a full heart

Last night my family and I went down to Salt Lake. We hadn't eaten at all, so everyone was starving. Well... it was already getting late, so we had to hurry. It's hard to find good fast food places ( if there's such a thing) in Salt Lake City. Ashley suggested she knew where a Carls Junior was. We finally found it. ( Fast food places are my LEAST favorite things in the world. I would have MUCH rather waited to eat when I got home. I say... if you're gonna go out to eat... do it right, or don't do it at all.) We pulled into the parking lot and parked. We all went inside and ordered. I got a taco salad... much too spicy for my taste. We went in to sit down, and there was a cop sitting at his own table, reading the newspaper. COOL. Okay, so we're in Salt Lake in the most ghetto part of town. That cop was being paid to sit there, to babysit the place. We go find a couple of tables so we could all sit down together. To our left, there were 2 old women kissing each other's hands and were obviously lovers. We didn't want to intrude on their space, so we sat on the other side of the place. Directly behind us, was a creepy man who wore sunglasses. Are you serious dude? It's 8 o Clock at night. He kept staring at all of us girls. I guess he thought we were stupid and didn't notice just b/c he had his sunglasses on. He wasn't even eating anything. Just sitting there, facing our direction. I have a lot of patience, but I don't have any patience for perverts. We quickly finished our food and got up to leave. He watched us all leave and left as well. I'm just glad we had our dad with us. ( Nick had to stay at school again to take a test.) It's no wonder that Salt Lake really will be one of the most wicked cities in the last days. So many weirdos flock there for some reason. But then there's THIS place a few blocks away....

I absolutely LOVE Temple Square.  Audrey was with us, and she being a non-member, had never seen Temple Square before. It was really neat showing her around.  Temple Square always brings such sweet, peaceful feelings to my heart. Seriously. I can't even describe to you the feelings I feel each time I pass through those gates. It's such a happy, uplifting place. It brings me back and reminds me to be more grateful, more charitable, more loving, and more kind. I also loved seeing the sister missionaries. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw them last night because it really made me miss being a missionary. Nick and I are grateful for our calling because we get to work with the missionaries each week. There's just something really special about being a missionary. I can't wait to serve again with Nick when we're older. 

We went inside the tabernacle and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was rehearsing. It was really neat listening to them. We've been wanting to go to the Spoken Word one of these Sundays. love Mo Tab and I can't wait for conference! 

I always love walking up the spiral walk to see this beautiful statue. The spirit is always so strong here too. I loved being with my WHOLE family again. I was missing my husband dearly though. 

We then went and watched the Joseph Smith movie. I've seen it a million times and I never get sick of it. That movie is so powerful. I wish every non-member could see it. Joseph was such a gentle soul and I admire him and his devotion to God. It's unreal all the things he and his family and the saints went through back when the church was so young. I KNOW he was a prophet of God. I'm grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for loving us unconditionally despite our weaknesses and downfalls. I'm grateful He has once again restored his gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith and I'm grateful for a living prophet today, President Monson. I can't wait to meet Joseph one day. I loved walking around the beautiful Salt Lake temple. I am in awe every time I think that it took the saints 40 years to build it. What faith and devotion they had. I feel so blessed we have so many temples so near. I also hold a special place in my heart for the SLC temple because Nick and I were married there. I love this gospel. I love my family. And I love and have a deep reverence for my Savior and friend, Jesus Christ. 

No matter how crazy life gets, our worries, our sorrows and our afflictions... He knows our pain. I know he's there. He loves each of us very much. I hope we can recognize Him in our own lives and look for His tender mercies each day. They're all around us. Something as small as a beautiful flower or a breathtaking sunset or a call from an old friend or a hug from a loved one. If we've had a long, hard day...all we have to do is pray & ask for comfort. He's there.