Family

We were able to go to Washington DC this past weekend and go to the temple.  Matt and I did an endowment session on Friday evening and we were in the baptistry with the youth on Saturday morning. It was nice to stay in DC over night so we had a twenty minute ride to the temple in the morning instead of a three hour drive.

I was excited to take family file names with me to the temple. I entered with a renewed purpose and desire to bind our family together. I felt a bit like a momma bird gathering her chicks under her wing, making sure no one was left behind and unprotected. I was grateful for the sisters who helped me get the  initiatory done for Matt's Aunt Glenda so that I was able to do her endowment Friday evening. Matt was endowed for Walter Henry Sealey.

We arrived at the temple and could have rushed into a session, but it was nice to slow down a bit and just enjoy being in the temple. It allowed us time to calmly wait at the family file desk as our names were processed and prepared. I felt like a child at Christmas as I held those pink, blue and yellow slips in my hand for the first time. We had 10 new pink, 18 blue, and 13 yellow slips. Each slip represents a person or couple who are becoming real to me. Not just a name, but a very real part of who I am and how I got here, a part of my family tree.

One thing that is unique to the DC temple, or at least from my experience, is that the endowment room is arranged theater style with no aisle down the middle.  If you are one of the first eight or so couples you can sit next to your spouse. There's a darker armrest on one of the chairs denoting the center of the row. If we would have hustled to the session we had initially intended to attend, we would have missed the opportunity to sit by each other. It's always good to be in the temple together, but it's nice to have the opportunity to be next to each other.

The celestial room was quiet and calm. Because of the drafts, the chandeliers were reverently tinkling in the background. It made it a bit magical (for lack of a better term.)

We had a wonderful evening and were both grateful for our time in the temple.

We were able to find a reasonably priced room at a Marriott in Gaithersburg. If the weather weren't so cold we could have walked to dinner, but it was a bit chilly for that.  After the temple we picked up Hannah and enjoyed a nice dinner at Nando's together. Nando's has become a family tradition when we travel to DC.

At the hotel we had a choice of a room with two doubles or a king with a roll-a-way. I opted for the king and roll-a-way. Poor Hannah, her bed was very uncomfortable and she had a hard time getting any sleep.  The fact that her blanket wasn't much more than a hankie didn't help either. Next time I'll know better. We did have a nice view though.

Saturday morning we headed to the temple again. Names in hand I was ready to get to work. I had to have an attitude adjustment when I was told each youth could only do four names. I wasn't the only one with family file names so feared I wouldn't be getting them all done. I must admit that at first I was a bit indignant, not the right attitude to have in the temple. Gratefully Matt can be a calming influence. I was able to distribute all of my female names and appreciate Hannah and the bishop's granddaughters from Johnstown for helping me out.  There weren't very many young men in our session so as we headed down to the baptistry I still had 16 of my 18 male names I was hoping to get done. The Ports arrived a bit late so Steven and Luke were each able to take four names. I tried to decide which names should be done, trying to rationalize that some had waited this long and it wouldn't make much difference if they waited a bit longer. It was really hard. I didn't want anyone to be left behind. About half way through our session a brother and his son joined us. They didn't have any family file names so I was able to give them four names. Only four to go. Before the session ended the sister who had initially told me each youth could only do four names approached me and asked how many names I had left. I know time was tight and the next group was due to arrive, but she took my last four names to the father and son team who joined us late. A few minutes later a brother approached me said they would try to slip in my remaining names. I showed him my empty hands and expressed my gratitude for having been able to have all the work done.

The brother and his son who helped me finish my names thanked me for giving them the opportunity. I was the one who needed to thank them. It showed me once again that when I leave things to Heavenly Father, my prayers are answered and He takes care of everything. I could have ruined the spirit and my experience in the temple if I would have harbored resentment over not getting all my names handed out. In the end it all worked out as it should.

Our stake had youth groups scheduled throughout the day, as one finished another was beginning. It was a glimpse of heaven as I watched the youth light up with joy as someone they knew entered the room.

As we were walking down to the baptistry we passed a brother in the ball who softly said, "Welcome home." I don't know if any of the youth heard what he said, but I did and it touched my soul. In tis crazy world we live in, it's nice that we can visit heaven for awhile and remember what home feels like.

Throughout the day we would recognize others who had also been at the temple. We may not have known them all, but by their clothes and countenance we knew that they were our brothers and sisters who had also been on the Lord's errand that day.

We finished our trip with what has become another DC tradition, a stop at Café Rio in Frederick, MD.

It was exciting to get on the computer Sunday and see that the temple work done had already been updated for the names we did on Friday and Saturday. I'm looking forward to sending names to Arizona, Florida and Nebraska so that we can work on this as a family.