Forever Families

For Family Night last Monday we talked about Temples and the purpose of them. We also discussed eternal families and what that means. We told the kids we were going to take them to the Draper Temple Open House later in the week and there was definately excitement in the air. The kids had a hard time sleeping all week because they couldn't wait for our little family field trip.

On Friday we pulled the kids out of school and headed south. During the car ride we explained to the kids why this was such a special day.It is not everyday that anybody can get to go inside. Before going up to the temple we watched a short video at a chapel we parked at about Temples. There were many beautiful pictures that the kids loved. What stood out the most for me was what Elder Holland said:

“I don’t know how to speak of heaven in the traditional, lovely, paradisiacal beauty that we speak of heaven…I wouldn’t know how to speak of heaven without my wife, or my children. It would not be heaven for me. Now, you can say that’s wishful thinking, you can say, ‘ Well that’s just because you love each other and you’ve gotten cozy here on earth and you like each other’s company.’ It’s a lot more than that. There is something eternal in the statement that neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord. That isn’t just good sociology it’s good theology, it’s eternal” (Holland, Between Heaven and Earth).

Elder Holland's words hit me hard. He's right. Heaven would not be heaven without my husband and children. What an amazing plan, the Plan of Salvation, our Heavenly Father has laid out for us. There is nothing that brings me greater joy than thinking of being with my family for ETERNITY. Forget this "til death do us part" stuff. We're talking FOREVER. Amazing!!

After the video we boarded a bus that took us up to the Temple. Can you see the excitement in everyone's eyes? After the tour we asked the kids what they thought. These are some words we heard: pretty, reverent, sparkly chandeliers, big, they felt the spirit, Heavenly Father and Jesus' house...

On Sunday Ben must have still been feeling the spirit of the Temple because he decided he wanted to give the lesson for Family Night the next day. I don't know if he got this idea from Primary or what but this is what he came up with. It is kind of hard to see but he drew a bunch of footprints leading up to a picture of a Temple. We all had to draw cards that had numbers on them and whatever number we drew that is how many spaces we moved closer to the temple. Pretty soon we all made it to the Temple and everyone cheered.

At the end of the game Lee asked the kids to tell him one way we can all make it to the Temple. Ella raised her hand very proudly and said, "The bus". It was a cute little moment.

I am so happy for this past week that we had to reflect on the importance of Temples. It has helped us all remember that families really are forever.