Braxton in front of the temple
Looking at the fountainWe might have played in the water just a little bit.
Brax really liked the noise from this fountain.
I love to see the temple!
Braxton playing on the grass. I wanted to get a picture of him in front of the flowers, but there wasn't a soft spot to set him in front of them. He was still a little wobbly when we went, so I had to settle for pictures on the grass.
We took our time walking to the temple and watching the fountain and playing in the grass, so I wasn't surprised to find this when we were about halfway home...
So I will admit that the day I took Braxton to the temple was one of those "I'm gonna kill my child" days. If you are a mom, you know what I'm talking about. If you aren't, don't worry you will someday. Braxton had just started teething and had been up about 5 times the night before. So when he decided he wanted to start his day at 6:00am, I was not in the best of moods.
Once we got to the temple, I immediately felt better. I love the peace that comes from the temple. I don't get to attend the temple as often as I would like (it's a lot more difficult to go when you have children), so I was grateful for the opportunity to walk around the grounds with Brax and just feel the Spirit. It was a wonderful experience.
Braxton and I had some great talks while we were there. A group of missionaries asked me to take a picture for them, so after that Braxton and I had a little talk about missionaries and how they teach people the gospel and about Jesus and how Brax can be a missionary someday . We also talked about Angel Moroni and how each Moroni points east (Brax kept staring up at him). And we talked about how someday Braxton can go inside the temple and make special promises with Heavenly Father. It was a good opportunity for me to try to explain things in a way a child could understand. It was more difficult than I thought it would be. And talking about the gospel and the temple helped to change my attitude and remember that my son is a child of God. I love the gospel and I love my sweet little son.
I totally understand what you mean, Lindsey. It is so true that every mother feels overwhelmed at times, when you were talking about not being able to make it to the temple as much as you'd like it made really made me think... Being in or near the temple you can feel such a strong spirit. Also, do you find that going to church on Sunday helps? I used to dread going to church with two toddlers because they hadn't quite figured out how to act in sacrament meeting, melt downs were their best friends... It's probably a safe bet to say that with sacrament meeting being smack dab in the middle of their nap time didn't help much. I remember how it was not only stressful for me, but for Charlie as well. However, now that we have hung in there, & have learned how to teach our kids how to act I actually look forward to going to church. No matter how my week has gone I'm so relieved when I walk in those doors. Like you said peaceful & calm, thanks for sharing your beautiful experience.
ReplyDeleteI totally love the fact that you told Braxton all about missionaries, and temple covenants, and and such. My niece loves to talk about how Jacob and I got married in the temple. The funny thing is that no one seems to remember telling her that we got married there. Cute pictures too! I'd be happy to babysit on a Saturday for you to go to the temple if you'd like. Most Saturdays I'm home while Jacob is at work or doing military training, so I have lots of time to help.
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