In my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), we have sacred ordinances that we do in temples. When a young man or woman reaches the age of 12, they have the opportunity (if they live worthily), to attend the temple and do an ordinance that we call, Baptisms for the Dead. This ordinance gives people who have died the opportunity to be baptized and receive the gospel on the other side. This is the only ordinance in the temple that the youth can participate in. Once they are older (usually after the age of 18), they are able to go through the temple for other ordinances.
My son turned 12 in January and received the Aaronic Priesthood in February. This gave him the opportunity to go on his first temple trip with the Young Men in March. With JJ being on the Autism Spectrum, we are always concerned with his ability to understand and to mentally be prepared for things. I am probably too protective of him, but I was really nervous about him receiving the priesthood. So far though, it has been a good experience for him. He is passing the sacrament at church and the other boys are helping him (especially a young man named Aaron Mellor – who we are so grateful for). JJ is high function, but communication is an issue a lot and sometimes, I just wish I could see inside his head so I could understand where he is coming from. We didn’t talk much about the temple trip, but from what he said, I felt like it was a good experience for him and that he felt the spirit. It can be overwhelming, I remember it was for me, my first time. But I hope he will remember it and treasure these experiences.
Here’s my Layout:
I used my Scripture HeroeZ and a template from Simple Scrapper
