Ward temple "excursion" last night:
5:40 PM-inhale a few bites of dinner (that turned out better than expected) after sighing w/ relief that Brian had made it home in time to leave
(waited a few minutes in case younger couple wanted to catch up--when they didn't return, we volunteered to drive, so we could all go in one car--or rather, in one big, white bus)
~6:10, left and made it to the temple by 6:40 smoothly, BUT
-there were some steep hills climbing that mtn
-we had the a/c on full blast
-there was a slight burning smell as we parked
-there was sure a lot of water leaking out of our van (condensation from the a/c we hoped?)
-mental note to check gauges on the way home
-6:40 (walking into temple)--happily saw Brian's aunt, uncle, and cousin Andrew Duncan, who left today for his mission to Kiev--said "hi" for a minute (I love seeing familiar faces at the temple--it feels a lot more like Heaven that way to me--in Atlanta it was a bit easier w/ a smaller temple and always going during the same shift)
-6:45 enter temple and see another couple from our ward exiting b/c wife couldn't find her recommend. Brian told her we could probably get her in, and proceeded to talk to the workers to help her out (the rest of our group had missed them by a hair--good thing we stopped for family for a bit!
-6:50 I enter chapel as they're getting ready to let the next session out, but our group is all waiting on the back row, since they know Brian has their keys home. The first young couple and one other couple made it into the earlier session as we waved. Brian finally made it and so did the last couple, and we waited for the next half hour
-7:40 we find out the next session is running behind, but we finally get there, enjoy the beautiful temple--even one more couple from our ward made it, and we left about 2 hours later
-10:00 the van starts, we drive down the hill, and Brian pulls over b/c the check engine light has come on and the temperature gauge is in the RED
Lots of time spent evaulating circumstance, options, people to call. I call roadside assistance, but they can only offer a tow--Bishop and one other brother called family, and before they could arrive, two people--one a car mechanic stop to help. We were all sitting on the grass (or crouched over the engine w/ "cell-phone lights") and in generally good spirits considering the situation. One sister hadn't eaten, and one had a brutal migraine, but were both still smiling. I had one full ziploc of goldfish to offer them! Finally determined it was a radiator leak, one brother in-law delivered a huge vat of water, and we quickly poured it in and drove it around the corner to a radiator shop (I didn't even know such a thing existed). By then another son (of Bishop) had arrived w/ a mini-van to take a load of us home--7 of us got in, and we decided we may as well all ride home together, so said son (grown married son) sat between two front seats, while Bishop drove, and Brian and I shared a seat all the way home (11 total in a minivan). (hadn't I heard stories of my own parents squishing into the backs of very little hatchback cars sharing rides to D.C. temple?--such unity!)
-11:40 PM arrive safely home to happily clean up what looked like a mashed potato war all over the kitchen floor (after that many hours, a trip to Logan, Salt Lake, or even Manti seems pretty do-able!)
though Brian and I both said to each other, "I thought we were PAST that embarrassing car-always-breaking-down stage!--that IS why we offered to drive in the first place!", there were still MANY things to be grateful for; that:
-the young couples who had babysitters (and babies) waiting had all NOT driven w/ us!
-it broke down AFTER the temple, not before
-PERFECT weather--just the kind of night where you want to go out and sit on the grass
-cell phones, good company, and good, good people willing to give up their nights for total strangers (or their family in some cases)
-it broke down that night and not during our camping trip in American Fork Canyon a few days earlier, or w/ just me and the children stranded somewhere far from home
-we can pay the repair bill, instead of having that lurching stomach feeling we had OVER and OVER again in college and afterward every time our cars acted up
I love being in the temple. Though it had been a kind of crazy day and it took me quite a while to calm down after getting there, halfway through the session, contemplating my own concerns and questions, I was totally overwhelmed w/ the Lord's love, and it kept flowing and flowing through that whole session, so that I could exactly imagine what it must be like to be in His presence. Kind of hard to get too upset about anything after that!
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