Fun with the Fam

We had a wonderfully fun visit from Bee's fam. recently. We will post more pics later, but just want to throw this one up there to let you know...more is on the way so check back soon.

The Festival of Lights at the Mormon Temple

It's been said that there are 3 "must see" events in the D.C. area during December. "The Festival of Lights at the Mormon Temple" is one of them.

We headed north to see what the temple had to offer and enjoyed a performance by the Virginia Bronze Bell Choir, dozens of nativity scenes from various countries, and, of course, the lights...

They also have a live Nativity performance outside the visitors center. We caught the tail end of one the night we visited, but lucky for us, they left the camel behind for everyone to pet and feed. However, it had parked in the fire lane and was quickly ushered out.



While enjoying the Visitor's Center, we were approached by a very nice sister missionary who told us about the Book of Mormon. While she was talking, Bee kept wondering to herself, "why doesn't she know we're members of the church?" When the missionary finished, she asked if we had ever had a chance to read the Book of Mormon and J told her he had read it many times. Then she asked if we were members of the church. We told her we were and then she said we "looked too stylish" to be members.

Youth Temple Trip

So last weekend, we took our youth to the Washington D.C. temple...visitor center. We reserved a theater to watch the Joseph Smith video and arranged for the missionaries to provide a quick devotional. One of the sisters was Sister Snelson, from Springville, UT. She was all excited to ask me if I knew of any Hoffmanns in Springville, but when I heard her name (and verified it with the name tag...good thing they wear those things in public), the conversation quickly turned to the Snelson mystery. Apparently her and Brooke had always been asked if they knew each other's families, but they had never met. Anyway, the visitor's center trip was great.

We followed it up with some chili cheese dogs and then made our way back home.

It was a great visit and well worth the 4 hour (on a good day - which this was) round trip.

One of our YW brought a friend who was so amazed when she saw the outside of the temple. She kept saying, "wow, wow, wow." And her friend (the one who invited her) kept saying, "you're giving me the chills." I got the chills too. She was expressing how I feel every time I see a temple. But it's interesting how we tend to take some things that really are amazing for granted. I want to be a person who will always say "wow" when I see the temple.

D.C. Temple

The closest temple to us is in Washington D.C. It is a solid 2 hours away.

D.C. Temple

The temple was closed when we got here, so we headed up as soon as it reopened. We hitched a ride with a "local" who knew how to navigate the crazy DC beltway. He was a strange man, but we were very grateful for his willingness to let us tag along with him.

The DC temple is a solid 2 hours away (in good traffic, which is as rare as the Liger) so usually, a good portion of the day is dedicated to going to the temple.

It was such a wonderful experience to attend this pioneer of temples. It is really a breathtaking temple.