This past weekend was Labor Day weekend and it was a good one! :)
Clint and I were able to take Carew with us to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple where we performed sealings with Carew for the first time. We were going to do endowments together, but it was so busy and we would have had to wait an hour and a half for our turn, so we decided to do the sealings instead and it was amazing. I feel like Heavenly Father led us to doing it because the sealer that was with us had sooo many important and impactful things to teach Carew...I love how when our own plans don't work out, Heavenly Father always has something better in store...that's why I feel like it's what Heavenly Father had in store for us that night and we didn't even know it until we were there. :)
Our sealer's name was Brother Kinikini, a Polynesian brother with a deep voice and a giant heart!
He spoke with such emotion that his words alone moved me, but as he found out that Carew was our son preparing to leave for his mission this week...he became so happy that he almost immediately began crying tears of joy!
As the 3 of us knelt together in proxy for a husband, wife, and son that had passed away, Brother Kinikini looked at us all and said, "This is a beautiful picture! This is what every parent dreams of...the day you can bring your own child to the temple."
We then smiled and told him that Carew was leaving for his mission to Rome, Italy in just a few days and he again almost immediately had tears of joy and excitement!
"ROME!!! Oh my goodness boy!!! Do you know how lucky you are?? That is where the apostle Paul walked..." He almost became speechless in his excitement...
The rest of the sealing session he kept on teaching and commenting on things about being a missionary to Carew...He said,
"President Hinkley said in a 60 minutes interview once to all the missionaries, that if you will just be the kind of missionary your Mom thinks you are, then you will be successful!"
Carew really liked that and laughed a bit at it...He also told Carew that the harder he worked out in the mission field, the prettier his wife would be when he returned home! :) He told Carew that if when he got home and came to the Jordan River temple to be sealed for time an all eternity, if brother Kinikini was there he would say when he saw his wife..."Oh...that boy worked hard!!!:)" Or maybe he would say, "Oh...that boy should have worked harder!!! ;) ;)" We all laughed a bit at all of his encouraging and funny comments. You could just really feel the spirit and the love that was in this sweet man's heart...
At the end of our session he bore his testimony to Carew and told him that he was so happy for what he was about to go and do and that THIS was the reason why missionaries go out into the world and preach the gospel to everyone...so that families can be sealed together for time and all eternity in the holy house of the Lord. He told Carew to always picture the people dressed in white that he would be teaching. "Picture them here in the temple, and see their potential. Picture everyone ready to receive these blessings because THIS is what we want for everyone, to be with their families forever."
He hugged Carew in a big tight bear hug and said "I love you elder. Please go out with all of the love and blessings that we can give." He again was emotional as he spoke to him...then he did the same for Clint, and then me... we were all touched by this sweet man's testimony and the loving and encouraging counsel that he gave to Carew...when we left the temple we all agreed that we were SOOOO happy that we ended up doing those sealings or we would not have had that awesome experience. I as a mom also felt enveloped by the love and the sweet spirit that was in that room, and felt tears of joy wet my cheek as I smiled lovingly at everything that was happening and as I etched the memory of that heavenly moment in my mind forever...it really was a gift to us that night from a loving Heavenly Father who knows us perfectly and what we all need.
After the temple, Carew went home to have a movie night with Kate and his little siblings. :)
Clint and I went to Pizzeria Limone and had a little bit of a dinner date with just the 2 of us. I was in heaven once again! Because I was on a date with my sweetie, AND eating the PERFECT food...pizza! :) We sat and talked and had a good time reflecting on our night and the things that we still need to do...after all, Carew leaves on WEDNESDAY!!!
We spent some time together on Saturday up at Swiss Days in Midway...it was so hot and crowded, but something about going together is still so fun to me. We walked around the vendor booths and sat and listened to some of the live performances up on the stage. Kesslyn and Kambriella were mesmerized by the One Voice Children's Choir!
Their songs were so good and powerful, and Kesslyn sat there in that same spot for a half an hour just staring and listening to the children singing their songs...
...and lovin' on her daddy. ;)
After our quick trip to Midway we decided to avoid the crowds and head back to Provo for lunch. We stopped at Dairy Queen, ate some food, saw some friends, and relaxed for a bit.
When we got home, I gave Carew his last haircut that he'll be getting from me for a while! ;)
I wanted him to be ready for Sunday and look like a real missionary, especially since he was having his final interview with the stake president AND it was fast Sunday...(he had his interview, got to say the opening prayer in sacrament meeting, blessed the sacrament, and bore his testimony all on Sunday too!:)
After Carew's haircut he took Kate out for a date to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum and to the Christ Statues in the Light of the World Gardens, then to SLAB Pizza for dinner! (That's my boy...PIZZA for dinner! I am not AT ALL jealous of the delicious pizza that you will get to eat in Italy!!! ;) ;) ;)
It has been so good for me to see these two grow together over the last few months. Kate is an amazing girl that is so full of light and full of the spirit. She 100% brings out the BEST in Carew and makes him want to be the best person he can be. Their goal was to both finish reading the Book of Mormon before Carew left on his mission, and I'm happy to report that I think that happened last night...(I'll have to see how Carew did finishing up last night...) Thank you Kate for being so sweet and a rock for Carew! I pray that the next 2 years go by quickly for you and that you will get to have amazing experiences on your adventures as well while Carew is having his...May Heavenly Father bless both of you with an abundance of His love and His spirit as you go about doing good and making positive impacts on the people's lives that you touch. Thank you for touching ours. :)
Carew...2 MORE DAYS BUDDY!!! JUST 2 MORE DAYS!!!
AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
I love you!!!!!!
