Happy in the temple

Tonight was a great night in the temple. With summer coming Friday nights in the temple are getting harder, with people out playing and me feeling out of the loop, but tonight was great.

I'm just so grateful for the opportunity to serve in the house of the Lord. In the session I was in tonight, there was a girl receiving her own endowment and I was seated at the front so I got to watch everyone instead of watch the movie. I liked to watch this girl who was there for the first time. She had a pretty expressive face and you could see the joy on her face, the confusion sometimes, the worry she wouldn't remember or do something right, and the peace. I love to sit and see all these people and just think about how much God loves them. It's a great experience.

I waited around for the last round a veils even though they said they had enough people and I could go home. I only helped one lady at the veil, but she smiled at me and said thank you and as she started to go through she said "You are very pretty". Sometimes it's great to have a perfect stranger tell you something nice. You know they don't feel like they "have" to tell you that. It's not likely they will see you again, they just genuinely want you to know. Then as I was going to the locker room to change on of the temple workers started to chat and asked if my husband worked in the temple as well. I told her I was single as could be and she said "I find that hard to believe". Again, not really a person who would feel like she "has to" say something nice. Maybe they were just being nice, but it still made my night.

AND LAST NIGHT! We had ward temple night which is always fun, but as I was waiting at name issue for some girls from the ward, I saw Ashley, our beautiful Relief Society President and one of the girls I visit teach and she was so happy to see me! Made me feel like a valued person. I know I have friends and that they care about me, but her excitement to see me caught me off guard and warmed my heart.

Life is good. God is good. Happy as can be.

How do we say goodbye?

How do we say goodbye when we never want it to end?
Why can't we just pretend there'll never be a goodbye or farewell my friend, why must this be the end?
One day we'll meet again, till then we say goodbye.
These are the words to a song our Swing Choir always sang at the end of their shows. When I was a Senior I cried my eyes out while they sang it.
I don't like goodbyes. They are sad. I just don't like them. I discovered this weekend that I don't even like to watch other people say goodbye.
Now I'm not talking, I'm saying goodbye to my family when I leave after I've been visiting. Sometimes it can be a little sad and depending on the circumstances I might shed a tear, but in general I'm okay after a weekend with the family.
I'm talking goodbye's to people you have a good chance of never seeing again. It happened a lot on the mission. You're in an area you build relationships with members and investigators and then you get transferred. It's a part of the mission, a part of life, but that doesn't really make it easier.
I was in my first area for 5 transfers. 5 transfers! That's a long time. Especially for a sister (although not as long as some sisters I know). We got transfer calls on Saturday night and I didn't tell anyone at church I was being transferred. Then on Monday night I found out we wouldn't be having FHE with my favorite members and recent converts Fabian and Jacqueline because they had gone out of town. I had to tell them goodbye over the phone. I think that was an even worse goodbye.

Noche de Hogar (FHE) with Fabian and Jacqueline 2007

Now, five and a half years later, they are here in the United States for a visit. If I thought that goodbye in the Canary Islands was tough, it was nothing compared to the goodbye I had Friday night. Basically I was a walking puddle of emotions. To see them here, to go to the temple with them and to be able to interact with them now that I can actually speak their language was a blessing I never could have imagined and then to have to say goodbye, well, you might as well just rip out my heart and stomp on it a little.

I was not "their" missionary, but they have a special place in my heart. What a blessing it was for me to serve a mission and to get to know so many wonderful people; members, investigators, and missionaries alike. They are some of the best friends I have.

Noche de Hogar (FHE) with Fabian and Jacqueline 2013

Until we meet again, I love you Fabian and Jacqueline!