General Conference

I love this picture of the Conference Center. It looks so majestic to me. I have been meaning to post my thoughts and feelings about conference for a few days now but I have not had time until now. I absolutely loved Elder David A. Bednar's talk that he gave Sunday afternoon. I love that when you watch conference it doesn't matter what you are searching for you can find it in just about any talk. The talk that Elder Bednar gave really hit home for me. Prayer. It's such a powerful thing and I find myself under estimating the power and privilege it is to be able to pray to my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful that at anytime, anywhere I can pray to Him and get answers and guidance wherever I am.
What a blessing it was to be able to be a part of the Solemn Assembly Saturday morning. AMAZING! I remember vagly (sp?) what it was like when we did the assembly for President Gordon B. Hinckley. Such a strong spirit filled my home. I was in tears. Tyler kept asking when it was his turn to stand. I can't wait until that little guys gets the priesthood. I think he is going to be an amazing young man. But my opinion is bias. I love this gospel. I love President Monson. I am so grateful to be living on earth at this time.

A good reminder

"Never ask the question, did I marry the right one? Once you have been sealed, you have married the perfect one-not because that person is perfect but because you yourself are determined to be the perfect companion. Your spouse will be as perfect as you are or as perfect as you allow him/her to be and encourage him/her to be."

A Great and Marvelous Work

"Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord."
Jacob 4:8

We have been so blessed to be here in Rexburg in such exciting times. We were here for the ground breaking. It was so amazing! I had never been to a ground breaking ceremony before.

Today we had the utmost privilege to be a part of the Rexburg, Idaho Temple dedication. The last temple dedication that I was a part of was the Winter Quarters Temple. I remember that day very well. My mom got us out of school to go to the stake center and watch the dedication via Satellite. The spirit was so strong. It was equally strong today.

This day defiantly marked one of the best days that I have spent with my sweetheart. It was such a great experience to have with him.

This was a picture that I took this morning of the Temple. I wanted to remember the temple as it is today. I know that it's not going to change but I wanted to remember the beautiful blue skies and the whiteness of the snow fall. What a wonderful day it was today!

A few of my thoughts

Like many of you I watched the funeral of President Gordon B. Hinckley today. I have never met the great man, but as I watched I felt as if I had lost a grandfather. He had touched the lives of many. Mine included. Today I looked back at my journal that I kept as a young girl. I found an entry that I had made. It was the summer of 1995. I had just turned the age of 12. This was the summer after President Gordon B. Hinckley became the prophet. I didn't make a very long entry on this topic because that summer I had broken my right arm and couldn't write very well. It was August, President Hinkley met with the youth of the Kansas City area. We met in a big auditorium in downtown Kansas City. He spoke to the youth that were in attendance. I don't remember what he spoke about but I do remember the spirit that was felt in that great auditorium. I sat on the end of the row, and when President Hinckley walked out he passed right by me. The memory is hazy, but I remember holding my hand out hoping to feel a prophet of God. As he walked by I felt as if I was the only one in this enormous room. I felt like he was looking at me and no one else. What a feeling.
I think that when ever anyone close passes away there is reflecting. I have been doing a lot of reflecting on my life this last week. I know that I am not a perfect person, and frankly I think that I am the furthest one from it. I do recognize the things in my life that I struggle with and do try to make a conscious effort to improve upon them. But I am only human and continue to make mistakes. As I was watching the funeral, hearing all the stories about President Hinckley, I can honestly say that I have never felt such an urge to be a better person. I want to be a better mother to my children, I want to be a better wife to my husband, I want to be a better friend to those around me, I want to be a better person all around. I feel that I have been blessed with so much, and I need to start showing my Heavenly Father how grateful I am for all that he has blessed me with. I want to be able to stand clean at the Judgment Bar free from a guilty conscience. I think that it is sad that it takes the passing of a Prophet of God to light the fire within me, but I am grateful for the example that President Hinckley has set. I can only hope that I will be half the person that President Hinckley is.

A Great Man

I was shocked as I watched the news and heard of President Gordon B. Hinckley's passing. He has touched the lives of millions upon millions, helping them come closer to our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ. He will defiantly be missed by many. I have so much comfort to know that he was received with a warm welcome into the arms of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Husband and Wife

It's not very often that I get to spend time with Jamie (and just Jamie), because our family is a little bigger now. Today we were able to drop our kiddos off with some great friends and we took the day. We didn't do much to toot the horn about but we were able to attend a session at the temple. We have a lot of things on our plate right now and it was soo great to get to the temple and leave all of that outside. While we were waiting for the session to start I was looking around the room and, can I tell you how much I absolutely love the color white, so pure and clean, oh I love it. It was great. Everyone looks so beautiful in white. It was one of those wonderful days when the time floats by cause you are enjoying every second of it! It was rejuvenating to get back to the basics in life in many ways, but most of all it was so great to spend some time, just me and my hubby.

Open House

Today, we had the opportunity to go to the Rexburg Temple open house. We went as a family. Tyler has been sooo excited to go to the temple it was just down right cute. We got up this morning just as we do every morning, except we treated it more like a sunday. We played our church music to get us into more of a spiritual mood. When we got to the stake center we were ushered into a room where we watched a video. I don't know if I was so emotional today or what but...during the video there was a reference to Joseph Smith and Tyler was like "Joseph Smith! I love him!" I could have started blubbering right there! The video was so great it really started the tour off wonderfully. We then proceeded to the temple. And Tyler was surprisingly quiet and good. He would listen to the tour guide explain each room, some of the details that each room contained. When we were in the baptismal font he was like," I want to be baptized there daddy!" we quickly explained to him that he gets to be baptized in a font in a church and when he is 12 he can come to the temple to do work for those that have passed on. He replied with " I know!". Of course you do Tyler. We continued on our tour and we just were in awe at the beauty and detail of the temple. We finished going through all the levels and we were leaving the top floor with all the sealing rooms. We were walking down the stairs and Tyler asked," Where are we going?" We told him that we were leaving the temple. And he said, " But I don't want to leave." We asked him why, and he said, "I don't want to leave 'cause I feel Jesus here!" Jamie and I looked at each other and we both had tears in our eyes. Today we learned that our children pick up on so much more than we think. I am so grateful that Tyler was able to recognize the wonderful feeling that is felt in the temple.

Wow

That's pretty much all I have in my poor vocabulary to express my great experience yesterday. Jamie and I had a great opportunity to usher inside the Rexburg, Idaho Temple. We had some great friends watch our 2 boys. It was a long block of time for them to watch our kids but they are troopers! We dropped of Tyler and Carter around 7 and got to the stake center by the temple around 7:15. These first few days (26, 27, 28th) are for the VIPs. Sounds important I know. When we showed up we thought that we were going to be late cause at this meeting they had they asked us to be at least 40 minutes early. There were only 3 other cars in the parking lot. I guess that someone neglected to tell us that nothing started until 9. But the ushers were suppose to be at the church around 8. Oh and to top it off the couple that is suppose to open the doors slept through their alarm! AND...there was a missionary couple that was told to be at the church at 6am. They had to drive from IF so they were probably up dang early. So somewhere along the line of communication someone dropped the ball. But it's all good. The couple that had the keys showed up about 7:45 or so and opened the doors. We went into the chapel and the rows were marked by level of the temple. We sat in the row labeled "2nd Floor". About 8am people were really starting to file in. One of the brothers that was in charge got up and said that we are going to have a special guest come and address us for the prayer meeting before the tours start. Elder Bednar. Anyone who was at Ricks or BYU-I when he was president has a ton of respect for that man. I was thrilled to hear from him. We were in the 3rd row so we were right up close to where he would be. We sang and then said a prayer. Elder Bednar got up and shared an experience then a scriptural thought, he then invited his wife to share her testimony and then he would share his. Not to shadow his wifes testimony but, I have never heard an apostle share his testimony in such a way as he did. The spirit was incredibly strong. It was amazing.
After Elder Bednar shared his testimony he was excused and we were all taken to our "spots" in the temple. Jamie and I were placed at the entrance of the Celestial Room. We smiled and greeted all those that came threw. I don't know what you think a VIP special open house means but Elder Bednar and other authority of the church weren't going threw in the tours...they were conducting the tours! Can you imagine? Elder Bednar was conducting a tour and it was so great to see him in a teaching moment, there was this gentlemen that had questions of the ordinance rooms and Elder Bednar got to explain the purpose and why they are. It was so great to be a part of such an amazing thing! How blessed Jamie and I are for being able to be of service in our soon to be temple!

The Rexburg Temple

I saw this video on my friend Holly's blog... I have never seen so many beautiful shots of a temple before. You have to check it out...HERE.