This weekend, we packed up the family and headed to the Washington D.C. Temple. We didn't leave until early evening so we pulled into the hotel about 10:30 p.m. Our favorite part of the ride was waking up all the kids to sing "I Love to See the Temple" as the beautifully lit temple appeared right in front of us on the freeway. It's an incredibly stunning sight to go around the bend and see the shining temple above the trees right in front of you. Whenever we drive that way, my heart fills with joy at the sight. It was so good to finally go to sleep once we got checked into the hotel and got the kids settled for the night. In the morning, Paul went early to the temple so I could attend our stake meeting in the priesthood room of the temple with the temple presidency. When I arrived at the temple, it was absolutely packed. In fact, I have never seen it so busy. It turns out it wasn't just our stake but four stakes meeting together. Despite the large numbers, the peace of the temple overwhelmed me and I felt a renewed spirit being there with my fellow ward and stake members. It was especially wonderful sitting next to my friend, Marilyn Chamberlain, during the endowment session. At the end of the session, she mentioned something that she noticed during the session and it happened to be the same thing that came to my attention for the first time. It was just a small thing that I had overlooked before but had struck me that time, and, interestingly, it hit her the same way. I rarely share my temple impressions with anyone so it was particularly gratifying to have exactly the same impression as someone else. I was also particularly touched by the amazing blessings we and our families receive in the endowment. What hope and happiness we can experience through the gospel! The temple is truly the best place to be in the world today. The Lord's spirit fortifies me each time I attend despite the challenges we face getting there. I feel so blessed to be a member of the church and feel the peace of the Lord's house.
When I left the temple, I realized I had been in the temple 4 1/2 hours. There was a lot of waiting because of the large amount of people there but I didn't even notice the time passing. It seemed like I been inside only a minute. Meanwhile, the kids had gone swimming with Paul, checked out, gone through the visitor's center and were waiting for me at the temple for two hours. When I took out my phone to call Paul to tell him I was done, I was surprised that it was so late! We had planned to go to a museum but because of the late hour everything was closing shortly so we stopped for lunch and headed home. On the way, we stopped at Susquehanna State Park which is right at the beautiful Susquehanna River near the Maryland/Delaware border in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Paul and I have always loved the view as you cross the span across the river and decided we'd stop at the park to give the kids a chance to get out some energy and see the view before it got dark. It was beautiful and the kids loved getting out and running around for a while.
It was a great trip! I'm so glad we took the time to go even though it conflicted with other things. The temple is the best place on earth, no doubt about it!
2 comments:
How far is the DC temple from your house?
It is really beautiful. My brother Jeremy was married there in April and we took our family and went. It was my first time to see it. All of that area is so beautiful, we loved southern Virginia too, that's where Liz (his wife) is from.
The temple's about 3 1/2 hours away. But, of course, it takes us at least 4 hours to get there because of potty time!
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