I Love to See the Temple, I Made it There Today....

The Monticello Temple has always been a very special temple to me and today I was able to go through it to receive my initiatory and endowment. All my life I have waited for this day and what a special one it was for me as well as my family.

Throughout my life I have been taught by parents, primary teachers, young women leaders, friends, prophets, and others, that going to the temple is a very important step in order to enter the Celestial Kingdom. That living my life righteously would prepare me to enter, and that the temple is a place of learning and understanding. Doing baptisms for the dead since I was 12 years old has helped me become aware of the sacredness and holiness that is inside the temple. I was able to grow a strong testimony of the importance of the work that is held inside and it gave me the determination that I would someday enter for myself.

I like how Theodore Tuttle describes the temple by saying, "If we were to speak of the very center of spiritual strength in the Church, surely it must be the sacred ordinances of the temple of the Lord." -Theodore Tuttle (April 1982 General Conference)

Before I entered the temple today said a prayer asking my Heavenly Father if he would just help me feel the Holy Ghost and that I would be able to feel of the importance of the ordinances I would be participating in. I knew that I would not be able to remember all the words that were spoken the first time, or even the 3rd or 4th time. But I knew that if the spirit was present then it was the work of the Lord. I came to the temple with my mom as my escort and did my initiatory and the blessings that I received there were very spiritual and special to me. Following that I was able to do a session and go through for myself. I felt so pure and beautiful in my white temple clothes and I loved being able to see my family all in white as well. The words that were spoken and the things that I was able to learn made sense to me and some of my questions were answered. I think that one of my favorite parts was when I was escorted into the Celestial Room by the hand of my love and I was able to see each member of my family who was there that day waiting for me to join them. I became very emotional as I looked around the room and realized that what I saw was like heaven. My family was there together with smiles on their faces and tears of joy knowing that we are all sealed to each other for eternity. I am very grateful for the spirit that I was able to feel and I know that my testimony of the truthfulness in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was greatly strengthened. I am very excited to attend the temple more often, and to finish the work for my ancestors that I have been researching. Thursday in the Manti Temple is going to be even better!

(Eddie, Christine, Dallen, Janessa, Sherrill, and Bryan)- Thank you for being such great examples for me and for being worthy to enter into the temple. You have taught me so much by the way you live your lives and I appreciate the support that you give to me. I also want to thank the many extended family members and friends that were there with me today. I love each and every one of you very much!


Going through the temple today brought back many memories that I have as a child. One that I cherish very much is the re-dedication of the Monticello Temple in 2002. I found this journal entry from many years ago and thought it'd be fun to add this...

November 17, 2002

This morning I got up about 7:30 and ate some cereal. At 8:30 I jumped into the shower and got ready for the big day. Today I was going to the Monticello Temple dedication. Grandpa Bowring was able to get mom, dad, and I some tickets in the celestial room. Last night when mom told us that Grandpa had given us the tickets I was thrilled. I called Grandpa to tell him how excited I was and how grateful that I was going to be able to see the prophet alive. Mom and I went to get the tickets signed. The bishop Dowell was gone so brother Muhelstein signed them. I was extremely excited. I already had the spirit in my heart. I could hear the angels singing the Spirit of God. I thought of all the many new words I would be hearing tomorrow by the disciples and all those who were going to speak. I hurried and got all my temple stuff put together, said my prayers, and hopped in bed hoping the night would go by fast. The next morning I was the first child up awake and ready to go for the exciting moment in one hour. After 45 minutes had gone by we started to load up the car. Of course I was the first one in with my dress on, my Sunday shoes, bunched my hair done neat, and a cheesy grin on my face. The family went down to Grandma and Grandpa Fuller’s and dropped the younger three off there and took off. Trixy wasn’t able to get a ticket to go so she decided to stay at Grandma’s and tend. After we left grandma’s mom, dad, and I went to Maxi and Spencer’s house (they were still living in the basement of Grandma Sonderegger’s house) went inside and was going to wait for Grandpa and Grandma Bowring but after about 10 seconds the door had been closed they drove into the parking lot. We talked for just a second while Bert got his jacket on that you wear over your white long-sleeved shirt. His was black. After everyone was set and ready to go we all squeezed into Grandpa and Grandma Bowring’s car and buzzed up to the temple a block and a half. We rode in the car because it was really windy and cold. We went inside and put on our white booties and then quietly waited for our usher. The music was absolutely beautiful. We got to sit in the celestial room where President Hinckley came and gave the dedication. I was on the 4^th row away from him but had to lean over to see him. Some speakers talked and he gave the temple prayer. The choir was all in white and they sang so good. The spirit was so strong and I loved the Spirit of God that they sang. It was so pretty and the chandelier in the celestial room was so big and pretty. The temple felt so good and I want to come here someday. I will get to do baptisms soon and it will be really cool. I want to be married in the temple forever. I am so happy that I had tickets to come and it will be cool to drive by and look at it in our own town. It was fun at the end to wave the handkerchief. We had the Monticello temple sewn on ours.

**Glitter Toes**

The night that I got back from New Zealand I had a slumber with all of the girls at Janice’s house. Casey and Porter went fishing all day while we played games, talked, made memories and spent time together. I was pretty exhausted from the long flights all day and was the first to fall asleep…imagine that! The next morning we all got up and went to get glitter toes together for the wedding! I really wish that my camera didn’t die but here are a few pics that I was able to get.

Chloe, Parley, and Macley came along with the girls and were great sports through it all It was fun to see what colors everyone chose, and here’s what we ended up with… Chloe-pink, Kaitlin-orange, Calin-bright yellow, Janessa-lime green, Janice-gold, Christine-pink, and Candice-red for about 5 minutes until they came off. The glitter wouldn’t stick to her nails so the lady tried to do it again and it made her toes bleed so she wasn’t able to have them. Afterwards we went to One Man Band for a brunch and had a great time. I am super excited to be a part of this family and to spend more time with them. It was fun to be able to sit and talk for a while and to get to know them a little better. It was fun to see that they were excited about the wedding as well! I love each and every one of them! Thanks for the support!

Day 22 in NZ

Today was a very relaxed and chill day. We went as a whole group to a museum about New Zealand's history and a lot about the Maori as well. We had a tour guide that took us around and told us about all the exhibits and their importance to the country.

We learned about the fault lines throughout New Zealand and how the earthquakes made the country look like it does. There was also a big part of the museum that covered volcanoes and natural disasters. We saw more carving or Maori Gods and statues and learned about their first villages. We went through an animal section that showed the Kiwi birds and other that are native to the island. They also had on display the big and famous Colossal Squid. Its the largest squid ever found by man in its entire form. They will only be able to keep it on display for a couple of years because of preservation reasons.

After the museum we got lunch, came back to the hostel and chilled. I used Chrissy's computer to update my blog again and then I talked to my family and Dallen. Later this afternoon I went and bought some really cheap clothes for the stinky hot pots/springs and then came back and had dinner and took a shower. I think I'll go to bed early because we have an early start tomorrow, but basically that covers my day. I read a couple of talks in the ensign which were really good and found a talk called "Preparing the World for the Second Coming" by Elder Neil L. Anderson that talked about New Zealand which was awesome! I have enjoyed reading the conference talks on this trip and plan on continuing to do so until I have read all the talks given during conference. It was nice to have a day of rest!

Day 21 in NZ

Today was another travel day but this time it was from the south island to the north one. I sent out my postcards this morning to everyone before we left Nelson to travel. We drove in the bus for about 2 hours and then caught a ferry that was 10 stories tall!

I went on the deck of the ferry for a while but it got cold so I walked all around the different levels to see what there was. I bought my Grandma Sonderegger a pretty necklace in one of the shops and I'm excited to give it to her! There wasn't very much to do on the ferry without spending money so I went to the quiet relax lounge and took a nap for a little over an hour. I woke up a couple of times along the ride because of the waves.

When we got to Wellington it was getting dark and the shoreline was all lit up. That was cool to see. We found our luggage and loaded it onto a bus and then came to our hostel. This time around I'm rooming with Alana, Rose, Chrissy, Lizzie, Robyn, and I. We had a meeting with the hostel people and then came back to our rooms. Most of everyone went out to the clubs and bars so I stayed in my room with Chrissy, Alana, Kyle, Brady, and Raveena. I don't remember how it all got started but we got talking about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and they asked me a ton of questions. None of them really knew what we believed and had a lot of misconceptions about what we do and what we worship. We seriously talked for 4 1/2 hours about the church and they were asking me questions throughout the whole time. I really enjoyed sharing with them the gospel and was able to show them the Ensign and the Book of Mormon. They were very open to what I had to say and now have a better understanding and respect for the way I have lived around them and the standards that I have chosen to keep. Like when I say no to coffee and partying and things like that, they now understand my reasoning behind it. It was awesome to feel the spirit and to have people very intrigued about what I had to say and tell them. I am super super excited for the temple that I am preparing to go to when I return home and am blessed for the guidance and direction that I have received through the Holy Ghost. I thank my Heavenly Father for the knowledge that He has blessed me with and the family that raised me in the church. I couldn't be where I am today without their help! I ended up going to bed around 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning but I am very grateful for the opportunity to share my testimony and also for the strength and confidence I gained in my testimony for myself.

Day 20 in NZ

I loved my day today. It was very relaxing, beautiful, sunny, and fun! The only thing that could've made it better by a long shot would be Dallen at my side experiencing everything that I was able to as well. I wish so bad that he could have been with me today! I woke up early and left the hostel with the hiking and kayaking group and some people that went skydiving. We drove out to the skydiving place and dropped off the people that opted to go, and picked up Lizzie and Rose who had already been this morning. The drive out to the hike and sea kayaking was beautiful! We were able to watch the sunrise and I got some cool pictures of the sky reflecting on water.

Our drive was about 2 hours to the ocean where we unloaded and started our hike along a trail. The group split up into 2 (hikers and kayakers) and I was in the hiking group first. The coastline was beautiful and along the hike we were able to see streams and waterfalls that drained into the ocean.



We stopped on a sandy beach to eat lunch and to trade the kayakers. I loved to play in the sand and to run along the water as the waves come in. I drew things in the sand with Rose and that was a lot of fun! I really liked the dark black sand because it was really soft and fine. The lighter sand was rougher and was like small pebbles of rocks.



Rose and I were kayaking partners and that was a lot of fun! We were able to go by a seal colony like yesterday and took pictures of the sea lions. It was awesome to be so close to them. We were able to go right up next to the rocks. We kayaked all along the island and between smaller islands in the ocean and I absolutely loved it. The view was super gorgeous and I felt like I was in a postcard or something unreal.




Rose and I were really slow because we liked to just stop and stare at everything around us. It was beautiful! When we reached the shore again we helped load our kayaks onto a big trailer and packed up the gear we had used. The water was at a really low tide so the sandy beach was really big!

I collected some sea shells and a sand dollar that I found as well! There were a ton of starfish too which was cool! They weren't very big but there were a lot of them. We also caught a sandfish that was swimming in a small pool of water on the low tide. If you look close in the picture you can tell it is a fish rather than just sand.



We traveled back to the skydiving place to watch the rest of our group skydive and then headed back to our hostel. It was a great day full of fun and new sights and activities! I would love to come and do it again!

Day 19 in NZ

Today was another day on the bus from Franz Josef to Nelson. On our way we made a couple of stops and one of them was at a deer farm. I'm not sure what type of deer they are but we were able to see some bucks and that was cool.


We also stopped at the Punakaiki pancake rocks and blow holes for lunch. I just had a cheap salad that I bought at the store we stopped at earlier. The rocks and the ocean were beautiful! I wasn't able to wait and watch a blow hole go off because we were short on time but I was able to see the rocks.



We drove all along the coast and further down we stopped and hiked to a seal colony. It is the New Zealand seal but technically they are sea lions because they have external ears and 2 flippers on the back instead of one. They were all out and laying on the rocks when we stopped.




We continued traveling until we reached Nelson and found our hostel. I had a room of 3 people who were Lizzie, Rose, and I. They have been really fun to hang out with the whole trip. When we got there I was able to call Dallen and I woke him up but I don't think he minded. I was happy to be able to talk to him anyways :) After that I got some food at McDonalds with Rose where we met up with Alana. She got there before we did and ordered two burgers without unions and asked for extra pickles. I think that the employer liked her or was super bored because she literally got like a whole pound of pickles on her burger! There was a large layer between each topping on both burgers so she took out the ones that she didn't want and was left with a huge pile of just pickles. It was quite funny when we showed up and saw what she had.

haha Rose thought that it would be good to finish off the great deal that she got so she ate the remaining pickles until they were completely gone. I told Alana that since she had got such a great deal on her burgers that she should order me an ice-cream cone and ask for extra ice-cream on it to see if she could get another deal. She went for it and actually got two cones with extra on them for the price of one! lol It was great! For the rest of the night I spent my time writing postcards to all of my family. I got them all done and hope to send them out soon :)