Chapter 4: Plane Ride Home/My Endowments

December 22nd 2010 we set off (SO early in the morning..ugh) to the airport to catch our flight to the mainland. Poor Rodney was so nervous throughout the entire 5 1/2 hour flight over the Pacific and I would frequently reassure him that everything was going to be fine and that my family already loved him. I know this was little help because it's hard to fathom that someone could love you if they've only had minimal communication with you, and when I say minimal I mean minimal. Several short Skype sessions and awkward phone conversations (haha), and that is literally it. That is an extremely difficult way to try and get to know the family you're about to marry into. I, however, didn't have the opportunity to Skype or have a conversation with my soon-to-be-in-laws. SO, you can imagine how nervous I was to meet his family as well.


The plane wasn't matching the speed of my heart and the anxiety, that grew with every heartbeat, of just needing to be in my Mom and Dad's arms again. I needed Rodney to see them and the genuine love they have for him and the excitement they had so he would feel the comfort and reassurance that would make his nervous heart slow. I could tell he was as anxious as I was; but for different reasons.

Imagine the first time you met the parents or any family of someone you dated or had a crush on. Now imagine that you were already engaged to the person and still hadn't met, nor hardly even talked to, their parents in person. Oh, and remember the wedding is 6 days away. Kind of makes your stomach lurch a little doesn't it? I tried to sympathize, although I had already met his parents and it wasn't near as nerve racking as I thought it would be. Then I figured that I only had to meet his parents and his oldest niece...He had to meet just about everyone in my family. Poor guy. Not that my family is scary, but sometimes they can be a little overwhelming. Especially because they want to know every detail to the smallest thing about him and only have a few short moments during their introduction to do so. Friendly interrogation to them was scary as hell to him. :]

It took a lot of convincing in the weeks leading up to our flight home to get Rodney to understand that even though my family did not know him as they got to know the other men and women who had married into the family, they still loved him. Perhaps it is difficult for some to understand how this is possible, but with the trust and support of my family, the comforting Spirit of the Lord, and some deep breaths, it is possible to love someone you don't even hardly know.

My family loves Rodney because he loves me, respects me, and treats me with the gentle care that every woman needs.

He takes care of me; they love him. He takes me to the temple; they love him. He makes me laugh until I pee myself; they think I'm kinda gross, but they LOVE him. :]

We are both almost equally far from where we grew up and where we have always called home, but I have truly been able to begin to grasp the idea that we can make anywhere we are in the world feel a little more like home. Living in an apartment, there isn't much remodeling or rearranging we can do to make it physically similar to our homes, but there are other things we can do.

We were both immensely blessed to be born into families and homes with wonderful values, traditions, laughter and love. We have been raised in environments where family is as important as breathing or eating. The friendships that are formed between siblings, cousins and other family is something that can be cherished for, literally, eternity. That is how we can transform our house, wherever it may be, into a home. By bringing that key idea of family being among the most important things of this life into our home. Of course there are other attributes that make a house a home, but I truly believe that friendships formed within the family, (not just having a sister, but having a sister that you are so close to and miss for even a moment they're not with you) are the strongest friendships over time.

The day after we arrived in Spokane, was the day that I went through the temple for my own endowments. The morning of that wonderful day my Mom, Aunt and Grandmother took me into a room and explained a few of the things that would take place when I went into the temple. I was so nervous. Not that it would be scary, but that I wouldn't understand and would feel overwhelmed with everything to take in. That feeling wore off quicker than I thought it would, and I was able to enjoy the temple with my family and people from my home ward to support me during this day.

The best part, however, was being able to see my best friend and the man I would soon marry in that same temple a few days from then smiling over and me and glancing
my way. At the end of the temple session there were so many smiles and happy tears that I will never forget. That feeling was an absolutely incredible one. To be in the Temple of the Lord with friends, family, and the man I would stand by for the rest of eternity; smiling all the way.