Phoenix Temple

This gorgeous edifice has had great cause for celebration. It also called for a lot of work. It was such a privilege to be a part of the open house, cultural celebration, and dedication.

Ryan and I were able to take those not of our faith through this Holy House. Ryan took his coworker through after work one evening which then led to a 3 hour discussion of the church. Our whole family was able to attend the open house with our friends, the Garcias. Even with 5 small, tired children, we were able to feel the Spirit. Later, I was able to take a family that I visit teach whose husband isn't a member. We were very excited he was willing to come along. It was such a neat experience each time we went. There is simply no other place on earth like the Temple. It was quite crowded, and unfortunately we didn't get any family pictures when we were there. But this beautiful Christus was the perfect way to end the tour in the visitor's center.

I can't tell you how much it meant to me that I was able to be a part of the Youth Cultural Celebration a day prior to the Temple Dedication. It was A LOT of work! We had practices every Wednesday for 3 months as well as several Saturdays. The youth were such stellar examples of dedication. I was so proud of their willingness to put so much time into the production. I was the ward dance coordinator, so I learned all the dances from the Temple Celebration Committee and then taught it to our ward and the Santa Fe ward kids. We had 3 full dance numbers to learn, so needless to say they had to work hard to learn it all!

It took an amazing amount of coordination for the kids to get into their formations for each number. We had 220 youth in our stake and 700+ in our region. Plus each dance had more than one formation. It was nuts!!

The week before the big performance, they had a "Super Saturday" rehearsal from 7 am to 5 pm. It was a full dress rehearsal and the first time all 6 regions practiced together. They ended up having 4300 youth perform. The opening number really set the tone for the rest of the day. The song is called "Arise" and it talks about the good that can come when you step up to be a witness of God. There is something to be said about coming together as a huge group like this singing and dancing together. There was POWER. The feeling of unity was palpable. It was AMAZING. I had practiced this dance with our stake hundreds of times, but seeing it with everyone dressed was like seeing for the first time. There was not a leader on the sideline without tears in their eyes.

The night before the big performance, there was another rehearsal with the lighting and TV cameras. The performance was televised all over Arizona and streamed live on the internet. None of us knew they were putting a huge temple in the background. I couldn't get a good picture of it until morning.

Here are a few of the "Captains of 10" from our ward. Me, Karan, Melinda, and Savannah. Love these ladies! But boy were we roasting in the middle of November. It was 95 degrees out with no shade ALL. DAY. LONG.

Our region did a 50's dance and a military/flag dance. Their costumes were seriously darling!

Here is the entire group of kids and leaders at 6 am morning of the performance.

The actual performance was such a spiritual high! Elder Uchdorf and Elder Oaks came into the stadium first. The entire stadium of spectators as well as youth were nearly silent waiting... Waiting for our Prophet to arrive. Oh what JOY it was for all of us to have him present. Our ward/stake were in formation right in front of the First Presidency. At the end of the performance two youth from our ward got to high-five President Monson. I can't tell you how excited they were. Mostly it was amazing to feel that these youth are truly a light in a world of darkness. I sure love them and felt the love that Heavenly Father has for them. My heart was full.