings promised to Abraham. That is why we are doing all within our power, under the direction of the Lord, to make the temple blessings more accessible to members of the church."
Just a thought on this Christmas Day. Sometimes we tend to stress ourselves out at Christmas time, trying to find the perfect gifts for the people who mean the most to us, and then, sometimes finding that we are the recipients of gifts from others who we didn't realize were going to be preparing or giving us Christmas Gifts. Of course I can't speak for all people everywhere, but for anyone who has ever received a gift from me, please do not feel that you need to reciprocate!
The first definition of gift that google brought up for me is this: "a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present, a Christmas gift."
If I have ever given you a gift for Christmas or at any other time, I'm not expecting anything in return. One of the tings I love about Christmas is finding a gift for someone I care about that will be useful and/or appreciated by them, hopefully to give them a bit of joy or to make life a little bit better for them.
Maybe sometime they will be in a position to gift me something in return, which will be appreciated, but definitely is not expected.
So, at Christmas time, please don't stress so much about the gifting. Do what you can with your time and finances and resources and your own willingness to gift or share, but don't ever stress or feel guilty about your own ability and desire to gift or to not gift. Gifts are not a debt to be repaid.
