Like I mentioned in passing in the previous post, the Orem Utah Temple was dedicated on January 21. It was the second temple dedication we have attended and it doesn’t get old. To think now more work for our ancestors (and your ancestors) can be done to allow them a choice, whether to accept or not, the opportunity to live forever with their families in celestial glory.
Before I continue with our winter new year happenings, let’s take a break to see what our children and grandchildren are up to In no specific order.
The temperature in Minne-snow-ta went to -33 degrees and the kids were kept home from school for a few days. They were not kept in the house though. In that freezing temperature, they still wanted to go out and play. Nico used his knowledge in geography to create an ice map of the US. He later recreated all of the American continent – including a very noticeable Puerto Rico.
Lyvi and Caroline went into caves, saw dinosaur fossils, and had loads of fun all around in Texas after their train ride. Ben designed his own tie-die t-shirt and a necklace and modeled both at school. I love his sense of fashion and runway behavior!
Below you will see our newest family member: Briar Elena. She is with her dad, Charles Irby, our nephew. Then Alan and Amelia displaying their tablets with representations of “hold on to the rod.” Nico holds baby Ellie. Hugo celebrates his birthday quietly. David also celebrates but not as quietly. I got a new hairstyle! Sara is happy with her treats, before her kids Ben and Gabby finish them off. We went to see “The Chosen” season 4 at the movie theater. (So, we are not children or grandchildren… but we also know how to have fun).
Another first for us was attending a Pro-Life manifestation. We believe in the preservation of life. As physicians, we respect the right of unborn children to live. Abortion is not an option for us because the child has life and life was given by the Almighty God in the Heaven. I will get on my soapbox now, and please forgive me if you are offended by what I will say. If you decide not to forgive me, I will understand. Nevertheless, read on, and then decide. I studied medicine and I studied law. I know what many of my colleagues in both fields think and find that there are inconsistencies and incongruences all around. For example, I remember going as a Pediatrics resident to the delivery room and receiving a very premature baby, so premature that the eyelids were still fused. My intern opened the baby’s eyes and that obligated us to reanimate the baby and rush to the Nursery Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to preserve and sustain life. [Forty years ago, the standard rule for when to use measures to reanimate a neonate born prematurely depended on the stage of intrauterine maturity. When a baby was born with fused eyelids and could not open his/her eyes, no CPR was applied because it was considered a non-viable fetus. If the baby had open eyes, then the doctor could proceed with the reanimation.] The baby had many congenital abnormalities requiring extensive diagnostic tests and procedures. The baby’s parents begged us to stop doing procedures to keep the baby alive. I was a resident and cried with the parents, then turned around and did what my boss told me to do to preserve life. The baby died after two weeks. Compare that to a normal baby who is aborted near term, older than my premature patient and probably with a better potential to live a normal life. No effort was spared to help the fetus die. On the other hand, the law will give a more severe sentence to a criminal that causes the death of a pregnant woman when a crime is being committed. Contrary to that, voluntary killing of an unborn child was considered, until Roe vs Wade was overturned, a personal and private decision made by a woman. Even a minor was considered a woman who could abort a child at will without parental notification, even though she couldn’t get her ears pierced or her skin tattooed without parental consent. Talk about discrepancies! Before I get off my soapbox, let me finish with this: There are rights and there are responsibilities. Women have a responsibility to face the consequences of their actions. There are ways to avoid unwanted pregnancies including abstinence. Once the baby is on her way, for me, there are only two options: you keep the baby and raise her or you give her up for adoption. Is either of these options easy? No, but they are correct. I could go on and on, but I won’t. If you disagree with me, be kind as you write your comment, and if you can’t be kind, kindly keep it to yourself.
Here we are at the Orem Utah Temple dedication. We were blessed to be assigned to participate with Elder and Sister Christofferson, Elder and Sister Kearon, Elder and Sister Duncan, and Elder and Sister Schmitt. The elders participating in the dedication are in their white suits; everyone else kept their street clothes but wore shoe protectors inside the temple. The protectors are to protect the floors, especially the beautiful carpets and area rugs created especially for this temple. I learned something new. The designs on some of the carpets are cut by hand. That does not happen all the time. Sadly, it is a dying art. Now the carpet manufacturers can do the same work without the need of specialized artists. So sad.
We finished the month with the Red Cliffs Utah Temple in St George. It was our first Media Day. We trained on Sunday with the Stake Presidents who would host and guide the VIP guests the first part of the week. Then Monday morning we guided the representatives from the written press through the temple and then later we guided the influencers, those who write blogs and keep vlogs on the internet. Both groups were special but I guess I connected better with the younger influencer crowd. At least, I felt the influence of the Holy Ghost to a higher degree. The Area presidency rotates these responsibilities. So one member will do the Media Day and another will attend the dedication. I like doing this.
Journey to Serve 