Cake, Temples and mists of darkness

Wow, I can't believe it has been three days since I have written. I will give a brief recap as to what I have been doing during that time, so you can see why I have slacked. :) Friday I wasn't feeling really well-my body has been fighting off some kind of illness that has been trying to attack me for a few weeks now-so I came home after work and slept and relaxed for a few hours while I did laundry then I went to a 'Cake' party at my friend's house. It was her birthday the day before and she had a party and everyone could bring a cake to share. My roomate brought one from our apartment.
It was fun-we ate cake and talked with friends, met some new people, had some good laughs. I went home a little early as I was getting up early in the morning to go to the temple with my friend Kay Dee. (I finally found someone who loves to go in the wee small hours of the morning to the temple. :) Hooray!!)

The Boise Temple is a beautiful temple-as our all of the temples-in their unique-ness in architecture. It reminds me of the Las Vegas Temple-even though exteriors are in contrast-the basic structure shape reminds me of Las Vegas. (Does anybody else see it?) I remember when I was in primary, they were making plans for the building of the Las Vegas Temple (where we lived at the time) and had a donation can where we could donate money to help build the temple. I can remember bringing my money from home to primary that Sunday and sitting in my chair eager with anticipation to go and put it in the donation can. They had a metal soup can that they had wrapped paper around and put a picture of the temple on the front. They had it sitting on the podium in the front of the room. I can vividly remember making that walk up to the front of the room and putting my money in (it was only a hand full of change) and walking back to my seat. I can remember making that walk, and I remember how good I felt as I made the walk back to my seat. I can't believe I can remember that....my memories of my youth are a little ketchy, so I am glad I was able to remember it.

When we were on our way to the temple yesterday morning, there was a thick blanket of fog across the valley limiting our vision to what we could see ahead of us. Where buildings and stoplights we could see easily in the distance, we could not see until we were right on top of them almost. I commented to Kay Dee, in jest, that it was like the mist of darkness in the writtne account of Lehi's dream.

Of all of the different groups Lehi speaks of in this vision, everyone of them had to get through the mist of darkness to get to the rod. 1 Nephi 8:23, "...there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost. v24 "... beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree." I had been thinking about this recently and realized I had always understood it to be that only those who fell away had to travel through the mist of darkness, as they fell away from the path, when in reality, everyone had to travel through it just as we did on our way to the temple. Just as we do in everyday life, we have to wade our way through the mist of darkness-sometimes in the very thick of it. I understand with greater intensity than before the need for us to CLING to the rod like never before, as it will be what keeps us on the path back to our Heavenly Father, to partake of that fruit that "is most precious and most desireable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my brethren."