i love to see the temple

i love to see the temple
i went inside yesterday
i felt the Holy Spirit
i listened and i prayed
for the temple is a house of God,
a place of love and beauty.
i prepared myself while i was young,
this is my sacred duty.

i love to see the temple,
i went inside yesterday.
i covenanted with my Father,
i promised to obey.
for the temple is a holy place
where we are sealed together.
as a child of God, i've learned this truth,
a family is forever.

i went through the temple yesterday.
it is a beautiful place.
it is full of love and peace.
i can't wait to go back and learn even more.
and i look forward to the day when i will be sealed there to my husband.

i am so grateful for my parents and grandparents who taught me to look forward to going to the temple and who prepared me for this great day. i'm especially grateful for my grandfather who taught my the importance of each grandchild getting to the temple.
i am so grateful for my younger brothers who are an example to me and were able to be there last night.
i am grateful for my sister and cousin whose spirits i felt even though they are serving missions and were unable to be there in person.
i am grateful for the sister-friends whose examples, friendship and love have helped me reach this point in my life. they truly are part of my family.

i am grateful for temples and for the love i feel there. i am thankful i can go back often and learn even more. i am grateful for a place where i can come and feel close to the Lord. 

day 13. a letter to someone.

(because i'm not feeling creative enough today)

Dear You,

Whoever you are, I'm the girl of your dreams. I am real, even as you are real, and I dream about you. I look for you wherever I go...in moments of music and laughing and dancing...at school, at church, or just walking down the street, looking into faces that pass me by, wondering if you are there.

One day you will come out of the world into my sight and I shall know that you are for me, and there shall never be another. To find you will be finding eternal friendship and love...a feeling of togetherness, and we shall never be alone again. I dream of your strength, of your wisdom, of your kindness, of your courtesy, good humor, and optimism. I dream of the man you will be. You are choosing today the bread I shall eat, the walls that will shelter me, my position and place in life and in eternity. My crown will come to me only through your priesthood. What you are doing in preparation for the future, will determine my future too.

The bodies of our children, which I shall proudly bear, are part of you even as they are part of me too. We must become one, before they can be.

What you are in part you shall become. Be fine, honorable, wise, for me...for them. I will be chaste for you. You be chaste for me. I will be beautiful and clean in body and spirit and accomplishment for you. I will save all that is sacred and best for you. This same thing, I want from you.

On that holy day when we shall wed, I shall wear white, truthfully I shall kneel with you at the temple altar in the presence of God, angels and all witnesses. Honestly I shall accept the ring joyously. I shall kiss your lips purely. I shall bring you untouched, my virginity, that we may discover all the glory together as man and wife, priest and priestess.

Wait for me. it may be years before we find each other, but oh, I want you. I want no other. I believe I knew and loved you in the pre-existent life, and that you loved me too. That our lives were promised in priesthood covenant to each other. All night when I kneel to pray, I pray to find you. I pray with all my young love's beauty, hope, desire, and faith. May you be blessed, may you be guided and protected until we safely find each other.

This earth is wide. The roads wind every which way upon its surface. But God will bring us face to face sometimes, somewhere...Let us live for this blessing. Dear you. Whoever you are, wherever you are, I'm the girl...and I do love you...I am waiting patiently for you! Please wait...and prepare yourself for me too.

xo me.

1.remember my little [bigger] brother?
yeah... he is in Finland now. preaching the gospel.
and i miss him.
keep him in your prayers k?

2. have you had the chance to pick up this magazine?

i am reading it right now and i love it! i cannot wait for someday when I am able to go through the temple and more fully understand the symbolism and love God has for me.

3. 22 days until this blessed holiday :)
why do i love it? i will tell you in a later post.

(now back to studying)

{mr. and mrs. adam arnesen}

so my brother got married yesterday.

to the best girl- ever :)

mawwaige. mawwaige is what bwings us togethew.

my roommate, and best friend, jessica fay white got married. now she is jessica fay white hicks! i got to go up to the temple and see her as she came out- a married woman! it was a beautiful and very happy event :)

at the temple

in the bride's room

all the girls with the bride

Temples, Cherie Call, and Creationism

The beautiful Draper Temple!
Yesterday was a wonderful Saturday. My stake went up to Draper for the temple open house. We had to get up ridiculously early (for a Saturday), but it was worth losing sleep over! I have always loved the temple, but the last open house I went to was the Vernal Temple and since I was like 8, I don't really remember much of anything from that experience. It is difficult to describe the feeling that is in that sacred place. And it hasn't even been dedicated yet! WOW. Everything that had been on my mind, that had been worrying me or getting me down, seemed to vanish when I entered the temple. I felt such inexplicable peace. My mind and my heart felt so rested and I felt whole. I felt so at home in the temple. Especially in the Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial rooms. I love the temple. I wish I could go there right now and get all my ordinances and everything! Oh well, that will have to wait. I cannot imagine getting married any other place. The spirit was so strong there. I think the temple is literally the happiest place on earth! (That's saying a lot because Disneyland is a pretty happy place too.) Who would ever want to deny themselves the blessing of going to the Lord's House and being blessed by Him? I have not even been through the temple, but when I was there yesterday I felt His love so strongly. Me and my roommates Heather and Natalie at the open house
On the bus ride home, me and my friend were listening to a Cherie Call song, It Passes all My Understanding. He brought up the topic of Creationism. We discussed how it seemed so impossible that anyone could think or argue that this beautiful earth just randomly appeared, and that everything and everyone on it just evolved. Everything testifies of a loving Heavenly Father. You can't help but look out your window (especially on a beautiful day such as today) and not believe that there is someone who created this world. He must be so brilliant! That someday, we can be like Him, boggles my mind and is a little intimidating. But I am sure that when we are resurrected He will help us learn everything we know to create our own worlds. The more I see of the world, the more I am convinced that we are not alone, that we were created for a purpose and that everything on the earth was created for us. Everywhere I go, I see beauty! When I traveled to Texas this summer I thought it would be kind of ugly, sort of gray and brown all over. As I flew in over Dallas, I looked down and saw this beautiful green, hilly landscape that was so beautiful! Every part of the earth, from the fjords of Norway to the Sahara Desert is a work of God and I marvel at it. mountains across Utah Lake
How grateful I am for the this my earthly home and its beauty. I am also so greatful for the temple that symbolizes living again with Heavenly Father. The Lord really does love us! I have a quote on my wal tha says, "The more we love God, the more we desire to help others." This is my desire and my goal. To forget myself, my worries, my pride, and go to work helping others!
The Idaho Falls Temple