Brennan is old enough now to go to the temple and do proxy baptisms for the dead. He's going today for the first time with the ward young men. We're all excited about it - probably me more than him. Understandably he's a little nervous.
When he goes today, he'll take twenty-two little blue cards, on which are printed the names of grandfathers, uncles and cousins. The Ackley family in particular will have three generations of men receiving their baptisms. I've come to love this family as I've researched their lives and tried to imagine what earth life must have been like for them. Henry and Martha Ackley died within two years of each other while in their thirties, leaving four young children to be raised by friends and relatives. Their little family had such a short time to be together here on earth, and to think that today, we are helping to facilitate their being a forever family, brings great joy to my heart.
I hope good things for Brennan today. I look forward (for him) to experiencing the beauty of the temple, the wonderful peaceful feelings, the newness of the experience, and an increased testimony of the holiness of our temples and the importance of work for the dead.