ETERNAL FAMILIES

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to help at the Johannesburg Temple.  There were 9 families that had come from the Congo and Kenya to be sealed together.  There were 16 children, the oldest one was 11 years old. 

The other Sister Peterson (Marva)
 

There is a separate building next to the temple called the "Gatehouse" where the children are tended while their parents are in the temple receiving their endowments.  The children aren't quite sure what to expect and they are scared.  Their parents drop them off to a bunch of strangers and then are gone for 5 to 7 hours all together.

 

Walt came over for the first little while to help and take some of these pictures.  He was able to talk to some of the parents and children (in French) and explain what was going to be happening that afternoon.

 It was our job to hold them, love them, rock them to sleep and try to make it a good experience for them. Some of the youngest ones were happy and content and some of them were scared and cried a lot, no matter what we did.



Sister Ellis even tried African style with this one.

This was one of her few happy moments in 6 hours

When it was time, we dressed them in white clothing and took them to the temple to join their parents to be sealed as families.

This is little Jared.  I held him for two hours.  He just sat on my lap and he slept for about an hour and a half.  He was so cute and cuddly.

This is Sister Cook, the Area President's wife.  She and Sister Ellis stayed there the whole time with the kids.  They were really great with them.

This is Sister Ellis, the wife of the Second Counselor in the Area Presidency.