I love to see the Temple!

Large Plates

Busy busy as usual! Trying to become best friends with all the members

This week was super good, and super busy! We went on a bunch of visits because we're trying to get to know the members better. I know a lot of the members here because I've been in the ward for over 5 months, but I would love to get to the point where I know every member and their needs and interests. This ward is incredible but there are a lot of members who haven't been to church in a while. It takes an army to build up a ward after a pandemic.

There's a lot more I could write about but my highlight was definitely our temple trip! 

Small Plates

I love to see the Temple

Okay, so Friday was pretty much the best day of my entire life!!! We got to go to the temple! I don't have words to describe my experience, but I'm going to try to do my best anyways. 

Everything about the experience was incredible. The Orlando Temple is beautiful. I got to go as a missionary, alongside some of my best friends and examples. 

We also got to go with the future temple president. He's currently serving as a service missionary at the Bishop's Storehouse, so we work closely with him every week. He's like the father figure in our cute District Family. He's so wise and one of my favorite things about serving at the storehouse is being able to learn from his example and his wisdom. He's taught us a lot about temples in the last few weeks in preparation for our temple trip, and he made arrangements to come be in the session with us! 

The spirit was so strong there. There were countless times where I was moved to tears by the spirit and by gratitude. There are so many things to learn in the temple and I will be honest, most of them go over my head. But there are a couple of things that I did learn, or rather, a couple of truths that were reconfirmed to me:

The church is true.

Our Heavenly Father loves His children.

Jesus Christ is our Savior.

I know this church is true because of the spirit I felt in the temple, among other reasons. The ordinances we do in the temple are so sacred and inspired and are a testament of the Restoration. And they are a testament of God's love.

There were countless times in the temple where I was just so immensely filled with gratitude for everything Heavenly Father and Jesus Crist have done for me because of Their love for me. I'm so grateful to be on a mission. I'm so grateful for the incredible examples that surround me. I'm so grateful for temples. I'm so grateful for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. 

I know I can have the Spirit to be with me always, but the degree to which I felt that spirit in the temple is incomparable. 

I could have stayed in that Celestial room for the rest of the day. All of my worries and stresses were taken away. The temple is a sanctuary of peace and a source of power. 

Not only was my experience in the temple incredible, the effect it had on our missionary work was astounding. We saw miracles left and right and I have consistently been filled with love for every person we meet and work with. 

The temple was the spiritual rejuvenation that we all desperately needed. Missionary work is exhausting and at times it can be extremely disheartening. But if the spirit is there in every step of it, miracles happen.

It's only been 2 days since the temple but I've already seen such a turn around. I've seen it in myself. I've seen it in the missionaries I serve around. I've seen it in the ward. And I've seen it in this Work. 

Temple attendance brings miracles. We're already seeing them. I am seeking and expecting miracles, as the prophet instructed in this last conference. I'm so excited to see what the future holds for me and for the people we're teaching.

I wish we could go to the temple every week. It genuinely was one of the best experiences of my life. I admire the missionaries I serve around so much, and it was such a special experience to be able to spend time with them in the temple. 

One thing I love about missionary work is the unapologetic love the other missionaries have for this gospel. It's so heartwarming to hear my friends tell me how the temple made them feel. I love being in this chapter of my life. I was reminded today that I have less than a year left and I'll be honest, that kind of put me in a bit of a crisis. I never want to leave. 

My attempt to summarize my thoughts and feelings about the temple may be all over the place, but I did the best I could to describe the indescribable. 

The temple is my favorite place on earth. Especially the temple here in the best mission on earth.