Nick and Mandy

Last night Lance and I had the opportunity to attend Nick and Mandy's sealing. Nick and Mandy are a younger couple in our ward. I serve with Mandy in the Young Womens and Nick is with the young men. I have known Mandy since she was little and I knew her siblings and parents fairly well. Nick and Mandy were married almost 2 years ago in Maui, Hawaii and last night they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Boise temple.
Nick is a recent convert. He was baptized last year and he has been such an incredible example to all of us. Shortly after they were married Nick was shipped off to Iraq for 18 months. When he left, his wife Mandy gave him a Book of Mormon to read while he was away. While he was in Iraq he read the entire Book of Mormon I believe a couple of times. He came back with a strong desire to learn more.He has such an incredible testimony. I love the fire that new converts bring into the church. He was baptized shortly after he got home and ever since then they have been working so hard to go to the temple. I felt so privelaged to have been there with a lot of the other friends from our ward.
The sealing was so neat. They were both very prepared for what took place. They knew they were in the right place. We were all in tears. The spirit was so strong, it bore strong testimony to me of the importance of such a sacred ordinance. Right after their sealing there was another one. Mandy's grandfather was the only one present from her family there. After Nick and Mandy were married, Mandy was proxy for her deceased grandmother and was able to peform another sealing for her grandfather. That was just an added bonus to our night. I love attending weddings. They are all so special.
Afterwards we all went to the CheeseCake Factory for dinner and desert. That was my first time there. I loved it! I think it has become one of my favorites. There were about 20 of us all there. We just laughed and had so much fun with Nick and Mandy on their important day.
My sister, father and brother were so kind to watch our boys. We didn't get back til almost 10 p.m.. Our boys were both still awake and running on adrenaline. They had a rough night and today we are paying the price for that.