Thank you to the many friends who made Jacob's first time to be temple for himself such a memorable experience. We arrived a few minutes before our scheduled time which was a good thing since our recommends had not been activated by our home stake. Fortunately, a member of the temple presidency helped us resolve the issue and we were upstairs at the appointed time. It was not lost on Jacob that we had been diligent to make sure Jacob has his recommend and then we end up having the problem!
After receiving the Initiatory ordinances, we sat and visited with Doug & Allison Williams until President Devereaux invited Jacob and me into the Temple President's office so that Jacob could receive some additional instructions. With that done, we returned to the couches to wait for the endowment session to begin. True to form, five minutes before the session started, Uncle Geoff comes racing up the stairs. Just-in- time is the way he rolls.
One of the tender mercies of our trip was to have Mike & Shellie Lampkin as the witness couple for our session. Shellie is a dear fiend of Aunt Sheryl and the Tonini family so it was as if she was proxy far all of our extended family who wasn't there. The session was so full that they had extra chairs in the room which caused a little confusion as they sat everybody. Jacob and I had been seated first and it worked out that Drew sat next to me and Uncle Geoff sat on the other side of Jacob, even though they were one of the last ones to come into the room. Another tender mercy,
I love going to the temple with someone who is going for the fist time because I seem to listen to the instructions from their point of view. I am always amazed at the amount of instruction given and the impact of the covenants we make, Hopefully it was everything Jacob hoped it would be. (As a side note, we were surprised when Jacob returned from school to discover that he had not had the Temple Preparation class. In yet another tender mercy, that allowed Drew, Raena, and me to teach him the first six lessons this weekend.)
After the session, it was a wonderful reunion with our Bear Creek Ward family in the Celestial room. Warren & Cheri Willis, Judi Chavez, Sue FitzGerald, Lynn Cargo, Julia Sosa, Bethsi Coronado, Coach Mary Brown Moellmer, Kim Baird, and Alissa McClure were all there.
We focus a lot of energy on our youth staying worthy so that they can go to the temple. I told Jacob that the temple is a journey and not a destination so he needs to continue to make it a life-long pursuit.
