Temple-Friends-Institute

There are a lot of things that have helped me in my transition to normal peoplehood.  One of those things is the temple.  I didn't get the chance to attend the temple at all when I was in Peru, and it definitely was one of those things that I missed a lot.  The peace that you find in the temple is amazing, and I love it.

The other thing is friends.  My amazing friends.  Like Erin, Ilarene, and Beth, who have been with me through the twists and turns of college/BYU/life.  I've gone through so much with these girls, laughing together, crying together, shopping together, heck, living together :)  Then there are my friends from my home ward, like Emily, Jennifer, Rachael, and Ammon.  I've known these guys since I was 12.  They've been with me through the awkwardness of teenage years, girls camp, youth conference, YM/YW activities, the zits, dating, you name it.  I love all of these people so much.  

So....when you put friends together in a temple, it is just an amazing experience.  

Me, Jennifer, Ammon, and Rachael in front of the Draper Temple

Sometimes you gotta be a little silly and try not to fall over :)

So we decided as a group of friends we wanted to go to the temple each week.  Correction: They were already going each week.  I just decided I wanted to join them.  Ammon and I are both endowed, but Rachael and Jennifer are not.  So what we decided to do is Ammon and I would do a session while Jennifer and Rachael would travel to different temples doing baptisms.  On Wednesday, they went to Oquirrh Mountain first, then Jordan River, and ended up at Draper, where we ended up getting out about the same time!  Perfect!

I really can't say enough about how much I love the temple.  I missed it so much on my mission.  I think that almost made me more trunky than anything :)  (In fact, I specifically remember a conversation with my district leader where he told us that we shouldn't talk about the temple because it was making him trunky!  Silly elders....  :)  It really is such a blessing to be able to live close to a temple (or close to like 8 temples in my case).  

Another blessing that we have as young adults is Institute, which I've also grown to love.  It's good to have that extra lesson, extra time to focus on gospel doctrines and just dive into the scriptures.  Recently we've been doing the "Doctrines of the Gospel" class, and we've been talking about the Plan of Salvation.  I learned more about the fall, Adam and Eve, the Atonement...man it's been amazing.  I love the scripture in Moses 5:11 where Eve is basically describing the blessings that have come to them by the Fall.  Maybe it's just because she's actually talking, but I love it.  On my mission, there were people who would say that Adam and Eve committed such a terrible thing by partaking of the fruit, but with our knowledge of the Plan we realize it brought forth many blessings as well.  It definitely was a challenge sometimes, helping people understand the Fall better, but as they came to understand that, they understood better the need for the Atonement.  Which is always incredible.  

So recap: 

Temple=blessing

Friends=blessing

Gospel of Jesus Christ=blessing

Wow!  Just a few of the many blessings I have in my life :)

P.S.-Todavia extraño Español/castellano.  Y extraño Perú.  Por si acaso.