moments that matter most.

"If life and its rushed pace and many stresses have made it difficult for you to feel like rejoicing, then perhaps now is a good time to refocus on what matters most." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

past due.

President Thomas S. Monson

   I've been meaning to record something for a long time but I've never seemed to find the time. Well, if there's one thing I've learned about time it's that you will never just find time laying around waiting to be picked up: you have to MAKE time. So, that's what I'm doing.
   On May 1st of this year, the Atlanta Georgia Temple was rededicated after being closed for renovation. The Saturday before the Youth Cultural Celebration was held at the Atlanta Civic Center and it was AMAZING. I had volunteered to help in the holding area so I was only able to watch the performances from the televisions they had placed along the wall, but it was still cool. It was amazing to watch how it all came together when nobody was sure we would be able to pull it off even after all the effort that was put into practices. That night was a really cool experience just to be in the same room as the Prophet since after all he was HERE in Atlanta.
   But the most amazing part of the whole weekend was the following Sunday. We had obtained tickets for the dedication and were all ready. We arrived at the Temple a little later than we had originally intended but there were two lines so we just joined the shorter one. After we had gotten our shoe covers put on and were led into the Temple, we were seated in the lobby right as you enter the Temple doors. We didn't really think our seats were that great because we figured all the other rooms were filled, but for some reason they filled the lobby first. We sat behind some friends who then told us that the office door that we were sitting right next to was the door that the Prophet was going to come out of when he started making his way through the Temple. That was just about the best news I'd ever heard! So when he walked through that door, my brother and I stuck out our hands to shake his, and let me tell you, Tommy Monson has the softest hands I've ever shaken. Then, after the dedication, he came back the same way and my sister was able to shake President Monson's hand and also Elder Ballard's. President Monson stopped for a while before going back into the offices and was wiggling his ears and telling stories, and it was almost unreal. He was always smiling and he even gave a high five to a man behind us. (He also said to one of our other redhead friends that he likes redheads because they are hardworkers and such. Ha!)  Sometimes we forget that these men of God are simple people like ourselves. I don't know how we were blessed enough to get to the Temple at the time we did so that we could be seated where we were but we sure were blessed. And that's something that I'm very unlikely to ever forget.