The best 5 hours of my week.

I've been in Charlottie for almost a week now and I can’t even begin to describe how much I love it here. It’s  still surprising when I walk outside each morning the air smells like rain, my freshly done hair loses everything that I've just done, and the fact that everything is green.

After all of our unpacking adventures and completed, we decided to take a (quick) trip to the Columbia South Carolina Temple. Although the trip is 90 minutes each way, I was so impressed with the trees that seemed to be never ending. I’m used to being able to see a temple from almost anywhere on the freeway in Utah, and looked as we took exit 9A in Columbia, but couldn't see anything. It wasn't until we took a left and drove down a long path, that the little temple came into view. 

Never in my life have I been so excited to attend a session. Never in my life have I been so amazed at the peace that could be felt from the outside world, because this is the first time that I've been able to see a stark difference. I was so blessed to be able to attend the temple each week while we lived in Rexburg, and only now can I see how unique of a blessing that was.

The session was small, although probably larger than usual due to the fact that a young girl was preparing to go on a mission. It will sure be interesting to find out how many people usually attend the 2:30 session on a Saturday afternoon.

Once our session was over and we were back in the car, Samuel looked up “Columbia SC Best BBQ” on Google which lead us to ‘The Little Pigs BBQ’ on Alpine Road. Let’s just say that we got the full experience: a buffet including BBQ, ribs, brisket, pork chops, chicken wings, fish, rice, has, collards, beans, tomato pie, macaroni and cheese, Coleslaw, potato salad and we can’t forget about the big giant plate of piggy left over’s which included the snout (barf).

Church today was amazing. The testimonies born brought tears to my eyes and the spirit was so strong. It's amazing the difference that I see in the people here. They know the church is true. They have experiences each and every day that build their testimonies and they are willing to share. From the little red headed boy that got up and said that he was grateful that Heavenly Father created the Earth "because it is fun" to the 56 year old man from "the hood" (...his own words) who had joined the church 20 years ago and was coming back for the first time because he was struggling and although he knew that Satan was going to make things hard for him the minute he walked out the door, he felt peace during those 3 hours and he knew that the Lord would bless him. From the Young Women who was a young convert because of girls camp and talked about how she was grateful for the opportunity to have learned the gospel early in her life to the man who converted from Hinduism whose life had been made simpler because he only had to pray to one God. 

There is nothing wrong with being a Utah Mormon and I take pride in the fact that I have been born and raised in the gospel because I know that Heavenly Father has still found ways to allow me the experiences that I have needed to have to grow and learn. As I sat in sacrament meeting today, I was overwhelmed by the power and strength from those around me. I know that while I may have something to teach someone while I'm here, I'm going to be learning a lot more from the people around me. I cannot wait for what is to come.