On Friday I drove south to meet up with Ben (my cousin), Jana (Ben's wife), and their children at the Richmond Virginia Temple. I left the D.C. area early (11:00am) in order to avoid traffic, but as anyone in the region knows, there's no such thing as avoiding traffic on I-95. It is one of the worst freeways in the country for traffic. And the weather didn't help. It was pouring rain for the first hour of the drive, turning what should have been a one hour and 45 minute drive into a two hour and 30 minute drive. In the end, I made it to my heavenly destination.
The rain stopped halfway through my drive to the temple and I was able to get a few pictures when I arrived.
I caught a bee on camera mid-flight.
A bigger bee, too.
I love all the beautiful flowers around the temple.
I went back to the car to eat my lunch and the rains came down once again. After lunch I decided to make a run for the temple. Grandma (Margaret, my mother-in-law) and Sam gave me approximately 25 baptism cards to complete and I still had a few hours before the scheduled appointment with Ben, Jana, and their children. So, I wanted to get inside to see about completing the baptisms for the 25 deceased persons.
Once inside, I found one family (the Martinez family) doing baptisms. They had no family cards with them and were happy to help with my 25. We finished all of them within an hour and I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the sacred ordinance of baptisms for the dead, including doing some of the confirmations in Spanish, with the Martinez family.
Ben, Jana, Caitlyn, Lauren, and Thomas arrived for our 5:30pm appointment. Jana stayed outside with Thomas as he is not yet old enough to serve in the temple. Ben, Caitlyn, Lauren and I did a few more baptisms and then we came outside for pictures. The sun was at a perfect angle to light up the temple, but also at the perfect angle to blind us as we tried not to squint too much for the photos.
Thomas wanted a picture of him meditating at the temple.
Ben and Jana with Caitlyn (redhead on the right), Lauren (middle), and Thomas (front). I love this family. Jackson, their oldest son, could not join us at the temple. He had to work.
We went out to eat following our delightful time at the temple, chuckling about the fact that we went from the Lord's house to a restaurant with little devils and pitchforks everywhere.
"Hey Thomas, look over here. Picture time!"
Great food and even better company. Caitlyn is headed off to BYU this fall to begin her university experience. Go BYU! Go Caitlyn! Lauren is a super gymnast competing on a team for the first time this year. Thomas wanted us to stop talking so he could get back home to check on Shelley, their neighbor's dog. 😁🐕 They are dog-sitting for a few days.
Ben, Jana, Caitlyn, Lauren, and Thomas, thank you for adjusting your busy schedules to spend time with me. I should mention that Caitlyn and Lauren had already been to the temple earlier Friday morning with their Ward. Twice in one day! Wonderful people.
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