Sunday, January 21, 2024
This morning we went to the dedication of the Orem Temple. Because there are so many people around here who want to participate in the dedication, they broadcast the dedication to the stake centers (regular churches) so that we could attend. The service was beautiful. President Nelson extended an invitation to attend the temple, and he extended promises to those who attend: increased measure of the spirit and increased ability to face the challenges of life.
Then Elder Kearon, our newest member of the Quorum of 12 Apostles spoke. He told a really powerful story about a little German boy who was separated from his family while on vacation in Paris with his family. When the frantic parents went back to where they had lost him, they found a woman holding a sign that said they had found Mattias, who lives next to the temple. Apparently, the boy didn’t know his address, but he knew that he lived next to the temple in Germany. It was a powerful message about staying close to the temple, and about our need to search for those who are lost.
Finally, Elder Christofferson spoke, and he said something that has really stuck with me. He said: “Being in church doesn’t make you Christian any more than sleeping in a garage makes you a car,” implying (of course) that our attendance at the temple on its own does not guarantee the kind of blessings that had been promised by President Nelson, Elder Kearon, and the members of the temple leadership who had spoken previously.
It made me think about this pilgrimage that we are on as a family. We have been attending the temple with more frequency than ever before in our lives, and the entire purpose of the journey is to move from holy place to holy place. But I want to make sure we are also paying attention to the right kinds of things and bringing the right mindset to the temple so that we can gain the things that we hope to gain from being there.
And speaking of temples and holy places. I have struggled for the past several months to know what we can and ought to do while we are in Europe during the month of March. Our real purpose has been to hike the Camino de Santiago, but we can’t begin that until April. So we’ve got a month. If we spend that time as tourists, we will run out of money in less than a week. So today as I was running through things in my mind, it came to me that we could do an LDS pilgrimage before we do the Catholic pilgrimage. We could try to visit all of the LDS temples in Western Europe before we do the Camino. With Eurail passes and the help of friends and temple patron housing, we can do it. It has given me a sense of purpose, and made me really excited for the trip. The temples in Western Europe are:
Paris, London, Preston, The Hague, Frankfurt, Dresden, Bern, Rome, Lisbon, and Madrid. I’m not 100% sure we’ll be able to make it to Preston and Dresden, but we’ll do our best :)
My two biggest concerns are housing and finances. This is not going to be cheap, even if we can stay with family and friends and temple housing. So tomorrow we’re going to really get started on selling granola here in Utah to make what we can.
The evening finished with a huge family dinner at my parents’ house. Betty made Mole, and she also made these amazing candied jamaica (hibiscus) flowers. We invited our Jonesville friends Chloe and Izzie Leonard to come as well. They are studying here in Utah Valley, and it was awesome to re-connect with Jonesville a bit. Betty’s dear friend from Empalme, Laura, also came with her kids.
The evening was peaceful. One of my favorite things in the world is when the lights in the house are down, and I can just sit with my kids and visit. This trip has been a whirlwind, and we haven’t had too many nights like this. It’s the best!
