I am sure that we can all say that there are things in our lives that are worth the wait. I can honestly say that tonight was worth that wait. Tonight was one of those nights that I will remember for the rest of my life. It is a night that while mixed with both joy and sadness, the joy shadows the sadness and you can see that joy does win the battle. Some things really are worth waiting for.
I will not even shadow the night with what could have made it better. There are things, but for tonight, the things that matter most are the things that are the things that bring the greatest joy and happiness. They are the things that my sisters and I got to experience together. We were there together with our father. We were there with our grandparents. They are our soul surviving grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Hellewell.
There we were together in one of the most beautiful places we could be, the House of the Lord. We were at the Temple, together. It is a place that together we have not shared with our grandmother often enough.
My grandmother was not a member of the church when Ben and I married nearly 14 years ago. She joined the church when I was pregnant with my youngest son. Which incidentally, was baptized on November 3, 2012. She was here to see that day. So this was a very happy weekend. She was here to see what she was not able to witness herself 14 years ago. She was able to witness the making of a complete and eternal family. That is not what this post is about, however.
Tonight, my sisters and I were able to attend the Temple with our Grandmother Hellewell. We were of course accompanied by our father and Grandpa Hellewell. We found out that this was the first time that Grandma had been to the Temple in something like four years. We were so happy to be able to take her to the Temple and help her experience its beauty and blessings again. This is something that we as sisters feel was worth the wait. It something that we felt honored to be able to do together.
It was a beautiful night. She was beautiful. She was radiant. She was perfect. Grandma was very critical about how slow she was. She has problems moving without her walker. I want her to know that she was perfect. Her speed was not in judgement tonight. The room was filled with sisters from the Memorial Springs Ward and somehow they are wonderful sisters. We as sisters were just glad to be able to fuss over our grandmother. It was our chance to return the favor after all these years. It is a chance that we do not get often enough with our busy lives. Tonight Grandma was glowing. She was radiant and glowing. The spirit was warm and touched each of us tonight. Maybe in different ways, but we were all touched in ways that we needed to be touched.
Most importantly, we were together in a place that we needed to be – together.
If you ever wonder if a night at the Temple will bring joy to your life, these faces should be enough to illustrate how we as sisters feel about that. When you have an experience like we had tonight, there is nothing but smiles. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of myself to show as I was the one with the camera. I will have to look and see if any of the others have pictures and post one of those.
This is what I pulled up to when I pulled the car around to pick up Grandma. Not too happy of a bunch, yet. Grandma insisted on photos though, so the mood soon changed. In this picture (left to right): Louis Hellewell, Ann Kudlicki, Grandma Lorraine Hellewell, Grandpa Louis Hellewell, and Jennifer Mowrer.
Here are the faces that were caught after the night’s evening in the Temple. Nothing but smiles. In this picture: (left to right) Ann Kudlicki, Grandpa Louis Hellewell, Jennifer Mowrer
This is my Grandpa Louis Hellewell. He looks like he was happy after his night at the Temple with us. I love you, Grandpa.
This is one of the most beautiful pictures, in my opinion. Grandma’s smile is radiating of the love and joy. She looks very happy after he night at the Temple. I love you Grandma.
I am sad that I will have to send them home and this is a night that will not happen again for a long time. I at the very least, hope that it will happen again. I hope that I will have another opportunity to go to the Temple again with my Grandparents. The past few days have been a true blessing. I am truly grateful for being able to bring my Grandparents down here to experience and share this with us.
AWESOME! That's all I can say.