My Daughter's First Baptism Trip (and How Youth Serve in the Temple)

I would have liked to have been there for my sons' first baptism trips, but it made more sense for their father to go. When my daughter turned 12, I was looking forward to the opportunity to enjoy that milestone with her.
A snowstorm cancelled the ward trip that had been scheduled for her birthday. As the closure date for the Washington DC Temple neared and our ward still didn't have a new appointment, we took matters into our own hands and drove up with a couple family names.

The temple workers assigned us to tag-along for a ward baptism trip (though I think they would have preferred for us to have called for an appointment a few weeks in advance). We were very fortunate, because we were able to see some recent changes in action. The priests from the ward were called ahead of the group to get special instruction so they could take turns baptizing the youth in their ward. Then the temple workers spoke to the young women. In addition to being a proxy for baptism, the young women were able to serve by passing out towels and bringing the paperwork for completed baptisms to an assigned area.
I could tell my daughter was itching to volunteer, but as we were tag-alongs and this was her first trip and there were lots of others ready to take that opportunity, I persuaded her to wait for another trip.
I'll admit, when I had read about these new opportunities that youth would have, I didn't think much of it. To me, they seemed like little things. Watching the youth in action completely changed my perspective. This was their temple trip. They weren't passive assistants to the adults who do the real work. They were doing the work. Temple work had become their work.