In Doctrine & Covenants 97:13 we read that the temple is a "place of thanksgiving for all saints." The new, beautiful Lindon temple became a holy place of thanksgiving for me on September 10. 

I sat in a large sealing room with seats positioned around an altar. My husband was seated across from me. My hand was holding the hand of my 96 year-old mother-in-law who was present at the wedding, representing Logan's four grandparents and Ashley's four grandparents who are all on the other side of the veil, besides her. It was a tender moment. I was remembering my wedding and how I felt that day many years ago.

In walked children and their spouses, and siblings and their spouses, not all, but many of them. The sealer spoke of Jesus Christ and how He has made everything good in our lives possible. We covenant with Him, and we covenant with our spouse. What a magnificent, wonderful triangle of commitment and love! 

Our son Logan waited many years for that day to happen. He prayed and hoped and dated dozens of women. Ashley is such a blessing to him, and to our family. We love her and welcome her to our family.

We have been asked if it was hard for us to come back to the Philippines after being home for a few days. It was not. This is where we belong right now. We are filled with such gratitude to the Lord for our many blessings that we wanted to come back to serve His children and be about our work here.

No matter how much we try to serve Him, we are always in His debt. I love Jesus Christ and praise Him!

Sometimes I have entered the temple heavy with burdens and asking for help. I have sought refuge in the temple from the storms of life, and have found direction and light. On this day, I went to the temple with a heart full of thanksgiving and basked in the light of our Father's house. Joy and gratitude filled my soul.

 

We thought when we arrived in Salt Lake City for the wedding festivities that we would hurry to the car rental place and be on our way, never dreaming family members would be at the airport to greet us! They brought a delicious snack tray and helped us with our luggage. We loved seeing them!

 

 

While on the long flight from the Philippines to Utah, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The main characters are enjoyable, the side characters are hilarious, and the music throughout the movie is delightful.

A seasoned Filipino priesthood leader drew this tree and showed it to the gathered saints. "This tree represents The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines. The tree is big! The top of the tree is blooming and large. The Philippines almost has a million members of the Church. The trunk is small. It represents priesthood holders. We need to strengthen the trunk and baptize more men into the church. The roots are not deep. The roots represent gospel knowledge. The members need to become more fluent in the scriptures and build their testimonies. This is the work we are about."

 

I am not sure why, but I enjoy taking pictures with interesting people, or people in interesting suits. Sister Shumway was here for a visit and we came upon this gentleman:)
 

 

I have been thinking about the sign outside of certain restaurants here in the Philippines. The sign reads, "UNLI RICE." I didn't know what the sign meant for a few months until a missionary explained to me that the sign tells customers there is unlimited rice offered with the purchase of a meal. Now I know why missionaries look for that sign, because they love rice and can eat as much of it as they would like in those establishments.

Today I was thinking about what items, besides rice, that I would like to have unlimited access to. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have unlimited clean water, or ice cold sprite, and fresh fruit? But besides food, what would I like an unlimited supply of?

Time with family, or memories of time spent with family.
Peace.
The Holy Ghost.
The love of God.
Repentance, rescue, and redemption.

Hope.

Spiritual power and protection.

A connection to God through prayer.

Thanks to a loving Heavenly Father and His marvelous plan, we are incredibly blessed, and as we keep our covenants, we have access to marvelous, unlimited blessings from God.

I read a quote once from Emma Stone who said, "I really like being alive." Here are two pictures from an outing a couple of weeks ago. In this moment, with my feet in fresh water and looking up at Mantayupan Falls, I really liked being alive. It was a sensory moment with the feel of the water, the sound of the falls, and the sight of the beauty around me. I thank God every day for the chance to be here on earth.

 

 

This week I read a few scriptures in the book of Ezra about God's hand reaching out.

The good hand of his God [was] upon him (Ezra 7:9)

And hath extended mercy unto me….and I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me (Ezra 7:28).

The picture above reminds me that God has a body of flesh and bones and His hands look like our hands. I know that God strengthens individuals with His hand. There are millions of people on the earth, and I don't understand how God knows each one of them and what they are experiencing, but I know He is a good and loving God and He delights in blessing His children. I have felt lifted, upheld, soothed, directed, protected, guided and strengthened by the hand of God.

That point being, as I think about it, it accumulates in my mind as an extravagance of minutiae.  The sheer fringe and network of detail assumes primary importance. That there are so many details seems to be the most important and visible fact about the creation 

(Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, pg. 130).

This is the truth of the pervading intricacy of the world’s detail: the creation is not a study, a roughed-in sketch; it is supremely, meticulously created, created abundantly, extravagantly, and in fine 

(Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, pg. 136).

The creator creates.  He creates everything and anything. 

The creator loves pizzazz 

(Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, pgs. 138, 139).

The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensible earnest (Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, pg. 275).

 

I met a dear woman last weekend whose home was wiped out last year in a typhoon. The Church helped to build her a small, temporary home (looks like a lawnmower shed), and she cooks outside, which reminds me of camping. And yet, she is creative. She cuts up plastic water bottles and soda bottles to make flowers. She also uses different colored straws to create tiny, detailed flowers. I admire the way she uses the items that people throw away to make art. Her generosity in handing me the flowers she had worked so hard to create touched me. She had paint on her hands and on her shorts, and a smile on her face. We have been told about the resiliency of the Filipino people, and she is an example of that trait.