PayDAys come in so MANY forms, BuT today's PayDAy was the BEST!!!

I just had what I call a PAY DAY!!  I did not get any money, I did not even get anything of monetary value.  However it was a LARGE PAYDAY!!  This special day happened December 10, 2011.  As you know Kelsey, my only daughter is preparing for a mission. For those who may not know, when missionaries get their mission call they are then able to go through the Temple.  Maybe now you can guess what happened on December 10th.  Yes, you are right, Kelsey went through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. 

This is our Temple (not really, but we like to call it ours), and it is special to our whole family.  We LOVE Temples and here are some recent Temple opportunities:

• First of all this is the Temple Tyler and Amanda were married in, almost one year ago.
• I had the opportunity to help write a third verse to the song "I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE", for our Cobble Creek Stake which the Primary children love.  
• There is a Sacred Temple, That I can call my own. A Beacon on a hillside, And its nearby my home.  The GREATEST BLESSINGS CAN BE MINE, as I LEARN to LIVE the GOSPEL. We'll sing and shout in GRATITUDE, The OQUIRRH MOUNTAIN TEMPLE.   
• This Temple is only 5 miles away from our house and it is the one that we as a family visit the most, in fact as I used to run one of my longer runs was to the Temple and back, and I loved it. 
• Braydon has set a goal to go to the Temple weekly, he has done this for nearly 2 years and this is the Temple he most often visits. 
• Kelsey also has some great Temple traditions that she has established.  One is when conference week  rolls around you will often find Kelsey each day at the Temple so she can be better prepared for the message on Saturday and Sunday. 
• Devyn also goes to the Temple often, he likes to visit once a month.  Devyn has been the one in our family that has visited the most Temples in Utah.  He has been to 9 of the 13, soon to be 15 Temples.  Some of those he went with groups and some just he and his mom went to visit.
•  Quinten is following the examples of his older siblings and he is going to the Temple once a month.  In fact that was his gift to his Savior in 2011, that from his birthday on he would go to the Temple once a month and he has already completed his goal for the year. 

So yes Temples are of great importance to the Gish family.

Anyway, I guess I did get sidetracked on the Temple theme because I love them so much.  Now back to my PAYDAY.  First of all scheduling for anything can be difficult.  It was not different here.  We wanted our whole family there, but since Tyler and Amanda live in Logan and finals were looming and Amanda is teaching, it was difficult to match schedules.  We decided we would just schedule the earliest appointment we could and have Kelsey her grandma Tirrell, Joe and I go through with her.  It would be a small group, but she wanted to go, so she could keep going.  So, that being said, the Tuesday before we went we tried to schedule an appointment.  Kelsey wanted as soon as she possibly could, however with her work, and when the Temple could schedule a time it ended up being Saturday evening.  That is a busy night typically being date night, but this is the time that worked best overall.  Well we decided being a Saturday night maybe aunts and uncles could come.  I could not believe the desire of my brothers and their wives and Joe's brother Merle and his wife.  They all were so excited and wanted to be there.  Not all could make it for various reasons.  I thought it was an amazing turn out for last minute.  Kesley had many there that she loved and she was ready.  That is one thing that a Temple worker that was with her and helping her most of the time said to me.  She is really ready for this.  Yes, Kelsey was prepared.  Because of this the spirit was felt very strong, not only for Kelsey but I am sure for all that knew here and were there with her.  Thank you Kelsey for your LOVE of the gospel.  I sure do LOVE being a MoM, have I ever said that?  It is also pretty sweet being a wife!  So, there were sweet experiences at the Temple, some that will be in my heart forever.  So, no money can give me what Saturday, December 10th gave me. 

We'll SING and SHOUT in GRATITUDE The OQUIRRH MOUNTAIN TEMPLE!!!