Spiritual Traditions.

^^^ Daddy & the girls, Orlando, FL Temple-circa 2007 ^^^ 

I failed to mention that a couple of weeks ago Jon gave the most amazing talk at our church in regards to family, and his talks are always meaningful, and good, but this one wowed me to the core of my heart! It was amazing and by far one of the most spiritual and uplifting talks ever! The words were the ones I needed to hear, and I know for a fact that he wrote that for himself as well. Without sharing his whole entire talk on this post I'll just share some of the most important parts of his talk that are really important to me. In his talk he mentioned how we as a family have grown in testimony when it comes to family time, and finding spiritual traditions in building a strong family unit.

One being temple trips. 

Back in 2005 way before Noah was born, and before moving across the country we did this huge temple trip where we saw four temples in four days...in three different states out west, and attended all the temples in Utah a few months later. All the temples in Utah except Vernal & Monticello. That was the most amazing, and funnest time in my life spent with my family. Ever since I got a craving and taste of the temple back when we were sealed in 2003, and having seen all the blessings that result from going I always yearn for more, and never want to stop going. To this day we have continued the tradition of attending the temple no matter what. Whether it's for a purpose, doing work for our ancestors, or just going without any major issue, knowing that our minds are geared towards the temple on a road trip gets the kids more excited. We never need an excuse to go. We just go. Back in Utah it was so easy to just wake up, and drive anywhere from an hour to ten minutes to any temple in the salt lake valley so going twice a week was easy for us. Now that we are two hours away it's kind of impossible to go every week. We try to attend once a month, or every two months, but sometimes that's impossible. It's crazy how the months just fly by, and when we're at the tail end of the month we're like, "we didn't make it to the temple this month (frown)." I know God knows our circumstances in knowing that we can't just drop everything and go. He knows our heart, and desires, and I'm grateful to know of the testimony I have for the temples so that I can pass that on to my kids in hopes that they will always have the desire to attend the temple. Even when they get older, and make dumb mistakes (and they will) I want them to know that it's never too late to fix yourself to keep your goal in knowing that they are WORTHY enough to enter in the temple. 

I'm so grateful that my husband gave this talk because I feel that every single person sitting in the congregation needed to hear that and I hope that they were inspired. Family is the most important thing on this earth, and oh how true that is! I feel it every day as I wake up, and see my daughters off to school. I see it when Noah comes into my room and jumps on my bed with an immediate kiss, and uttering the words "I love you mommy", and having a daughter living 2100 miles away with all the things she is enduring makes me feel it even more. 

The temple is crucial in my life, and out of all the things I have learned in the this church that I belong to, attending the temple is my number one! 

Building and keeping 'spiritual traditions' can really strengthen a family in helping them build their testimony to have so much love for their families, strengthen their personal testimony, be able to endure any trial they may be in, and have an even deeper love for the temple. I'm happy to hear that all my girls have a goal to marry in the temple so far, and my hope is that someone chaste, and worthy will take them inside because they deserve someone who sees them as something of divine worth...because they are.