October 27, 2007

Journal
10/27/07

Today was such a magnificent day! It was definitely one of my favorite Shabbats so far. Sacrament meeting was phenomenal. I've been thinking about going through the temple a lot lately (for the past few months). I've been praying about it, studying, talking to my parents and bishop from my BYU ward. I'd received something of a witness while reading a recent Ensign article on temples and also while we were in Karnak, but the subject had been in the back of my mind for a couple of weeks. This morning before church, I had been thinking, "Maybe this isn't the right time for me to go through the temple after all. Maybe I was just given this as an opportunity to increase my testimony of temples."

Well, today in sacrament meeting one of the talks, given by Meg Rampton, was on temples, and Spirit said, "No, this is the right time. You need to do it." To be honest, something that had been holding me back these past few weeks was the fact that being endowed would make me different from most of my friends back home. It's unusual for girls to get their endowment at 21 when they are not going on a mission or getting married (two things that are not in the picture right now). I didn't know how I felt about that. Then today in "Sunday" school, we talked about being afraid to do things that would set us apart from our peers, and if it was something righteous, we shouldn't be afraid. I realized I was being silly. This was right and I needed to do it. I met with President Hayes after church, and he was very supportive. He thought it was a great idea. I'm going through in December when I 'm home for break, and I'm really excited about it! After all these spiritual confirmations, how could I not be? That was a great part of my day.

My sister, Rachael, got home from her mission on Tuesday. I talked to her earlier this week and called the family again to today to chat. My brother, Sal, and my sister-in-law, Dalis, were there for the weekend visiting, so I got to talk to all of them (something that has not happened in a long time). It was really wonderful to just sit and talk with them. I also called my best friend, Cait, today for about an hour and a half. She's coming to my house over the break on December 31st, and we're driving up to Utah together. I'm really really excited to see her. It should be a lot of fun.

I've learned a lot from studying the Old Testament this semester. I've been learning about stories in the Old Testament since I was a child, and being at the places where the events actually took place has been interesting. My testimony of the reality of the events has grown. I am seeing them as more than stories, but as factual events that actually took place. For example, being at Mt. Carmel while we talked about Elijah was a wonderful experience. Having the opportunity to visit these sacred sites has been wonderful, and I really look forward to visiting even more as learn to directly apply the principles of ancient scripture.