Mark and I left on a Thursday afternoon (once we realized that he was going to be late to class, he decided to skip class and drive that night instead of waiting for the next day) and stayed at a friend's house (Rakhi) in New Jersey on the way down. It was Canon's very first real road trip, and I wasn't sure how it was going to be to drive so long with a little baby. The stop in New Jersey was a perfect stopping point, and Canon was a pretty good sport about it all. (When the trip was over, though, I think he had enough with his car seat.)
This enabled us to arrive in Maryland to help with the decoration set-up the night before the ceremony. The day of the ceremony we had a rehearsal and then separated to get ready. The bride and bridesmaids went to her house to get make-up and hair done... but there were so many other people there trying to get ready. It felt like chaos, and with Canon being overstimulated (out-right crying) twice while we were there, all I could think was, "Why don't we just go to the Church to finish getting ready?" So I suggested we leave then and finish getting ready there. Good thing too, because it took the whole group about 40 minutes JUST TO LEAVE. Yeah, the chaos caused stress levels to rise for a few of us, and on the way to the Chapel I could feel the tension. I really wanted everyone from our car to arrive in good spirits, so I started singing "I Love to See the Temple" from our children's hymnbook. Theresa asked me to sing this for the ceremony, so I figured that it was a good opportunity to practice. The Spirit filled the car so strongly that I could hardly get all the words out in the second verse. I could tell that the other girls appreciated the change in mood, and I felt my own stress melt away.
Once we arrived at the Church, there was still much that needed to be done in order to finish getting ready, so the wedding started an hour late. That might be considered a bad thing, but it was such a beautiful ceremony. It was simple, but elegant. The passages they requested the bishop to recite were in reference to the eternal nature of families. I sang "I Love to See the Temple" and the rest of the focus of the ceremony showed the goal that they have as a couple to be able to go to the temple together.
The reception was fun with music and dancing, a sit-down lasagna dinner, milkshakes, and toasts offered at the microphone. It was so great to see Theresa looking to beautiful and happy. The family that she's married into was so sweet and welcoming to her. They seem to be so excited to have her in their family (and who wouldn't be?) which makes me happy. As her friend for over a decade, I'm so glad to see Theresa being so happy with the Gospel of Christ in her life and the loving support of an adoring husband in the Gospel.
After leaving the reception, Mark and I drove to the Washington D.C. LDS Temple. I had never been there before, and it was so beautiful. The wind was blowing really hard, which made it pretty chilly, so I suggested we go back to the car. Mark wouldn't have it and said that we needed to take the time to walk around the Temple. I'm so glad he did because it was totally worth it. Looking at the beautiful building was fun, but the Spirit that I felt was incredible. I reflected on the beautiful wedding ceremony we just attended and recognized the amazing blessings we receive through a Temple marriage. I was truly grateful! The Temple is an amazing place where we make covenants with our Father in Heaven, and it truly is a blessing to be able to attend and feel the peace and love within its walls.
On our return trip home, we stopped at Rakhi's house again, and it was fun to share our experience with her and her sister Rema. They live so close the New York City that we were hoping to stop again for a few days and visit the city with them when Mark finishes his finals and before he graduates... that would be this week!! However, it looks like that won't work out. Looks like we're going to have to make other plans to visit NYC. We've been in Boston for 3 years and never visited NYC...we've gotta go before it's too late! If we end up going and taking awesome pictures, I will post them later!
1 comment:
That is so neat that you were able to go for the wedding. I love the Washington DC temple. I visited there when I was a junior in HS and the one thing (besides the temple being beautiful) is the beautiful huge flowers that were there. So when Mark graduates will you be moving back to Utah?
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