Temple worthy priesthood holder

A couple of special things happened since Nathan turned 12 years old.  He received the Aaronic Priesthood, given through a blessing from Alex and our bishop (click on the link for some more information about the priesthood).  He is now a deacon in our church and can do things such as pass the sacrament.  Nathan was able to do that for the first time this past Sunday.  It was a special thing for me to witness Nathan having the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon him by Alex.  I am thankful that Alex is a worthy priesthood holder.  And I am thankful that Nathan is worthy and willing to have the priesthood now.  I am excited to see him learn and grow in service to others.  

Another opportunity that comes with turning 12 is the ability to enter the temple and perform baptisms for the dead by proxy.  Alex and I were able to go with Nathan on his first temple trip with the youth this past weekend.  Nathan was able to do some family names, most of them from my dad's line.  He did one name of a great great great great grandfather from Alex's line.  Alex was able to perform the baptisms, and again it was a special thing to witness.  I hope that those that Nathan did baptisms for will accept those ordinances.  

Nathan is no stranger to the temple.  Although he had never entered the temple until now, he has visited the grounds of several temples.  We took him with us many times while Alex and I took turns doing temple work.  I couldn't find a picture from Houston, but he went with us there quite a few times.  The earliest picture I could find was from Sydney, Australia in 2005.  Look how much he has grown since then! 

Here are some other temple visits that I could find pictures of.  We also made several trips to Oklahoma City and to the Los Angeles Temple, since those have been the temples near where we lived.

I hope that Nathan and all of our kids develop a strong love for and desire to go to the temple often.  It's a very special place!