Girls trip to the Sapporo Temple

Josh and I decided awhile ago that we wanted to make a first special temple trip with our kids when they turned 12 to do baptisms for the dead.  We hoped that we would be starting a tradition of temple worship and love for the work.  Bear turned 12 in March and we planned a trip to the Sapporo temple.  This temple will always be special to us because we were able to see the open house when we first arrived in Japan.  In preparation of this trip, Bear and I have been researching our family lines to find people to be baptized.  We found a line, my maternal grandfather's mother's line, that is virtually untouched.  We have found over 300 people that we can do temple work for.  I have been sending some of the work to my mother and brother but saving the baptisms for Bear and me.   

Beginning of our journey in Hachinohe

We took the shinkansen from Hachinohe to Hakodate and the local express train to Sapporo.  This is not the only way to get there and not the most inexpensive, but I let Bear offer her opinions and made the best choice for us in the time frames we had.  We chose to stay at the temple lodging, a building right next to the temple.  It was very inexpensive, only 1,500en per person.  We had a room with five bunk beds and one bathroom.  We were issued a locker, a set of bed sheets, and towels.  Three other ladies were in the room with us and they were very kind.  Bear kept saying, "Japanese people are so kind and Mormon Japanese people are even more kind!"  I just wish I was able to speak better with them.  Sometimes I feel so stymied by the language barrier.

Our room at the temple lodging

The view from our lodging window

In the morning we ate Family Mart food in the cafeteria along with tons of other visitors.  I wondered where they all traveled from and likely, some traveled father than we did because of the Tokyo Temple closure.  We had our baptism appointment at 8:15.  Bear was very nervous, just because of the newness of the experience.  Of course they were so kind to us and helped us through.  The ordinance worker did have trouble with our dutch family names, a very different sound than the Japanese language.  We were able to each baptize and confirm 15 people and Bear said that she wondered if the people would be there in spirit and if they would be so happy to be able to accept the gospel.  There is something so faith building about experiencing the temple for the first time.  I felt that Bear's spirit was increasing my own testimony.  I was being taught by my beautiful child.