Beautiful day in the Temple--

I decided to go to the temple this morning and do an endowment. I was very pleased and felt such a peace for having been. I stayed a while and lingered to pray and can still feel the wonder of the temple with me. Mt. Timpanogos Temple has such a special feeling to me than some of the others. Nauvoo Temple is one that is small but has a similar feel of serenity in the Celestial Room. All of them have it, I just feel it more in some than others that I am not familiar with and the amount of time I spend there after a session. Temples are not where one is rushed. I like to stay, ponder and meditate while I am there and see the beauty of the decor. It was heavenly.

I saw a woman that resembled my mother so much (who was a worker in the temple), even down to her accent, height and hair color. I was so taken by it my eyes teared and I said a prayer of thanksgiving for having it like a gift given to me. If my mother was a temple worker, she would have looked just like this woman. She gave me such a nice welcome. I asked here in Spanish where she was from, and she said she was born in California to parents who were from Mexico. She said her mother was from Chihuahua, and her father from Jalisco.

She asked me where I was born and I told her, San Antonio, Texas. By then we were talking totally in Spanish quite fluently. She said, "Ana de San Antonio, . . . con canchas". I had never heard that expression before. She said it meant "through and through." She may have said something in between my name and S.A., but I don't know. She had an unusual surname, that looked like Berteaux. Her first name was Clemencia. It reminded me that I have a second-great grandfather, Clemente Ulloa. The word "Clemente" I think means merciful, like the word clemency means--lenient or merciful.

It was a great day and I wanted to spend that time pondering, praying and contemplating. Tomorrow is my second Birth-day. I turn forty on Easter Sunday this year. It marks the fortieth anniversary of my baptism and membership in the Church. And I feel forty, and fit!

I just want to mention to everyone to be sure and read this month's Ensign. It is lovely and focused on the Savior. There is also a Memoriam about President Hinckley. I especially enjoyed his last testimony of Christ in the message from the First Presidency was his. The layout, artwork and overall appearance, with the Savior's face on the cover, but no writing on it, and the parchment over the front and back covers. I love the Easter Lily on the back too. That was a bonus! I could almost smell the fragrance of the flower.

I enjoyed the testimonies of the latter-day prophets too. Elder Holland's talk was especially meaningful, with the quotes by Orson F. Whitney. I read a portion of that for my visiting teaching message, since there was no formal message and read the suggestions to read the Ensign and choose an article to share with my visiting teaching sisters. I did and was pleased with each message.

I wish I knew how to download pictures to my files so I could have one of the temple. I have a picture of the temple in my room, so I guess I will have to take my own and download. Oh, well. I need to figure that one out and used them like Hank does for his blog. Let me know Hank, how you do that and have in your files so many varied subjects to show.