In December, Tyler organized a temple trip for he and his friends. It was a wonderful experience for everyone. They started preparing by reading the Book of Mormon. They started on a Sunday evening and read 1 Nephi. Monday morning they started reading at 8 am. It was a delight to have these youth in our home. Ashley invited a friend and she and Kaylynn participated in reading also. They listened to several parts and played it at high speed, following along as it read. Different kids came and left throughout the day and by that night they were at Moroni. The spirit was very present as the youth took turns reading. They marked their scriptures and each had a favorite part that they wanted to read, instead of listen too. It was good for me to listen to them as the day went on. It made me very grateful for Tyler's friends and their excitement, laughter and determination to reach their goal.
The next morning 7 boys and 6 girls meet at our house at 4:45 am to start the two day temple trip. The weather was horrible, although the youth had fasted that they would be able to go the previous Sunday. Allen and Ryan's mom drove the youth. They started at the Logan temple and headed south. The canyon was horrible driving and Allen instructed all the youth not to tell their parents how bad it really was!
After they left Logan Temple, the kids wanted to finish reading the Book of Mormon. Each car read as they drove to Brigham City. After completing the baptisms, they stood in the underground parking garage, standing in a circle, and finished the last chapter together. Allen said he was about in tears as he listened to them. He was very glad to be a part of the experience.
Brigham City Temple
(left-right)Robin Christensen, Ryan Sorensen, Alisa Hinkson, Myra Williams, Darci Olsen, Connor Finlinson, Stewart Weight, Trent Grunig, Joel Gilbert, Kam Krafts, Kaylee Knudsen, Whitley Ward, Tyler Dawes
Wednesday morning the youth meet at the Payson temple. While they were doing baptisms, Allen went to the store and bought a rose for each of the girls. When they came out, the boys presented a rose to each of the girls. They loved them!
Ryan Sorensen, Joel Gilbert, Connor Finlinson, Tyler, Trent Grunig, Stewart Weight, Kam Krafts,
Alisa Hinkson, Darci Olsen, Robin Christensen, Myra Williams, Whitley Ward, Kaylee Knudsen
They visited 11 temples in all, doing temple work in 9 of them. They visited the Provo City Temple, Provo temple and Jordan River, but weren't able to do work. They were running out of time. The boys stayed at Grandpa Dawes' house and the girls stayed with Ryan's mom at a friends home. The group had bought tickets for the Star Wars movie in SLC. The tickets were for 4:30. When they arrived at the SLC temple, Tyler was designated to go in and see if they would be done by 3. Alisa spoke up and said it doesn't matter, because they were there to do temple work and it would be okay if they missed the movie. Everyone agreed! Tyler returned and said they would work fast and get done. They all went in and were back outside by 3:05! When we put the Lord first, all things work out. The kids stayed in SLC for the movie, dinner, and see the lights. They rode the trax trian to Sandy and Allen and Sister Sorensen meet them to take them to the house for the night.
Tyler was on cloud nine for several days. It was an amazing experience for them and they still talk about it today. Again, Tyler has fabulous friends and it is wonderful to have them in our home.
