I Love to See the Temple...

This past Saturday, Bryant and I had the opportunity to go to the Houston Temple and do a session for the first time. It was really nice to go, and it's always fun to visit a new Temple! The High Priest Group in our ward "sponsored" this temple trip. We all met at the Temple and they had people there to watch our kids while we did a session. What a nice service! I really appreciated it, and I'm glad so many families took advantage of the opportunity.

After the session as I was in the Celestial Room waiting for Bryant, I noticed a young man who had just taken out his own endowments. There were TONS of people there in support of him, and he had the biggest smile on his face. It was obvious that he was loved by his ward family. I wondered what this man's story was. He was there without family (he was the only black man in the session), and he was not old, but not 19 either. I wondered if he was perhaps a convert to the church who was ready to leave on a mission himself.
Seeing him made me think of the first time I went through the Temple. It was a little over 9 years ago for me. It was a little overwhelming for sure, but as I've gone back to the Temple over these past 9 years, I've come to have a deep love and appreciation for the covenants and promises made there. It's because of the Temple marriage that Bryant and I have that allows our family to be together for eternity. I went through the Temple in preparation to serving a mission of course. I also had a lot of supporters from my home ward attend with me, as well as my parents of course. Living in Southern California, we were assigned to the San Diego Temple--one of the most beautiful in my opinion. I vividly recall a sweet worker coming and speaking to me and telling me how grateful she was for my desire and willingness to serve the Lord as a missionary. She shared her own conversion story and was so very grateful for the missionaries that brought the gospel to her. She then turned to my Mom and said she was equally grateful for the Mothers that raised these young men and women that would be missionaries all over the world, and who were willing to send them off for 18 months to 2 years. It's a sweet memory for me.

I learned that this young man was not going on a mission, but had joined the church about a year ago and was simply going through the Temple to further his progression in the church. What a fantastic conversion story!

Afterwards, we picked the girls up, and walked around the Temple with them for a few minutes, and Bryant got to try out his new camera! We then headed straight to Minute Maid Park to watch the Astros and Brewers play. It was a really wonderful Saturday!