Going to the Temple

Emily received her limited use temple recommend a few weeks ago and we were finally able to go to the temple for the first time with her this week.  

While Russell watched the kids, Emily and I spent the day at the temple. She was so excited to go.  Grandma Maxwell had given her a name to do the baptism for so we took that along with us as well.

Her recommend enabled her to do Baptisms and Confirmations for the Dead.  It had been a long time since I had done Baptisms for the Dead and I have never been to the Baptistery in the Logan Temple so I didn't really know what to expect.  Both of us were new to this so I am so glad that the temple workers are always so helpful.  We walked in and told them this was her first time at the temple.  They were so excited for Emily and showed us just want to do.

Emily was able to be baptized for our family name as well as a sheet of the temple names.  There have been a lot of changes since I was in Young Womens and doing Baptisms for the Dead.  Now, the kids are the witnesses and the Priests can do the baptisms.  Emily was baptized by a 16 or so year old boy and it was cool because he looked like Uncle Tyler.  He must have been pretty strong because when he brought Emily up out of the water, she basically flew out of the water.  He was a little less forceful on the following baptisms. 

Then, after drying off and changing, Emily was able to do the confirmations for the dead.  The cool thing about that was that the dad to the boy that baptized her, was able to do the confirmations.  She did the confirmation for the family name as well as some temple names.

I feel like this was a really good experience for Emily.  She had a lot of fun and cannot wait to go back.  Now that we know what to do, we will be more prepared next time.  

That afternoon, we found out that the Church was closing all temples for a while because of a new virus called COVID-19 or the Corona Virus.  All the temples will be closed on March 16.  Because of this, I decided to go back to the temple the next day and get all of the work done for this family name.  This was an interesting experience for me.  I have never spent the day in the temple before.  It was pretty amazing!  With all that is going on and the uncertainty in the world right now, being in the temple gave me peace.  I did every ordinance for this person.  First was the initiatory.  This was interesting because, for some reason, I was put into the Spanish booth.  I was kind of disappointed because I had know idea what they were saying to me in the Initiatory.  On the other hand, I knew what they were saying was true and necessary even if I didn't understand.  Next was the endowment session.  I love doing endowment sessions because I am reminded of the covenants and promised blessings I have made in the temple.  I also love going into the Celestial Room, my favorite room in the temple.  Finally, I took the name up to the Sealing Rooms to have her sealed to her parents.  This was also a good experience.  Not only did I get my name finished, but I was able to help another lady get a lot of her ancestors' work done.  This was a great day in the temple.  I also cannot wait for the temples to open again so I can go back.

I love to see (and go to) the Temple!