My mom told me that all I asked for for my tenth birthday was to meet President Hinckley. (Since that came true maybe I should have tried also wishing for a horse or an end to poverty. Opportunities lost.) I got to go to the NB Temple dedication, which was three days after my birthday. It was lovely and so spiritual. When it was over everyone left the temple but lined the exit so they could see the Prophet leave. His huge Tongan bodyguards warned us not to try to touch him or anything. I was a little disappointed I couldn't shake his hand, but I managed to wriggle my ten-year-old body to the front of the masses, as close to the doors as I could be, so that I would be one of the first people to see him. He was a small man with a large cane, bent with age. I felt so happy that I could be this close to a Prophet of the Lord. Then he came over to me to say hi! He bent down even further, took my hand, and said "Why, hello there!" The thing I remember most about him is how blue his eyes were. Like cornflowers, or the bluest sky. They didn't look like the eyes of a young man.
Today I did my first sealing session inside the Newport Beach Temple. It was my first temple, and my last temple before my mission. As I was leaving an adorable old couple came up. They had curved backs and hair like clouds, and gave friendly and enthusiastic hellos to my family. They said that they had seen me and my mom's duet at the Gospel class the other day and had loved it. The man shook my hand and met my eyes. They were the color of cornflowers. They were the color of the bluest sky. They were young eyes. They were the exact shade of President Hinckley's eyes.
I feel as if this was a sign: I was able to leave my temple knowing that the servants of God are watching over it and us. It was a sense of finality, of finishing a chapter, and of knowing that the next will be just as thrilling and humbling as the next.
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