The week of January 6th was the start of the wildfires in LA, which were devastating. We had a temple trip scheduled for the youth on Saturday the 11th. Many parents were concerned about driving to the temple that weekend, so the youth trip was cancelled. However, as a family we still felt like we needed to go. The temple was still open and we weren't discouraged from coming, so we made the drive over. We did drive through some areas that were getting evacuation warnings, so that was a little scary. When we got closer to the temple, we started seeing all the exits closed. The one we usually get off on to get to the temple was also closed, so we weren't sure if we would make it. However, we did get onto another freeway and came in a different route. It was cool to see us coming directly to the front of the temple. The air quality wasn't too bad, but we could see ash on the temple grounds.
Shortly after arriving at the temple, we realized why we felt like we needed to be there that morning. A lady had been waiting for over 2 hours for someone to come in and help her do some family names. She had 10 names that seemed to be really special to her. The spirit was really strong as we watched Owen baptize her, with tears streaming down her face. Alex noticed that some of her family names were from Ecuador, so that was a bonus connection. Owen baptized Weston and Savannah as well, doing a total of 44 names. One other touching thing we learned from that weekend was that only 1 other group kept their temple baptismal appointment that day. It was the youth of the Pacific Palisades Ward! They had just lost 22 homes in their ward from the fire earlier in the week, but they still came to the temple that Saturday afternoon. That's amazing!
Our youth were able to re-schedule their temple trip to a couple weeks later, so Savannah was able to go again. (Owen and Weston were sick that weekend.)
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