Church Stuff

I know this blog post won't be for everyone, so feel free to skip it if its not your cup of tea. (Don't worry, we can still be friends but I figured the title will let those skip it who don't want to read it.)

Part of my 14 for 2014 (AKA my annual goals for 2014) involved getting more into church as a family with South County Boy. Since I'm a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I really never got to experience the kind of home that SCB did when he grew up... but I want that for our future family and since this is the year of preparation for that we are covering our spiritual base as well as our financial one.

I get excited when we get to make our own new family traditions, ... including doing stuff for General Conference.

What's conference? Every 6 months the leadership of our church does a broadcast over the internet where we get to hear messages that can help us with our marriages, families and our lives. Some are inspirational, some are good reminders for things we have been neglecting to do... and others feel like they are just aimed at you personally... but it's church in your pj's!!!

I attempted to make SCB's favorite dessert (Love Pie) for our Sunday treat and it was awesome!!!! I was so thrilled with how it turned out... and I was going to post the recipe on here, but I forgot to take a picture of the final product and it was devoured because we invited a few friends over from church... so eventually you'll learn the awesomeness of Love pie...  but I like that Love Pie will probably become a conference tradition... and that's just really fun for me to have a family tradition since there are so few that I have from my childhood...  (If you want to Watch General Conference, click the link, if you don't that's fine too).

Conference also made me reflect on all the awesome moments we have had this year already that I haven't really blogged about.

Baptisms & Gospel Sharing Moments:

Baptism Day!

I got the opportunity to meet this wonderful girl and help teach her alongside the Sister Missionaries in our ward... It was a really cool opportunity to do what someone else had done for me... and I gained a friend out of it which was really fun. I got to not only go to her baptism at the end of March, but she asked me to speak at her baptism... which was really cool considering I got to experience a lot of her conversion moments with her... which was really awesome.

I also got to share some things about the church with my old bible college roommate. Out of the blue one of my dorm-mates sent me a message on facebook asking me if I wouldn't mind answering a few questions about the church because she had recently started reading the Book of Mormon. It was really nice that she felt like she could ask me questions... and even cooler that I was not only able to explain why the church was a good fit for me... but also help her out with some practical advice since she was where I was almost 2 years ago.

Another Temple Trip

San Diego Temple

While we blogged about going to 2 different temples on our road trip out to Utah for our friends wedding, I get to mark off a third.

A couple girls I go to church with who had never been to the temple really wanted to go down to San Diego so I planned an afternoon road trip. A couple sister missionaries went, my friend who was recently baptized, and a girl I visit teach (with her hubby).

The temple there is probably the prettiest I have ever been too. The couple I visit teach plan to be sealed there in August so it looks like I'll be heading back along with SCB this time. (He was really bummed he couldn't go, but we went on a Tuesday afternoon while he was working since that worked best for everyone else.)

My friend also asked me to be her escort when she goes through the temple for the first time, which is totally awesome!!!

I feel like i'm finally getting the opportunity to really give back and do the things that other couples did to help me when I was first starting out.

Road Trip part 1

So back when I was investigating the Church (you can read about that story here), we met this really awesome missionary who became more of a friend to us than anything else. On his insistence, I became friends with his girlfriend through Facebook, then his mom.... then his grandma... 

He was there when I was baptized, we had him and his companion over for Thanksgiving and later watched him Skype with his parents at Christmas time. 

We visited Utah and met up with his girlfriend in person and South County Boy relished the moment when he tortured him with pictures of his real life and missionary life clashing. Heck, SCB would even text his girlfriend while he was at our condo just hoping that she'd respond back while he was over at our house so he could tease him.    

When he left our area like missionaries eventually do, he later got transferred over to the singles ward and since our home was again in the boundaries, we had him and his companion over for dinner once more. 

When our Sealing was announced we got word to him through our current missionaries and he got special permission to come and be there. Before he left to go home for good,we got the privilege of going to the temple with him and his grandparents (they arranged it with the Mission President since they were only an hour or two north from us and wanted to see him state side).

So needless to say, we became pretty good friends over the course of the year we knew him. 

When he went home back in November, he got engaged to his girlfriend and we were very honored to get a wedding invite to help celebrate their occasion! Since they were getting Sealed (Married) out in Utah near SCB's family, we road tripped and crashed with family nearby.

While it was a short trip and we wished we could have stayed longer, it was wonderful. 

Mount Timpanogos Temple in Utah.
Check out that moon, its just as bright as the temple, right? 

We ran some errands the first day or so we where there. While we were out picking up a few things at a Church Bookstore, we bumped into his soon to be wife and asked/got invited to go to the temple with them the night before for her endowment ceremony. We had already planned to go to a temple either that night or Saturday morning before my sister-in-law's baby blessing, so it was perfect timing.   

Me outside of the Draper Temple in Utah.

Having fun while waiting for the bride and
groom to make their grand appearance. 

The next morning we attended their sealing at the Draper temple in Utah. I hadn't been to that temple either and it was such a pretty and wonderful ceremony. I think I was nearly as happy to see them get married then I was when SCB and I were sealed together back in August. We waited outside the temple and walked around the grounds with family and friends while they changed for their grand exit. 

The temple was back in the mountains and had some really pretty views, but nothing was as excited as seeing the happy couple come out!

Later that night we met up with them for the reception with the rest of their friends and family. It was my first full Mormon wedding and it sure set the bar for what I hope SCB and my future kiddos will want to have one day.

It was like other weddings I've attended with dinner, dancing, flower and guarder toss, cake smashing.... but it was also really mellow and everyone goofed off and had a great time.