A Very Good Day

One of the most special places in our church is the temple. This is a place where we go to make covenants with our Heavenly Father and also perform ordinances like marriage. It's a really special place to be. Here's some information about it: About Temples  

I myself went to the temple for the first time before I served a mission in Seoul, South Korea. Lots of people go for the first time before serving a mission, or before getting married. Some people, however, just feel ready to go. Chase is sort of in between those situations. He is preparing for a mission, but also isn't quite there yet. When he found out that his mission was going to be delayed for a few months, he let us know that going to the temple was still something he really wanted to do soon anyway.

Chase pondered over this decision and let us know that he'd like to go early in February. We studied together about the temple in the fall and over Christmas, and we made the appointment to go on February 5th. What a special day.

It's hard to know what to say about this amazing day - the temple is a very sacred place and we don't talk casually about it. So how do I express what this was like, to take our son there? I only have one memory of the family I grew up in being all together in the temple. It was just after Peter got his mission call to Mexico, and Adam was just home from his mission to Belgium. We had one wonderful time together before Peter left. I have a hope that someday I'll be able to attend with my husband and all three kids. And on Saturday we were able to take the first step.

I was very grateful to those people who could attend with us. None of my siblings were able to come, but one of Troy's brothers was there. Sam and Kathleen and their son Noah joined us. Also, our dear dear friends the Moores were there. Bryan is currently serving as our ward's bishop and has done such a great job supporting and mentoring Chase. They have been a huge part of our lives for more than 15 years now and their sons have all been great friends of Chase's. The only other people in our group were all his friends from Aspen Grove. I am so thrilled that they were able to be there and support Chase. I think that having his friends there made all the difference in him having a great experience.

Because we were hoping to make the commute as easy as possible for the BYU kids, Chase picked the Provo temple as the place he wanted to go. This is definitely farther away from us than several other choices, but we were happy to do that. It was actually pretty fun to go there - when I went on my mission, I spent several weeks at the Missionary Training Center, which is across the street from that temple. We were able to attend the temple about once a week during that time, and I hadn't been back to that temple since. It was really great to revisit it, although I thought the inside would feel more familiar than it did. 

After our temple session and a quick photo shoot outside, we headed to the extremely crowded mall to get some dinner at P.F. Changs. Luckily we had made a reservation. It was only 5pm when we got there and it was completely packed. Can you imagine it on a Saturday night at 6 or 7? 

I was so glad we did this - to be able to get more time together and enjoy talking and laughing and eating absolutely delicious food together. It made the celebration even better, though getting home without falling asleep after eating way too much was a bit tricky.

I just want to say that I have a testimony of temples. The feeling inside is different from any place on earth. Families are so important, and making covenants with Heavenly Father is crucial to our progression and to becoming a part of His family. I'm so grateful Chase wanted to attend and take those sacred steps. It's a day I'll never forget.