Temple Trips

   When Lexie came home after the semester ended, we decided that we would try to go to as many of the temples in Utah as we could before she left for her mission.  She went to the Provo Temple before the semester ended, and we went to the Bountiful Temple a few times in November and December.  Then starting in January we went to the Salt Lake Temple, the Draper Temple, the Manti Temple and the Brigham City Temple.  In February we attended the Mount Timpanogas Temple, the Jordan River Temple and the Logan Temple and the week before she left we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple giving her a total of 10 of the 13 temples in Utah.

This was such a great experience for me.  Not only did I get to spend a lot of one on one time with my daughter, especially when driving to Manti, but the sacrifice of time to get to these temples that were more than a few minutes away, made the experience seem even more sacred to me.  Sometimes I feel like I don't appreciate the temple enough because I can be there is just over 10 minutes.  When we had to plan and adjust our schedules to go to these temples, I found myself focusing more on what a blessing it is to go.  Tony joined us at three of the temples, and we made it an extended family excursion to the Brigham City temple with a trip to Maddox afterwards.

It was so fun to see all the different temples.  I love all the beautiful chandeliers! I think my favorite chandelier is found in the Oquirrh Mountain temple though.  The temples are all exquisitely beautiful and so serene, but yet each was unique in one way or another.   Some are full of pioneer history, others are new construction.  It was such a rewarding experience just to see them, but that only scratches the surface of the blessings.  I have felt peace in my life that I haven't felt before, I have learned more about the temple and it's blessings.  Now the goal is to continue the attitude of reverence for the temple throughout the year so I can continue to have these blessings in my life.  And who knows, maybe I will drag Tony to the other temples in Utah this year so that I can go to all of them in one year.