What We Did This Weekend:
Winter Quarters

If you read this blog much, you know that Brookie and I attend the temple once a month. We used to just plan on attending on the third Saturday of each month, but then I was called as a seminary teacher and third Saturdays are now reserved for inservice (training) meetings. So lately we just fit our monthly temple trip into whatever Saturday works best. This Saturday the youth at church had a trip planned to the Winter Quarters temple. And, since Brooke is the president of the Young Women, we both went along and used it as our temple Saturday.


It seems like most every time we visit the Winter Quarters temple in Omaha, NE we do so in the dead of winter. I'm pretty sure that it's open in the summer too, but I could be wrong. When we first moved to Kansas City, we attended Winter Quarters more than the temple in St. Louis because the trip didn't take as long. But over time we've completely flipped that pattern. Now we go to St. Louis more often than not. I like the drive better because it's just straight across Missouri, and we always seem to run into bad weather near Mound City whenever we drive to Omaha. There are definitely more places to eat in St. Louis than in Omaha (especially right off the freeway). And because Omaha is a small temple, you have to call in and schedule an appointment. In St. Louis, we can just show up and do some work.

Things are so different for the youth of our ward than they were for me growing up. One of those differences is their temple attendance. These youth sacrifice an entire Saturday to worship in the House of the Lord. When I was in high school it was not uncommon for me and some friend to get up early and go to the temple (either Jordan River or Salt Lake) before school. Looking back, I can see how lucky we were to have a temple so nearby.

Soon we will have a temple in Kansas City, and we couldn't be more excited. It will be about 25 minutes from where we live now. Construction has not started yet, but knowing that our children will grow up in the shadow of a temple makes us happy. The peace and love of the Spirit of God is so strong in those holy buildings. We look forward to each month's trip when we have a chance to visit, to recharge, and to take some of that Spirit home with us. Living not-so-close to the temple has helped us gain a deeper appreciation of its power and influence in our lives. It can be so tempting to take it for granted when you have a temple in your city. It will be a challenge not to do so when our Kansas City temple is built, but it's a challenge that we're really looking forward to.

So, yeah, this weekend was our temple trip. This upcoming weekend will be life-changing. Be sure to stay tuned for any pictures and/or commentary from sunny O'Neill, NE. Come to think of it, today is probably a good day to recharge our camera batteries.

And that's what we did this weekend.

Go to the board!

Comments

  1. I expect to see pics just about as soon as you can load them to facebook!

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  2. Good luck! I'm so excited for you! I heard the Michael Buble song today that you blogged about a while ago. It made me think of you and how you'll get to meet your son so soon! Yay!!!

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  3. The WQ temple is indeed open in the summer!! ;-) That's where Nicole and Blaine were married. I prefer going to that temple instead of the St. Louis because of the traffic. I just HATE the traffic on I70. We have never gone to WQ in the winter though. I think I'll leave that idea for you guys! Ha!

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  4. We hope all goes well with things tomorrow. We are soo excited for the three of you. Lots of love, Norman and Brenda

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  5. I just found your blog! :) I'm excited to hopefully get to know you guys more! Good luck with everything BABY!

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