Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple Dedication

Several weeks ago, we had the privilege of taking our family to tour the newly built Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple. You can read all about that HERE.

 

The Open House ended a couple of weeks ago, and the temple was dedicated today with three special dedicatory services. Now that the temple has been dedicated, only worthy members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may enter the temple to perform sacred ordinances for themselves and for ancestors that have passed away. Temples are a very important part of our beliefs because we believe the ordinances performed in holy temples are necessary to live eternally as families in the presence of God. Because this is such a special event, churches in the state of Florida were allowed to forgo regular Sunday meetings and participate in the dedicatory services via live satellite feed. Jared and I were able to attend and it was truly a special experience.

 

My favorite part about the temple is how I feel when I enter its doors. I find a peace in the temples of our church that I rarely feel in the outside world. In the temple, I feel my Heavenly Father's love for me. I feel unburdened by the troubles of the world. I feel closer to my ancestors, especially those I knew personally and miss on a daily basis. I feel peace and hope and love. I felt all of those things today. In addition to these wonderful feelings, I felt a great pride for the members of my church here in Florida. Many years of dedication and endurance and sacrifice were put forth by many wonderful people to make it possible for the temple to be built in Fort Lauderdale. I believe we are one of the few states in the eastern part of the United States that has two temples. This is such a blessing for members of my church.

 

I am grateful we were able to play a small part in today's dedicatory services. It was truly a spiritual experience I won't soon forget.

 

Spring Break, Part Three

We went back to school today. I didn't wanna. I admit, I loved having everyone together and not having to keep a schedule. 9 more weeks and summer will be here and I hope to plan some fun things for us. Until then, I'll reminisce about our last few days of Spring Break!

 

Somehow I talked Jared into taking the entire family down to Fort Lauderdale to experience the new temple's open house. He really must love me, because with four children ages 6 and under it was a little stressful. I admit it. Stacey and her family came over the morning we left. As Jared left for work she said, "Have fun." His response, "Andrea thinks this is going to be so great. We'll see." (I paraphrased.) So, you can see he wasn't too excited about it.

We drove 3.5 hours to Plantation, FL and checked into our hotel. It was a Sheraton and it was pretty nice. It had a separate room with a king bed, so we could keep the boys separated from us and the baby. So, it worked out pretty good. Miriam had a party at 2 in the morning, but she was so cute I couldn't be too cranky about it.

 

Snuggle time is the best time.

We went swimming in the hotel pool. It was on the roof. This was pretty cool, but it happened to be pretty chilly that day so we didn't last long. We are true Floridians. If it doesn't feel like a bath, we don't want to get in.

Miriam was the only one who wasn't cold. She looked so cute in her swimmy suit.

After swimming and four potty breaks, we arrived at the temple. There was a video that talked about the role of temples and the history of the church in Florida. The Spirit was very strong and reminded me how much Heavenly Father loves us.

 

Our little family out front. Ethan said that he felt "happy" while in the temple. I completely agree. I felt happy and peaceful there. If you are not a member of the LDS Church and live near South Florida, you should definitely take this opportunity to check it out. Once it is dedicated in May, only worthy members of the LDS Church will be allowed to enter the temple.

 

I love how "Florida" the temple is. The outside color is not white, but is the color of beach sand at sunset. So beautiful. There is also an instruction room inside that is painted with this beautiful mural. I felt like I was sitting on the beach in that room. The décor really reflected Florida. Being a Florida native, I could really appreciate that.

After arriving home, Jared commented on how stressful it was. He also let me know that he was glad I made our family do this. So, he thought it was worth it too. I'll convert him to adventure one of these days.

 

On Sunday, our dear friends, Barbara and Jacob Anders (and their three beautiful children: Ella, Jack, and Rory) came for a visit. We haven't seen these guys since August 2012. It was so great to be with them.

16 Years

16 years ago, on August 18, I was baptized a member of the LDS Church.  I was 16 when I was baptized, so that means half my life ago.  Crazy!  I was able to spend part of the day in the Orlando Temple for the sealing of our dear friend, Natali, and her new husband, Matt.  It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had!  I am so proud of Natali and excited for the life she and Matt are starting. 
Being in the temple and being reminded of all the covenants I've made with Heavenly Father, I was also reminded that I made the right choice 16 years ago. 

I love to see the temple

To make this post easier to understand, a brief lesson on Mormon temples is required.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints builds temples to perform sacred ordinances for ourselves and our ancestors.  There is a temple right here in Orlando.  Jared and I were married there and it is a beautiful place.  For more information:  http://mormon.org/family-history/  or http://lds.org/church/temples?lang=eng

Orlando Temple

Yesterday I had the opportunity to do some temple work for my sweet Nana, Grace Pomar.  I loved this woman so much.  I feel very fortunate to have known her for 29 years of my life.  She was beautiful inside and out and I miss her everyday.  She was the kind of woman that people would meet and walk away truly loving her.  Nana inspires me to be a better mom, a better wife, and a better woman.  I love how she used to tuck her chin into her neck when he laughed and the silly poems she taught us about lizards and doodle-bugs.  I love her fudge and that she once sent a batch all the way to Utah for me to enjoy when I was a freshman at BYU.  I recently found a letter she wrote to me that highlighted the events of her week.  I cherish it. 
When I went to the temple yesterday to do her work, I was surprised to find a youth group from St. Augustine was there and would be helping me out.  Kind of an amazing coincidence considering I had no idea they would be there and it really could have been one of hundreds of youth groups there that day.  I felt the Holy Spirit so strong and really felt she was there smiling down on me.  I felt connected to her in a way that I haven't in a long time.  It was truly palpable.  One of the best experiences, other than receiving my own ordinances and marrying Jared, that I've had in the temple.

Last week

We had many opportunities to be together as a family last week. Here are the photos to prove it.

We were challenged to go to the temple by our local leaders.  We couldn't find a way to make it work unless we took the boys with us.  It turned out to be really nice as we walked around the grounds as a family.  Grayson refused to get in this photo, but Jared is looking good, y'all! 

Grayson kept yelling, "Bubbles!" at the fountains.  It was a beautiful morning at the temple.  Jared and I couldn't help but reflect on our wedding day since we were married in the Orlando Temple.  It was a perfect day in our opinion and we are happy to report that we love each other even more than we did that day.  As we walked up to the temple, we told Ethan we were married here and he replied, "I want to get married here too!"  He is so cute. 

Yearly trek to the Pumpkin Patch.  Here is Landon in his costume.  He is just as cute a pumpkin as his brothers were.

My sweet baby boy. Love him!

All the boys were really excited about this photo op on the old-timey truck.

I Love to See the Temple

I haven't been to the temple since way before Landon was born. Probably almost a year ago! So sad, but it is really difficult to go with three itty bitties at home. I got my temple recommend renewed this weekend and decided we should all go to the temple. Today we (the kids and I) went to the temple to have a picnic and walk around the grounds. They were extremely well-behaved and we had a great time. We felt the wonderful Spirit of the temple even though we didn't go inside. It was so fun and wonderful. Here are some shots of our adventure.

 Enjoying our delicious picnic!

 View from our shady picnic spot.

 Landon and me.

 Landon and the temple.

It was so sunny!  The boys can't keep their eyes open, so this is the best shot I could get. 

Front of temple.

Fun Saturday

We had such a fun Saturday. Unfortunately, I do not have any photos to prove it, so you'll just have to read about it. Jared and I dropped Ethan off at Kevin and Melissa's house around 8:45 AM. We then went to the temple and did a session. It was so great to be in the temple again. We haven't been to the temple in at least 8 months! We promised each other that we would never let that much time go by again. Once we were finished, we picked up Ethan and Nathan so that Melissa and Kevin could go to the temple. The boys had so much fun playing together. Nathan cracked us up because he is such a wiggle worm. It was fun having him over and seeing the two of them interact. When Melissa and Kevin got done at the temple they came over to our house and we all had dinner together. It was so good to visit and be together. A full day, but so fun!