We made 8 two-hundred mile round trips to Hartford in 8 weeks. It was a small sacrifice to make for all of the amazing experiences we got to participate in.
Here are the highlights
R and I got asked to help with the VIP tours for the open house. We traveled to Hartford one Monday evening for our training. Here is what I wrote about it in my journal. "There are 8 stakes that make up the Hartford Temple District so in attendance were all of the stake presidency members from those stakes and their wives as well as people form the church’s public relations office and other members of the temple department. My favorite part of the evening was the more than 1.5 hours we spent in the temple as Elder Wilson (head of the church temple department) lead us on a tour. He told us about the architecture, the pictures, and the materials that were used to the build the temple. But my favorite part of the tour was him telling us about the things he talks about in each room of the temple when he takes people through for the VIP tours. It was so uplifting and spirit filled to hear him talk about each room. It was wonderful to spend so much time in the temple talking about the temple."
It turned out that once they organized the shifts, for the VIP tours R and I weren't going to be assigned a group. We were told that we could bring our own group of friends if we wanted to on the night we were originally assigned to help with tours. So, we quickly contacted some people (mostly R's colleagues) and that Wednesday evening we took 8 friends on a tour of the temple. Since it was a VIP tour night, we got to lead the tour and spend as long as we wanted in each room, talking about the rooms and answering questions. Here is part of what I wrote in my journal. "We spent over an hour in the temple. It was such a great experience to take people we know and get to share the temple with them. In our training we were told that this was not to be a proselyting experience. We were to let the temple speak for itself and so we did. The temple clearly speaks of the Savior, Heavenly Father’s love for his children and His plan for us, our eternal nature, and the eternal nature of families. It was a most wonderful, spirit filled evening."
Two days later, on a Friday, I drove C, her friend, and P to Hartford so we could attend the open house. (P was going to get to go with my parents in a couple of weeks when C, R and I served at the open house but we weren't sure what our assignments would be that day so we weren't sure if C would get to see the inside of the temple that day. We wanted to make sure she got to go on a tour and we wanted to take her friend.)
A couple of weeks later R, C, and I got to serve at the Open House for 8 hours on a Saturday. C spent the first shift taking shoe covers off of people's shoes as they came out of the temple. She said it was a fun place to serve because she got to see people's expressions as they came out and over hear their conversations as they talked about what they loved about the tour. On breaks she would join a tour and go through the temple which she got to do 4 times that morning. R and I spent the morning leading tours. Since it wasn't VIP tours, we only had one speaking part, at the beginning of the tour, and then after that we just led our group from room to room where other people in the rooms did the talking. Each tour took about 30 minutes and then we would wait in line to take another tour through. After lunch, R was on parking details so C became my follower and she had I led more tours through the temple.
Mom and Dad came over with P and went on a tour while we finished up our shifts. By the end of the day I had gone through the temple and heard the presentations 7 times. It was wonderful to basically spend the day in the temple, to feel the spirit there, and to hear the presentations over and over again.
All the youth in the 8 stakes participated in the temple cultural celebration last night. 4 of our trips to Hartford over the last 8 weeks were to take C to choir practice. She auditioned for and got a spot in the 20 person a cappella youth choir that would sing in the cultural celebration.
That choir also made up 1/4 of the larger choir that was also singing one of the main numbers in the cultural celebration.
In addition, each stake in the temple district had a dance number they were performing.
It was fun to see the friendships C was able to form with other youth from all over the temple district, as she participated in the choir. The a cappella choir did a beautiful job and the other choir sang well too and you could tell Corinne was having a great time on the dance number. We watched a broadcast of the performance and got to see C on the screen several times. (These pictures of the Cultural Celebration were taken by a friend.) Elder Eyring and Elder and Sister Holland were in attendance at the celebration.
Because of the many different numbers that C was in, she said that two different times she had to crouch and run right in front of where they were sitting. She said, "I could have just stopped and shook their hands but I thought that would have been inappropriate."
Today we drove to Hartford for the temple dedication. It was freezing cold and very windy so we didn't end up taking a picture. I took this quick picture as we hurried back to the car.
Then C and I took a selfie so we would have some proof of being there. R and P were already in the car trying to get warm.
We had the blessing of being in the Celestial room for the session we attended. Elder and Sister Holland and Elder Eyring were, of course, in the room. From where P was sitting she had a direct line of sight to Elder Eyring. She said that at one point, he made eye contact with her, so she waved at him. She said it was in the middle of someone's talk so he made a small gesture, smiled and tipped his head at her so it wouldn't be distracting. The spirit in the room throughout the whole dedication was amazing. I couldn't hold back tears and could hardly sing as we stood and sang the "The Spirit of God". I am so thankful that we got to be a part of so many aspects of the open house and dedication. I will remember this forever.
Another excerpt from my journal, "I am so thankful for temples. How blessed I am to live at a time when temples dot the earth and more are being built every year. The blessings of the temple are many. I am thankful for the covenants that I have made in the temple and the blessing and strength that they give me. I am thankful for the way in which family history and temple work helps me to know and love my ancestors and how ordinances there mean I am part of an Eternal Family consisting of those who came before me, Rone and I, our children, and there children, continuing for generations. I am thankful for what I learn and am reminded of each time I attend the temple. I am thankful for the perspective that the temple brings to my life."
