Friday, June 6, 2008

The Temple is a Holy Place




I love to see the Temple. I'm going there someday to feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray. For the Temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty. I'll prepare myself while I am young. This is my sacred duty.

I love to see the Temple. I'll go inside someday. I'll covenant with my Father; I'll promise 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.

24 of our 36 students took a trip to the London England Temple on a free day. It was the most peaceful and beautiful day I'd had on the trip. We were able to enter the walls of the temple and participate in sacred ordinances. I took family names from Grandma Hemingway and had special and tender feelings for those family members. It was a beautiful experience.

Saturday in the Park . . . again.














Today we got back from an amazing trip to Stratford-upon-Avon and other amazing places. Even though we saw Coventry Cathedral, Kenilworth Castle, Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon, Mary Arden's Farm, Anne Hathaway's Cottage, and many other amazingnesses, Jess and I couldn't be happier to be back playing frisbee in Hyde Park. We're not the greatest, and Jess especially isn't because she sprained her ankle. My skills at throwing the frisbee to one spot are becoming . . . well . . . let's just say they're slowly improving. My catching skills are much more rapidly improving. Anyway, these pictures are obviously not from today since the sun was shining in them and we didn't get back until late in the day and didn't get to the park until evening, but they're good anyway. I like how I match the yellow and white flowers and contrast nicely with the blue ones. It is lovely to wander through the flowers and gardens, but even better than them, I love the tall grasses and trees throughout the park. One of my favorite days in the park, Jess and I just wandered off into a secluded tree-covered part of the park and laid in the grass reading our books and eating Ritter Sport chocolate. There are pictures on here somewhere of that day. Look for them. Hyde Park is especially lovely in the rain. No umbrellas, please.

Jess and I went to Westminster late at night after I'd done homework all day long. It was a good jaunt into London early on in our adventures together and one of our better bonding experiences. Oh, and by the way, if you haven't seen Big Ben by night, you haven't seen Big Ben at his Best. I think he's so beautiful . . . and Westminster too. I LOVE architecture that speaks to my soul . . . (really I just wanted to use another feature of the Blog, which I find so pleasurable!) So, enjoy the film. I hope there's sound!