Devin and Kim: Young Women's Temple Weekend

The first weekend after school started, my young women's presidency and I planned a temple weekend for our young women. We attended and did baptisms for the dead in four temples across Utah and visited the outside of five more! We stayed the night in Brigham City at the the parents-in-law of my secretary and swam, stayed up way too late, and celebrated Katie's birthday! We had every girl but 3 there, which is impressive! I am going to record some thoughts from each temple experience.

Logan:

Our first temple was Friday night in Logan. The girls really wanted to go to this temple and it was the hardest to get an appointment! But we eventually got it done and I am so glad. This temple is so much older than the ones we attend regularly, so that was fun to see how different it was. My aunt Angela and Uncle Shawn came so that Shawn could help as Priesthood and that was so kind and generous of them. That is the part I will remember most about this temple- the sacrifice of people who don't know these girls to come and spend their evening with us. It was special to be in the temple with both of them and I am so grateful for their love and example in my life. I wish we had gotten a picture with them. I loved seeing this older generation temple and knowing it has stood there for so long and been a beacon of peace and hope for the people of Cache Valley.

Bountiful:

Saturday morning we started at Bountiful. I have been to this temple many times, but not to the baptistry. I was surprised by how small the font is! The thing I remember most about this temple is that my friend Katie and I were witnesses while the kids were baptized and one of the names was "Mary" and nothing more. We both looked at each other, but didn't say anything. There was just a silent acknowledgement and feeling that this "Mary" of the millions who have probably lived, knew exactly who she is. It was a powerful moment.

Orem:

Our next stop was Orem. This is a brand new temple and absolutely gorgeous with vines and flower decor and stained glass throughout. So pretty. The thing I remember most about this temple is the sacrifice of one of the young men in our ward, Payton, who drove all the way down with his dad to be our priesthood. Payton has had a goal to attend the temple as often as possible this year, and while he could have been spending his Saturday doing a number of other things, he chose to come spend it doing baptisms for the dead. It was really neat to see him baptize the girls in the ward and to have his dad help with confirmations.

Draper:

Our final stop was Draper. Though the girls were tired by this point, they were still super excited to do the work. Two things I remember most about Draper. Partway through the day, the girls had challenged each of us as leaders to get baptized as well. At this temple, Brittnie and I took our turn. Melissa and Rachel had done baptisms at Orem, so it was our turn. It was a neat experience to be in the temple and participate in the baptisms with the girls I have come to love so much. The second cool thing about this temple was just how excited the temple workers were for the things that we had accomplished that day. They were so overjoyed when we told them what we had been doing and were so kind and complimentary to the girls. We determined that through the course of the weekend, we had done over 200 names as a group!

Here are the other five temples we visited, but didn't have time to do baptisms: