We love to see the temple

Our area is very blessed in that we are getting a new temple.  We live in the middle of an area that there are several temples 3 to 4 hours away.  The new temple the Hartford Connecticut temple is just under 3 hours.  We are excited for the slightly shorter trip.

The Open House is going on, so Monday Brian had work off and the kids had school off so we went to see the temple.  It was a beautiful fall day, and the drive to the temple takes a lot of back roads, so we got to enjoy God's creations on the way.  It was wonderful to see inside the house of the Lord and to notice how reverent the kids were going through it.  It truly is a wonderful place.

 It was a popular day to visit the temple and we ran into several people we knew.  Including our close friends.  We didn't end up in the same tour group, which was probably helped my kids be reverent, but we took a picture afterwards.

After we toured the temple we went and got some quick lunch.  Then Brian took the kids to a large park area with several play grounds and themed gardens.  I went back to the temple with my dear friend Ashley (the mother of the beautiful kids in the picture that aren't mine), and we got to serve as tour guides and in the Welcome Tent as people came through to see the temple.  First we had training and learned that we didn't need to talk much and shouldn't talk too much, that we should let the temple speak for itself.  I loved that.  You really can feel the Spirit there.  Then we waited our turn to take a tour through. There were several people from our ward there and it was nice to visit and serve with people I knew and to get to know other people coming for a common purpose of serving the Lord. Ashley and I were a team.  The first time she led the tour group and I was the follower.  I made sure that the group stayed together and didn't wander off.  It was nice to see the temple again and notice different things. 

Then there was a need for help at the Welcome Tent where we made sure the people coming in made it to the video before the tour explaining about the temple and got assigned to a tour group.  I got to meet lots of people there and enjoyed it.

Then I had a chance to lead a tour through.  I was nervous and I got kind of lost in the temple.  Not too bad just stopped and had to look about where I was going to go next.  But I really enjoyed it.

We are so grateful for our new temple.