Cora's First Temple Trip

Cora was super excited and a bit nervous for her first temple trip. We decided to go with another family in our ward so she'd have a friend to go with and we did it before the ward trip so she wasn't caught off guard and would know what to do.

It all went well until I showed her where the dressing rooms and lockers were and told her to pick a locker and get dressed in the jumpsuit. She put the brakes on big time saying she didn't want to do it. I put our stuff down and walked out to the baptismal area so Lance could give her a pep talk but that didn't work either. I told her she didn't have to do anything and we could just sit, so that's exactly what we did. She didn't want to be a witness or do any confirmations at all, she wanted no part of it. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed but the important thing is that Cora holds a temple recommend. She can go and sit any time she needs to.

Two days later when our ward temple day rolled around Cora just outright refused to go. Knowing her like I do, if I don't push her outside her comfort zone especially in positive and uplifting situations, she will never try new things. She was crying and screaming that she didn't want to go but I made her go anyway and it was a positive experience. I think it made her feel better knowing she didn't have to do anything but sit there and feel the spirit. There were no expectations that she was to do baptisms, be a witness, or do confirmations.

She really loved learning about the prayer roll and wrote down Grandpa Goofy's name since he had surgery, and Bonnie and Kempton's names. She still wanted to think of people that needed extra prayers so she wrote down a teacher at her school because she was pregnant.

I'm proud of her for doing something hard! I learned that even though she's growing and maturing, I still need to be flexible and adapt to her comfort level and meet her where she is. Big overwhelming teaching moments will only scare and intimidate her, but it's also appropriate for me to push her when needed, being by her side for extra support. My goal is to have her do baptisms at least once before the end of the year. I think I'll have to call the temple and do a special session with just the four of us, similar to keeping numbers very minimal at her own baptism. That way it isn't so overwhelming and when she does decide to participate, there won't be 30 different pairs of eyes on her.