Saturday night I went with my mom and cousin David to the Temple Cultural Celebration. There were so many people there and they were all talking so loud until President Monson drove up. You could have heard a pin drop if it hadn't have been for all the camera shutters going off. He got out of his little golf cart and immediately started talking to the little children sitting in front of him. He wiggled his ears and told a hilarious story about his Mexican friend. The two of them had gotten in trouble and had to write lines in the classroom after school. They heard a car honk and Juan (or whatever his name was) told the teacher that he had to leave because his dad was there to pick him up. President Monson said " I knew his dad didn't have a car so don't tell me about dumb Mexicans. They're smart!" We all laughed but looked around to see if there were any Mexicans that had been offended, but then what could you say? He was the prophet...
The TCC was amazing all the kids did such a great job! I think Pima's dances were my favorite. They did the cotton stomp. My brother, Evan,
and sister, Olivia were in the show and they did such a good job! So many clever people put alot of time into developing that show and it came out incredible. The finale was so powerful. All the kids were waving colorful flags and singing Come, Come Ye Saints. 
At the end of the song they all put on white capes (that the RS sisters had made. They were "wrapped in Relief Society love" as my Grandma Katy put it)and pulled streamers that were attached to a tower with the angel Moroni on it.
That picture along of all those youth standing there so excited about the temple being built here was enough to bring tears to my eyes (I'm not going to lie, it happened more than once!) After is was over President Monson started shaking hands and it was amazing. All of the youth collectively started moving towards him. Not in a chaotic way at all, they just wanted to be as close to the prophet as they could get.
Someone started singing "We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet" and the entire stadium started to sing. After the song was over a man yelled "Hurrah for Israel!" and all the boys on the field answered him "Hurrah for Israel!", "Hurrah for Israel!", "Hurrah for Israel!" I have never seen that many people be that quiet as we all just watched President Monson. That was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. I think that must have been a little bit like what the Nephites felt in 3rd Nephi. We were only about 20 feet away from a prophet of God and it was such a great feeling. None of us wanted him to leave. The next morning we got ready early and took Jorgan to Pork and Rochelle's (Thanks for watching her!) and headed to the temple for the dedication. All of my Dad's brothers and sisters were there except one and alot of my cousins were there as well. My mom and dad, and aunts and uncles got to go in the Celestial Room with my grandparents and the rest of us went to another room in the temple to watch the dedication. It was wonderful to be there with Collin, and my brothers and Olivia, my parents, and my cousins. There was such a spirit in the temple. Grandma and Grandpa Crockett both talked in the 9AM session and they both did such a good job. I would have been so nervous to speak in front of the Prophet, let alone all the people that were watching the dedication. Grandma talked about how she was sure that there were people who had already died that were probably at the dedication and were rejoicing that there is a temple here and I believe it. You could feel it there. Grandpa talked about becoming more Christlike through temple work. I am so grateful for these two amazing examples in my life. They have always answered the call to serve no matter what the sacrifice to them and it is a wonderful legacy for their posterity to follow. President Monson spoke about President Kimball and his love for The Gila Valley. That he is sure he is rejoicing to know that there finally is a temple in his beloved hometown. I'm sure President Kimball and many others are rejoicing right alongside all of us here because we have waited for a temple for so long and it finally happened! It seems unreal still.
I am so excited to be able to drive 20 minutes from my home and attend a temple of the Lord whenever I can. I need to make a commitment to try and attend more than I have in the past and I don't have the excuse of a 3 hour drive anymore.
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