Madrid Temple Trip

This weekend I had the chance to go to the Madrid temple with my ward and stake in Lisbon. We left at about 10 on Friday night on a bus and drove all night, getting there early in the morning on Saturday. We spend a few hours in the temple and head straight back to Lisbon at about 2 in the afternoon on Saturday. All in all, I was in the bus for about 18 hours and was in the temple for 6. Although it was tiring and I do not want to get in another bus for a while, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and am very glad that I went. It was really neat for me to go to the temple where my Dad served his mission, and to know that my father played a role in the establishment of Zion in that area and in turn the construction of the Lord's house. The temple itself was beautiful, everything about it was amazing. As soon as we got there in the morning I did a session, and after the session I helped out doing some baptizing for some of the members. I had a really great experience baptizing a recent convert there. When I was baptizing him I realized that the names of the people I was baptizing him for were the same as his last name. I felt the spirit really strongly as I was performing the baptisms. Afterwards I asked him who those people were, and he said that they were some of his close family members such as his Dad and sister. I felt really strongly that those people had been hearing the gospel on the other side of the veil and were waiting for their family member to perform the ordinance of baptism for them here on earth. My testimony of baptisms for the dead was really strengthened through this experience. My testimony was also strengthened that my good friend Jared Johansen, who passed away this past week, is involved in this work on the other side of the veil. I'm grateful to know of the plan of salvation and know that the Lord has a plan and a purpose for us in this life and the next. I had a great experience at the Madrid temple. It made me realize truly how lucky I am to have a temple so close to where I live, I will never take it for granted. At the same time though, it was a great experience to be able to travel with the saints in my ward and do temple work together and feel of the spirit. I'm very grateful for the chance I had to go to the temple, I have missed being able to go frequently over the past few months. Hopefully someday I can come back to Portugal and go to the temple that they will be building there in the coming years.