Golden

This week was golden!!! It was the last week of my golden year (of being 22 since my birthday is the 22nd) and it was fantastic. Let me tell you why.

There is a young man who we met at church a few weeks ago, and he told us that he wanted to get baptized! But he wasn't ready to meet with us yet. He went to church for a few more weeks, and we kept asking him. Finally we texted him last week and we set up an appointment! He is SO ready! He has been reading the scriptures and praying and he wants to be baptized. We helped him to realize that he is ready to make this commitment! He has felt the confirmation of the spirit and knows that this is the path that he wants to take. We do not need to be perfect before we are baptized, but the desires of our hearts must be true and pure. We must change how we are living if it is not in agreement with God's commandments, but we do not need to be scriptural scholars to be followers of Jesus Christ! He decided that he would like to be baptized this weekend! It is so incredible to see how much the Lord is preparing people around us. It is such a gift to be able to help them make these incredible changes in their lives.

We also had the wonderful opportunity to prepare for the Ogden Temple re-dedication by setting up chairs all through the temple! They cleared out every room, and we set up chairs everywhere! The re-dedication took place in the celestial room of the temple, and it was broadcast to every room so that people could be in the temple for the re-dedication. I felt so lucky to spend so much time in each room, admiring the beautiful artwork, architecture, and the incredible chandeliers. Beware of the chandeliers! Some of them hang pretty low, and when you're unfolding chairs you are bound to get a little preoccupied and might end up smacking your head on a big crystal. Haha oops. But other than a small headache, it was great.

The next day we were invited to participate in the Youth Cultural Temple Celebration! It's a huge production where youth from all over the greater Ogden area sing and dance and put on this big show about the history of Ogden and the importance and blessings of having a temple. They did such a good job! There was a part where they sang about missionary work, and a bunch of the missionaries here in the Ogden mission walked down the aisles and we waved and smiled and sang with them. We sang the song "Called to Serve". I got emotional as I listened to the lyrics:

Called to serve Him, heav'nly King of glory,
Chosen e'er to witness for his name,
Far and wide we tell the Father's story,
Far and wide his love proclaim.
Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;
Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;
Forward, pressing forward, as a triumph song we sing.
God our strength will be; press forward ever,
Called to serve our King.

the Temple celebration!

Finally, Sunday came! The day that we had been working and waiting for ever since spring, when we found out that the temple would be completed by September. On Sunday morning, the beautiful Ogden temple became a house of the Lord. President Thomas S. Monson told us to love, appreciate, and attend the temple. I feel so incredibly lucky to have been so involved with literally everything leading up to the re-dedication of the temple, just short of getting in there and helping with the reconstruction! My testimony of temples and the wonderful gift that they are has grown so much. I am so grateful for the work that is done in these holy places around the world.

German chocolate cake!

Yes, I would say that this last week was a great way to end my golden year. For my birthday, our senior couple made us lunch and a delicious German Chocolate cake! It was soooo good :)

I am so grateful to be serving the Lord. Every day I feel His love, and I am learning and growing in so many ways. I am so grateful for all of your love and support!

I love you all, and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman

Getting my hair done by my mini-me