Mark’s temple

2015
2024

On Mark’s ninth birthday I took him to the Payson temple open house. Later, this was the first temple that Mark entered to do baptisms for the dead. Through these experiences and more, this became his favorite temple, and recently, he received his endowment there.

In the Payson temple there is a fruit motif in the interior design, as it was built on land that was previously an apple orchard. As you ascend within building, the blossoms in the motif change to fruits.

As I reflect on raising Mark, I see that small, sacred things like attending a temple open house have yielded very sweet fruit.

In his life.

In mine.

And for our ancestors.

If you want to go to Denmark, you’re going to need to do some things.

Our experiences have been vastly different preparing for our sons’ mission assignments.

For Mark, there was an 18-page visa form, and recently, he had to appear at a visa processing center for the Danish embassy in San Francisco.

We assumed that he would be paired with another elder and be picked up at the airport by someone from the local mission in San Francisco. We were surprised when the church travel office instructed Mark to fly there alone and find his own way to the visa interview appointment and back again to the airport.

Traveling alone and ordering rides were new to Mark, but he did just fine.

The thought occurs to me, how long has my presence with Mark been obsolete? Years?

Still, I prayed all day. When each child flies out of reach or has a problem beyond my ability to help, my prayers become a testament that Heavenly Father has always been the primary caregiver.

Here was Mark’s text to let me know that he was boarding his return flight in San Francisco. 😂

I bought him a huge hamburger for dinner after I picked him up from the airport.

After the storm

I drove through a heavy rainstorm on Saturday to attend a niece’s temple endowment. I was flustered by my commute and ran from my car to the unfamiliar temple in the rain.

I was greeted in the usual way by young and old temple workers, ushered through new halls, and given spiritual assurances that my visit was important.

You’d think that after years of temple attendance that these things wouldn’t surprise me, but that is the way with joyful things.

“Surprise!” Joy cries, as it jumps out from a hiding place such as a rainy day or a challenging relationship.

There was a time when I didn’t think I would ever see this niece again because of family difficulties, but I was invited to be with her on her important day. Poised and happy, she greeted me in the celestial room with a hug.

Later, when I walked outside, the clouds were gone and the brilliant afternoon sunlight descended like a confirmation.

Surprise!

Keepsake

I asked Paige to illustrate each member of my stake Primary presidency. The upper collage shows the most recent group and the lower collage shows all of the women who served with me during my five+ years as president.

We were released last weekend. The keepsakes from this calling are this little portrait collage and hundreds of lessons of the heart.