Going to the Temple
Going to the Temple for our whole family is a difficult thing...
Aaron (Elder James' Dad/my Hubble) has an Auto Immune Disease and is unable to (or rather is is super risky to) be in groups of more than 8 to 10 people... As his immunity is very low and he catches germs very easily.. We (you and I) may have them but they may not be affecting us.. and with one cough, hand shake, sneeze or breath we can pass that germ onto Aaron and it can cause a great deal of problems for him... Worse case scenario is Death... While this seems EXTREME it is most definitely a possibility...
Aaron was put into hospital with an unknown disease on the 28th of September and diagnosed 3 weeks later with Severe Aplastic Anemia in October 2005 (Oct 2nd was to be his 30th Birthday).. if you would like to read a little of his journey you are welcome to do so on a Blog I kept back then to help inform our friends and family. Blood Bunny and Teddy
Aaron has been sick for most of Ethans' and Izras' life and they have not really known much different. (Ethan was 5 when Aaron first went to hospital and Izra was 2 and a half...) Aaron has always had to take extreme measures to participate in the boys life and has missed out on many milestones especially ones that involve a crowd of people being around.. like performances, awards, graduations etc etc.. So it has been hard for all involved.. But we have managed.. I tend to document with pictures or video's so that Aaron can at least feel he has some kind of an idea and he takes time out to talk with the boys about events and the goings on...
So enough about that... On with the Temple Prep... We had to arrange a special time to go to the temple so that Aaron could be there with us.. It had to be when no other patrons were there. We had to be sure that only 10 people were there.. and we had to be sure that it was as close to the date of Aarons' immune boost (monthly) treatments as we could get it. With that in mind we booked the first available time that would meet all parameters for Aarons' health and it was the 18th of April 2019... The temple was closed over the weeks B4 due to Easter etc.. With that date in mind we were able to prepare.. Aaron had not been to the temple for 14 years this would be Ethans first time and we were preparing to take some family names on the session with us. My thoughts were if we can prepare as much as we can the blessings will flow and I really felt we needed them to flow... for so many reasons.. One so that Aaron would be ok.. 2 so that Ethan would enjoy his experience and would get the most out of it... and I really wanted it to be a celebration on both sides of the veil... And with everyone taking our family names through I knew we could have this blessing... There was much running to the distribution center to get temple clothing for Ethan and being sure we had other things that he may need for his two years of service.... I spent some time on Family Tree to do be sure that the details I had in for our family members was correct... and then I was able to pint out the names of our family that were ready for their Temple work.. We had a few males ready for work from years ago B4 Aaron got sick.. and I needed to get some female names ready as I had completed all the names I had previously prepared... ... To get these female names ready I needed to go to the Temple for a baptism session the night before... It had been years since I had participated in baptisms.. And it was really nice to do so again...
The next day we went to the Temple and before we started we went to the baptistry to have Ethan and Joel perform a couple of baptisms for rellies that Ethan knew about their lives ... It was truly a special experience.. I wrote about it on my FB page...
"Recently we were able to have a celebration both sides of the veil for our little family.. As Ethan went to The Temple in preparation for his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...
The Lords tender mercies are prevalent... And I know that he knows each of us individually... He knows what we need before we know.. All He needs of us to but ask..
A couple of weekends ago I was listening to General conference and the talk by Elder Kyle S. McKay "The Immediate Goodness of God" (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2019/04/55mckay?lang=eng) This talk really rang true to me and for our family.. As each of us (in life) go through the BIG things (trials etc)... The Lord may not be able to take them away but He does bless us with so much in between and immediately... the Peace.. The strength to endure.. the courage to face another day... the blessings of the Spirit whispering and testifying truths to you.. and guiding you in your everyday life... With wonderful friends and Family!!! I just loved the talk..
"IMMEDIATE GOODNESS of GOD"….
Going to the temple with two of my boys (Aaron and Ethan) and some close friends was such a BEAUTIFUL experience filled with so many moments that testified that he really does know us... it was a full circle moment in time as we had very few with us on the day (because of Aaron's immune limitations we needed to have a special SMALL closed session)..
My Best Friend who has been there from the beginning of my membership... Another dear friend who was there when Ethan was being incubated and for the first 7 months of his life was his live in Aunty and a WONDERFUL friend over the years.. A beautiful couple (surrogate Mum and Dad) that have been so wonderful to us throughout the last 14 or more years.. A dear Brother who is a wonderful friend to my hubbie and an adoptive uncle to the boys.. My Dear Hubbie who has struggled so long and has been such a tower of strength for all who know him... Has kept the faith and has endured well.. And he wanted to go to the temple for years but it has never really worked out… All blessings are worth waiting for no matter how long.. All in His timing… …
A wonderful Brother wandered in (completely of course by HIS {Heavenly Fathers} design) while we were in the baptistery... who was a great support for many years and showed and told us of how pleased he was with our journey in the beginning of our marriage and how our goals to go to the temple were admirable... He was serving a mission at the temple at the time we were sealed together for TIME and ALL ETERNITY... and he took aside on our last day and expressed his love for us and helped us out once again… And when Aaron was first sent to hospital with the mysterious disease I picked this BEAUTIFUL man up and he was able to give Aaron a blessing that carried him through for the first few weeks and beyond…
This is the small group that was in the session.. What a blessing it was to have such wonderful people with us on this Special day!!!
Aaron (Elder James' Dad/my Hubble) has an Auto Immune Disease and is unable to (or rather is is super risky to) be in groups of more than 8 to 10 people... As his immunity is very low and he catches germs very easily.. We (you and I) may have them but they may not be affecting us.. and with one cough, hand shake, sneeze or breath we can pass that germ onto Aaron and it can cause a great deal of problems for him... Worse case scenario is Death... While this seems EXTREME it is most definitely a possibility...
Aaron was put into hospital with an unknown disease on the 28th of September and diagnosed 3 weeks later with Severe Aplastic Anemia in October 2005 (Oct 2nd was to be his 30th Birthday).. if you would like to read a little of his journey you are welcome to do so on a Blog I kept back then to help inform our friends and family. Blood Bunny and Teddy
Aaron has been sick for most of Ethans' and Izras' life and they have not really known much different. (Ethan was 5 when Aaron first went to hospital and Izra was 2 and a half...) Aaron has always had to take extreme measures to participate in the boys life and has missed out on many milestones especially ones that involve a crowd of people being around.. like performances, awards, graduations etc etc.. So it has been hard for all involved.. But we have managed.. I tend to document with pictures or video's so that Aaron can at least feel he has some kind of an idea and he takes time out to talk with the boys about events and the goings on...
So enough about that... On with the Temple Prep... We had to arrange a special time to go to the temple so that Aaron could be there with us.. It had to be when no other patrons were there. We had to be sure that only 10 people were there.. and we had to be sure that it was as close to the date of Aarons' immune boost (monthly) treatments as we could get it. With that in mind we booked the first available time that would meet all parameters for Aarons' health and it was the 18th of April 2019... The temple was closed over the weeks B4 due to Easter etc.. With that date in mind we were able to prepare.. Aaron had not been to the temple for 14 years this would be Ethans first time and we were preparing to take some family names on the session with us. My thoughts were if we can prepare as much as we can the blessings will flow and I really felt we needed them to flow... for so many reasons.. One so that Aaron would be ok.. 2 so that Ethan would enjoy his experience and would get the most out of it... and I really wanted it to be a celebration on both sides of the veil... And with everyone taking our family names through I knew we could have this blessing... There was much running to the distribution center to get temple clothing for Ethan and being sure we had other things that he may need for his two years of service.... I spent some time on Family Tree to do be sure that the details I had in for our family members was correct... and then I was able to pint out the names of our family that were ready for their Temple work.. We had a few males ready for work from years ago B4 Aaron got sick.. and I needed to get some female names ready as I had completed all the names I had previously prepared... ... To get these female names ready I needed to go to the Temple for a baptism session the night before... It had been years since I had participated in baptisms.. And it was really nice to do so again...
The next day we went to the Temple and before we started we went to the baptistry to have Ethan and Joel perform a couple of baptisms for rellies that Ethan knew about their lives ... It was truly a special experience.. I wrote about it on my FB page...
"Recently we were able to have a celebration both sides of the veil for our little family.. As Ethan went to The Temple in preparation for his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...
The Lords tender mercies are prevalent... And I know that he knows each of us individually... He knows what we need before we know.. All He needs of us to but ask..
A couple of weekends ago I was listening to General conference and the talk by Elder Kyle S. McKay "The Immediate Goodness of God" (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2019/04/55mckay?lang=eng) This talk really rang true to me and for our family.. As each of us (in life) go through the BIG things (trials etc)... The Lord may not be able to take them away but He does bless us with so much in between and immediately... the Peace.. The strength to endure.. the courage to face another day... the blessings of the Spirit whispering and testifying truths to you.. and guiding you in your everyday life... With wonderful friends and Family!!! I just loved the talk..
"IMMEDIATE GOODNESS of GOD"….
Going to the temple with two of my boys (Aaron and Ethan) and some close friends was such a BEAUTIFUL experience filled with so many moments that testified that he really does know us... it was a full circle moment in time as we had very few with us on the day (because of Aaron's immune limitations we needed to have a special SMALL closed session)..
My Best Friend who has been there from the beginning of my membership... Another dear friend who was there when Ethan was being incubated and for the first 7 months of his life was his live in Aunty and a WONDERFUL friend over the years.. A beautiful couple (surrogate Mum and Dad) that have been so wonderful to us throughout the last 14 or more years.. A dear Brother who is a wonderful friend to my hubbie and an adoptive uncle to the boys.. My Dear Hubbie who has struggled so long and has been such a tower of strength for all who know him... Has kept the faith and has endured well.. And he wanted to go to the temple for years but it has never really worked out… All blessings are worth waiting for no matter how long.. All in His timing… …
A wonderful Brother wandered in (completely of course by HIS {Heavenly Fathers} design) while we were in the baptistery... who was a great support for many years and showed and told us of how pleased he was with our journey in the beginning of our marriage and how our goals to go to the temple were admirable... He was serving a mission at the temple at the time we were sealed together for TIME and ALL ETERNITY... and he took aside on our last day and expressed his love for us and helped us out once again… And when Aaron was first sent to hospital with the mysterious disease I picked this BEAUTIFUL man up and he was able to give Aaron a blessing that carried him through for the first few weeks and beyond…
We were able to do the work for many of our rellies in this session as
well as Ethan performing his own… It was beautiful.. Hence the
celebrations on both sides of the veil… We all felt the spirit very
strongly that day and the feeling of Peace and Rejoicing was evident…
God is good!! And Gracious… His blessings are there for all to partake
of… We will live again because of HIM.. This has been a VERY special
EASTER blessing indeed… For which I am ETERNALLY grateful!!"
(end FB post)
When the session was done and we were able to spend some time in the Celestial room I was filled with joy, happiness, love and a little bit of spiritual tears... We celebrated together we had a little (reverent and controlled giggle) for those of you who really know me know that this is EXTREMELY hard for me to do with my loud, raucous, full bodied and obnoxious laughter.. but I managed to do it!! I know when we meet our loved ones again we will celebrate with them... we "shouted for joy upon hearing and learning of The Plan in the beginning" so I am sure that we will once again be overjoyed to see our loved ones and make a bit of joyous noise...
Aaron managed to keep his energy levels up for the BIG day.. He did have a little bit of a heart thing happen.. To which I said.. "It's ok love.. this is a good place to die." President said with a slightly awkward smile on his face.. "I never know what to say when I am around this family."
Rachel said, "Just say yes.. and we love you." There was a couple of other things that were said in after the session that were quite funny but they are more for personal journal keeping or I can tell you in person if you are really interested.. :P But mostly Ethan felt really peaceful and felt all was right. Aaron survived and was able to get through the whole days special spiritual activities..
After this Blessed Day I asked several of the people who attended with us if they felt any type of resistance from our proxy family... Everyone assured me that there was absolutely no resistance felt at all.. What a comfort!! To know that Families are Forever and we can do their work by proxy and they then have their agency as to whether they accept the work that was done on their behalf...(end FB post)
When the session was done and we were able to spend some time in the Celestial room I was filled with joy, happiness, love and a little bit of spiritual tears... We celebrated together we had a little (reverent and controlled giggle) for those of you who really know me know that this is EXTREMELY hard for me to do with my loud, raucous, full bodied and obnoxious laughter.. but I managed to do it!! I know when we meet our loved ones again we will celebrate with them... we "shouted for joy upon hearing and learning of The Plan in the beginning" so I am sure that we will once again be overjoyed to see our loved ones and make a bit of joyous noise...
Aaron managed to keep his energy levels up for the BIG day.. He did have a little bit of a heart thing happen.. To which I said.. "It's ok love.. this is a good place to die." President said with a slightly awkward smile on his face.. "I never know what to say when I am around this family."
Rachel said, "Just say yes.. and we love you." There was a couple of other things that were said in after the session that were quite funny but they are more for personal journal keeping or I can tell you in person if you are really interested.. :P But mostly Ethan felt really peaceful and felt all was right. Aaron survived and was able to get through the whole days special spiritual activities..
This is the small group that was in the session.. What a blessing it was to have such wonderful people with us on this Special day!!!
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