Temple: Janelle Endowment

Tonight, we had the opportunity to bring Janelle to the Cedar City temple to receive her endowment!

Rick and I left early with her and brought her out to dinner in Cedar City before we went to the temple. The St. George Temple is still under construction, which is why we went to Cedar City. Because of the ongoing effects of Covid, masks are now required in the temple. 

The rest of our adult kids were planning to meet us at the temple before the session. Janika texted and asked us to pray for them that they would make it in time. They got stuck in really bad traffic in Spanish Fork due to an accident which put them behind schedule, and she was worried that they might not make it. I checked the GPS and it showed that they would arrive thirty minutes after our 8:00 session was to begin. 

Nonetheless we prayed for a miracle -- and our prayers were answered! They were able to arrive twenty minutes before the session started.

While I was with Janelle as her escort, Rick managed to lock his keys in his car! He talked to the temple presidency who gave him a phone number to call and then joined us in the session. His keys were waiting for him at the front desk when we finished the session. The locksmith had offered his services for free, but Rick called him back and insisted on paying him. 

Other than those two things everything went smoothly, and we were able to enjoy a beautiful, sacred experience with Janelle and our other endowed children. Afterwards we took pictures with our family and with Janelle's friends, Brea Bulkley and Clay McFadden, who had also come to support her. We had a funny moment when we went to leave and saw that Clay was still inside the gates, which were now locked. He was locked inside the temple grounds! After a few moments of wondering what to do we realized that the gate was still open on the other side of the temple! 

Just a little bit about the temple endowment from ChurchofJesusChrist.org: 

The word endowment means “a gift.” In this context, the temple endowment is literally a gift from God whereby He bestows sacred blessings upon you. The endowment can only be received in His way and in His holy temple. Some of the gifts you receive through the temple endowment include:

1. Greater knowledge of the Lord’s purposes and teachings.
2. Power to do all that God wants us to do.
3. Divine direction and protection as we serve the Lord, our families, and others.
4. Increased hope, comfort, and peace.
5. Promised blessings now and forever.

Janelle's Mission Call Opening

Janelle has been SO anxious to receive and read her mission call!! Of course this is totally understandable! She had tons of people there in person and lots more who joined in over zoom!! You can see her opening her call HERE!! 

We are all beyond excited!! Janelle will be a fantastic missionary! Here is a group picture of those who came out to support her -- and there were lots more who showed up throughout the evening (missing the announcement, ha ha!)

She is going to the Taiwan Taipei Mission!! Now she can put her three years of High School Chinese to good use! She reports to the MTC on November 15 and will be teaching the gospel in the Mandarin Chinese language!