The YSA Branch took a trip to the Manhattan Temple.
The upperclassmen have some privileges we Plebes (Freshmen) don’t, including wearing street clothes. If you chose to wear the dress uniform, or if you’re a Plebe who had to be in uniform, you could ride in the official club transportation. Most of the cadets going didn’t want to wear a dress uniform, so they carpooled down to the city. So the few of us Plebes going down piled into a West Point van with a couple of the Firsties(Seniors) who didn’t care to pay to park a car in downtown Manhattan.
I was able to be the baptizer for several different people, then I was baptized by one of my best friends, Lewis Perkins. This was my first time being able to confirm people and it was such an awesome experience. It did feel a little weird to be performing ordinances with someone while they’ve got badges on their chest from different intense and advanced military training courses, but none of it matters in the Temple.
For most cadets, there isn’t very much mingling between the different class years, but because of church, I’ve been able to be surrounded by amazing upperclassman who have become role models for me.