Final Days in Florida

From my journal:

I worked my last Saturday at the Family History Center Saturday morning.  (April 26th)  I had forgotten the kids were there to practice for the cultural celebration.  OH MY!  What a sea of kids!  We heard some of the music inside the FHC, but everything was so loud, we had to shut the door.  The music sounds really fun.  I can’t wait to see it.  I got there just as Elder Burns was talking to the kids.  They got a tremendous surprise:  Elder Holland, who was there at the temple training the mission presidents, was coming that afternoon to talk to the kids and watch a couple of numbers. 

I heard later that it was an amazing experience for the kids.  He told them how beautiful he thought the temple was and he expressed his appreciation to them for all they were doing to prepare for the cultural celebration.  He left them with a blessing.  What I understand, all the kids were in tears.  There is such a powerful Spirit that attends our apostles.  I’ve had that wonderful experience of being in a meeting where Elder Holland has been.  I remember just weeping because of the Spirit that was there.  I think it gives us a glimpse of what it will be like to be in the presence of the Savior.

Sunday, Jenna Workman talked about the experience.  There were over 1200 kids there from all six stakes.  They were to be there ALL day, eating lunch and dinner there.  It was stuffy in the gym and it was crowded.  Naturally there were some tensions—cell phones, not listening and talking, etc.  She said there had been some yelling and some contention before Elder Holland came.  Afterwards, there was more of a feeling of peace and love and kindness.  It reminds me so much of the influence Jesus Christ brings.

The cultural celebration is going to be GREAT!

Sunday was our last day of being in the Plantation ward.  It was my last day of directing the choir and the last day of directing the music in Sacrament Meeting.

We both turned in our calling stuff:  Mark his scouting supplies and records, and me my choir books.

We had several people give us hugs and say they are going to miss us.  I was kind of hoping to be able to bear my testimony one last time, but it wasn’t to be.  And that’s okay.  I’m just really grateful I was able to do it last Fast Sunday.

Sunday, evening we invited the missionaries over for dinner and our lovely landlords, Henry and Dina.  They had agreed to meet with the missionaries.  They weren't able to come for dinner, but they did come for dessert.  The lesson with the missionaries was awesome.  I really felt the Spirit.  

They seemed to enjoy it.  I really hope they continue with the lessons.

Monday, we went to dinner with Mark Robbins.  We had a light dinner, then ended up at Jaxon's ice cream parlor.  OH MY GOODNESS!!  The servings are ginormous!!  Delicious, but ginormous!

I sure do like Mark.  What a great guy.  We really enjoyed his company.

May 1, 2014-Thursday

We had a nice dinner with Cory and Brent this evening at Red Lobster.  I brought the majority of my dinner home after having two rolls, a stuffed mushroom and Clam Chowder and salad.  I’ll have a nice lunch tomorrow as well as dessert.

May 3, 2014-Saturday

I read this morning from the Old Testament how the children of Israel lost the privilege of having the fullness of the gospel because they were a “stiffnecked people” and because they sinned so greatly by worshipping the golden calf while Moses was up in the mountain communicating with the Lord. 

They lacked the faith to be fully obedient, thus they lost the privileges they might have had—the Melchizedek Priesthood and temple blessings.

It gave me some things to think about.  How often do I live below my privileges because I am openly disobedient or put off what I know to be right for my life?  How might my life be different if I would only completely obey?

I found these quotes:

“We live beneath our privileges when we fail to partake of the feast of happiness, peace and joy that God grants so bountifully.  We can be satisfied with a diminished experience and settle for experiences far below our privileges, or we can partake of an abundant feast of spiritual opportunity and universal blessings.

“As you read the scriptures and listen to the words of the prophets with all your heart and mind, the Lord will tell you how to live up to your privileges.  And we will be able to do all things through Christ who strengthens us.”  President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“I have been quoted as saying, ‘Do the best you can.’  But I want to emphasize that it be the very best.  We are too prone to be satisfied with mediocre performances.  We are capable of doing much better.”  President Gordon B. Hinckley, Worldwide Leadership Training, Jan. 10, 2004, 2.

I feel sad that the children of Israel denied themselves of the privileges they might have enjoyed, but I’m deeply grateful that we now have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today and I can be a part of it.

When I live beneath my privileges, I do so when I fail to overcome my weaknesses that keep me from enjoying more from my life, including greater privileges.  How much happier more joyful would my life be…?

Mark was busy with some things at the temple, Bill and his wife Kathy just wanted to chill at the motel and Cory and his wife were doing some things together.  I was able to get a lot more done on the temple history.

When it was time to meet everyone at the Cultural Celebration, we went to Panara for soup, salad and dessert.  A simpler meal than we’ve had the last few days and very delicious.  We had forgotten our umbrellas and it decided to pour while we were having dinner. 

Ashley had called us early that morning around 3am to tell us her water had broken and she was at the hospital.  Wow!  I had intended to be around to help out, but you know what?  Other people stepped in to help.  There is absolutely nothing I can do, but they’ll work it out.  Kathy, Joe’s mom came over to stay with Eva.

She called us while we were at dinner to let us know he had arrived.  Remington Joseph Carbine!  I’m so happy for her.  She was trying to let me hear him, but the restaurant was too noisy, so I said I’d talk to her later.

Mark was a gentleman and went for the car while I waited under some shelter before jumping in.

The Church had reserved parking for the Cultural Event at a parking structure near the venue.  It was a short walk to the arena and the rain had stopped.  We waited inside for our party because we had their tickets.

The energy was really high from the kids waiting for President Uchtdorf. Each stake had its own cheers.  They were all so excited!   When President Uchtdorf and his wife Harriet arrived they cheered and clapped for him like he was the biggest rock star on the planet!  It was awesome and brought me to tears.

The kids did a great job on their cultural celebration.  At one point, one boy had a gold shirt put on him and he was lifted up in the air holding a trumpet.  Angel Moroni!  Mark and I laughed with delight!

There were numbers representing sea life in the ocean, playing on the beach with friends, mosquito stomp, a hurricane and rebuilding and, of course an alligator.  The climax came from pictures members had sent in of themselves in front of temples. While the pictures were shown, the kids and Fort Lauderdale Missionaries sang.  A beautiful picture of the Savior was created from the temple pictures.  Then as the picture was raised, am amazing replica of the lighted temple was revealed.  Wow!  That was awesome!  Of course we gave the kids a standing ovation.  All their hard work paid off.  I don’t think anyone who participated in this event will ever forget how they felt seeing and hearing a prophet of the Lord and then singing and dancing for this cultural event.  It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these youths.

Cory and his wife Susan were able to find and meet up with their missionary daughter.  He’d been talking about it all the time we were together, so I’m glad they were able to find her.  They had brought a care package for her and were spending some time with her, so we took Bill and Kathy back to their motel. 

We were actually the last to leave the arena.  The cleaners were patient with us, but we were taking pictures and meeting and hugging people.  I thanked them as we left.  I appreciated them allowing us to enjoy those last few moments taking pictures and talking to people.

The Gay family met us as they were leaving.  Mark has been instrumental with their son Bryce in scouts and on Sundays during Priesthood.  His dad, Mike, pulled me aside and told me that they had been talking about the Three Nephites one day and Bryce said:  “I think Brother Berry is one of the Three Nephites.”  That touched me and I could tell it touched Mike as well when he told me.  I think they have been so grateful for how Mark has worked and encouraged Bryce.

May 4th, 2014-Sunday

Today started early.  We were at the temple for preparation for the cornerstone ceremony by 7:40.  Mark was concerned that things go all right and got a bit snappish, but I’ve learned to just let it go.  Everything went just fine.  He had everything ready and it was great! There was a very nice choir who sang when President Uchtdorf and everyone came out.   I was so proud of Mark up there with President and Sister Uchtdorf and all the dignitaries.  I can’t name them all, but I know Elder Christofferson from the Quorum of the Twelve was there with his wife and Elder Rasband from the 1^st Quorum of the Seventy and his wife, and the new Presiding Bishop and his wife, President Richards from the Temple Department and his wife and Darrin Zwick.  There were others.  They all got to put mortar in the cornerstone.  Then President Uchtdorf called up several children to put mortar in the cornerstone.  The choir sang as President Uchtdorf left to go back to the dedication meeting.  They had started the meeting, then left to do the cornerstone ceremony.

After they all left, Bill and Kathy, Cory and Susan, me, Ben Schreiter and Jennifer, Dave Fletcher and his wife (Nexus) got to put mortar in the cornerstone and get our pictures taken.  Then Mark let those who wanted to come up and put mortar in the cornerstone.  Quite a few got to do it and get their pictures taken.  This will make great memories for many.

What will be fun will be seeing this on the Church News, then in the World Report next General Conference.   I was so proud of Mark.  He has done such a great job.  This has really given him an opportunity to fly.  Cory and Bill are seriously considering getting us on their team.  At dinner the other night they talked about New Zealand, Hong Kong and the Philippines.  Those won’t require another language.  Wouldn’t that be exciting?

We stayed at the temple instead of going home.  Our session for the dedication was noon.  This happened to be the session for our stake.  Our stake choir sang with Suzana Garrett directing and Audrey Frahm playing the organ.  They did a beautiful job.  There were only 20 of them—10 women and ten men.  They sat in the pass-through and came out to stand behind those who were seated in front.  They sang:  “On This Day of Joy and Gladness,” “Oh My Father,” and one other.  We did the Hosanna Shout and then the choir sang the Hosanna song with the congregations singing “The Spirit of God.”

I had really felt the Spirit, but there were times I struggled to stay awake.  I think it was just a culmination of everything that has happened over the past few weeks, plus not getting a lot of sleep last night and we fasted today for Joe and Ashley as they are trying to decide on a job change.

We stayed in our seats until almost the end.  I could tell Mark was feeling quite emotional about this all ending.  One of the ladies who had helped with the chandeliers mouthed “Thank you” to me as she was leaving.  Ben came up and talked to Mark and we got up to leave.

He still had so much to do to make sure everything was set for the next session.   Elder Burns had something for us in his car so we walked out.  Mark gave him the trowel and point used for the cornerstone ceremony along with a thank you card he had written for Elder Burns and his wife.

We were there for a while longer while Mark did this and that.  I waited in the foyer and finally headed out to the car when he told me he had “one more thing” he had to do.

Later when we opened the gift Elder and Sister Burns had given us, it was a beautiful blue crystal butterfly to help us remember Florida and their love and friendship.  Mark will miss him.

When we finally got home I tried to sleep, while Mark had things to do.  I never did, but at least rested.  Mark had already broken his fast when I got up, so I broke mine too and made dinner.  We were going to go over to help put all the furniture away, but I started having digestive problems every few minutes, so in the end, I stayed home and Mark went to help.  That was around 6:00.  It is 9:43 and he is still gone.  I feel badly that I didn’t go, but I found out that the missionaries all helped and it went very well.

May 6^th, 2014-Tuesday

It’s been a busy day today, going through things, throwing things away or giving some things away—just going through everything.  I took all of the pictures down today and Mark filled in the holes.  I noticed tonight that I missed the clock and a couple of things over windows.  We got those too.

I threw all of my pasta and all my beans away, except some black beans.  For one thing I wasn’t sure how old they all were, and with the pasta, I was finding quite a few weevils in my cupboard, so just thought it would be better to get rid of everything and get fresh when we get home.  I wasn’t excited to take any bugs home with me.

I got rid of a lot of old spices I’ve had for several years too.  I got rid of the last two jars of pickles.  They were pretty soft and yucky.  I threw out some pudding mix I’ve had for several years—just a lot of old food.

I finally found my scarf I was missing.  It had fallen back behind my drawer with some socks and shoulder pads.  I was able to pull out a bigger drawer and get stuff from both sides.

Mark and I returned our Comcast equipment so we are without our internet, home phone and TV.  That’s okay.  Maybe we’ll actually go to bed earlier. 

I still need to clean out my fridge.

The movers are coming at 8:00am and they said they hope to be done by 1:00.  That will be nice, but we’ll see.  We want to get the bathrooms and kitchen cupboards cleaned tomorrow, so that when the movers load us up, all we’ll need to do is vacuum the floors and mop.  We’re hoping to get away as soon as possible.  Mike wants us to stop in Orlando.  I think we should, at least for a few minutes to say goodbye.

I was talking to Ashley today.  She was telling me about how Eva won’t look at her and is mad probably because of the new baby and because they left her for a couple of days.  It reminded me of how Jonathan cried when I fed Rebecca and how they both acted when I had Chris.  She’ll get over it and love her little brother in time.

We ate out tonight, nothing special, just Taco Bell. 

Knowing I would not have internet until we got to a motel Thursday night, I posted on Facebook:  “Goodbye Florida, I’ll never forget you.”

Temple Open House

I worked every day at the Temple Open House starting Friday after we got back from the Keys.  I worked from 1 pm to 6 pm because as I checked the schedule, that seemed to be where there was the greatest need for help.  I worked at the entrance near the welcome tents, welcoming people and showing them where to go.  It required keeping a close watch on the time because every five minutes we were taking people to a different tent, unless there were large groups of people.  Then we filled a tent before going on to the next one.

So many people helped from old to young.  The youth mainly helped with the booties putting on and taking off.

Being at the temple was so good for me.  I think I got my year’s supply of vitamin D.  Most of the time we had umbrellas.  The sun could really beat down on us and I got quite a lot of sun.  We were really grateful when a breeze came up and the temperature dropped, or the sun went behind the clouds.  Those were tender mercies indeed.

People trickled in throughout the week, getting heavier on the weekends.  There was one bus that came in from the Episcopalian church.  Everyone was so nice.  We fit them all into one tent and then their group was divided up for the tour. 

A group was outside the gate giving out anti-Mormon information.  One day I noticed one man holding a sign that said, “A different Jesus.”  I thought how is my Jesus different from yours?  I found out today that these people are paid protestors.  That their protesting is sponsored by some rich person who does this all over.  How sad to protest for money against something you know nothing about.  I was going to invite their group to come tour the temple.  I had my window down, but no one noticed me and there were people behind me wanting to leave.

On Friday- April 11th, we got a busload of people from Kisseemee.  I’m not sure if it was a stake or ward who had chartered the bus, but there were over 50 people.  The members had been invited to come and bring their friends, so there were members and non-members in the group.  We put them all in one tent and then they were divided from there.

When things were busier, it made the time go by faster.  I really enjoy being outside because I could talk to people and welcome them and get to know those who were working with me.  I got to see who came.  It was fun to interact with them and hug those I knew.  Inside you had to be quiet and there was no sitting.  I did get to sit once in a while, drink some water etc.  Weather-wise it could be uncomfortable at times, but still I preferred being outside rather than inside.  I became very familiar with the routine and was often asked to train new people when they came, particularly if they were taking my place.  It was called shadowing.   Even though my shift was from 1-6, the other shift came on at 5:00 and when they felt comfortable about what they were doing I was able to leave.  Nice.

I actually rolled my window down as I was leaving one evening and talked to the people doing the protesting.  I invited them to come see the temple.  You know what?  Some of them already had.  “It’s beautiful!” were the comments.  One man was here all the way from Nauvoo.  He has a view of the Nauvoo temple outside his window.  They were all nice enough.  “Come to Nauvoo,” he said, and I’ll take you to lunch.”  Right.  So you can tell me everything that’s wrong with my church?  I don’t think so.  I just want to sigh.  Were they not listening or feeling the Spirit inside?  Did they not see the pictures of Jesus everywhere?  I just don’t get it.

Wow! The second Saturday there were so many people who came through!  It was a really beautiful, hot day and I got pretty fried, but it was awesome to see so many people.  We had several youth and young adult groups; some who came down from Orlando and other places- groups of 50 or more each.  There was an expectation of around 7,000 to come through.  There was a family who had come from California.  I heard someone else say they had come four hours to be there.  I think there were over 4,000 that came that day.

I was near the entrance, and although I had an umbrella, it was no protection to my poor legs and feet.  There were few breaks, although I did take a couple, and no shade to stand in.  But it was fun to see and greet everyone.

Near the end of my shift, I had a couple ask me if there was any public transportation available near there.  I asked them if someone had dropped them off?  No, they had taken a cab.  I knew there was no way they would be able to get back to their motel, so I told them I was almost done and I would take them back myself.

It was a blessing for me because I got to visit with them and take them home and I knew pretty quickly where they were staying, as I was fairly familiar with the area.  They offered to pay for my gas, but I wouldn’t hear of it.  They had come from Payson, Utah for a cruise to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Being members, they had decided to come see the temple while they were so close.  They were heading back to Utah on Sunday to reunite with their three kids.  

I got this beautiful experience in an email from Mary Ann Richards:

“On Friday, April 11, 2014, we had two families with autistic children. Each family was taken separately with only one family in the tour so we could attend to the needs of the children.   They were all members of the church so conducting the tour with all the explanations was not necessary and we could move at a much faster pace to help the children and their short attention spans.  Each family helped their child to enjoy the tour. The second family are members of the Ft. Lauderdale Ward and the little autistic boy is 6 years old.  They were on a previous tour but their son became so overwhelmed in the baptistry area, that they had to leave the temple and reschedule.  On this return  visit, the mother asked if we could bypass the baptistry area.  With special permission from Bro. Herrearo, one of the tour guide coordinators,  we altered the tour route for this family and had a special usher go with us.  The little boy, with guidance from his parents, was quite well behaved.  He loved the bright light in Instruction Room B and we explained to him before we entered the Celestial Room he would need to be very quiet.  When he stopped at the door of the Celestial Room he looked up and in a quiet voice said “WOW!”  One of our Father in Heaven’s special children recognized that he was in a very special place and in his own way, he may have known he was close to heaven.  I am sure all of the 1000s of people who have visited the Ft. Lauderdale Temple during the public open house and seen the Celestial Room for the first time felt the same thing that little boy felt, but they had to be silent as they thought “WOW!” When I heard that very small little “WOW!”, I was filled with a great reverence and respect for the sacred room we were preparing to enter.  How wonderful it is to have that little piece of Heaven here on the earth and to feel the joy we will have when we return to the presence of our Heavenly Father.”

I was so touched by her experience.  It made me cry.  She has given me permission to use it in the history.

Mark was gone for eight days to Hartford, then Salt Lake.  He made a trip to Idaho Falls and was able to spend time with his dad.  He got home Tuesday afternoon and came straight to the temple.  It was good to see his beloved face and so I told him.  I got a good kiss for that.

My friend, Holly Catania came to see the temple.  We became friends while I was involved in a Bunko group.  We got in with a smaller tour group, which was really nice and we had a wonderful tour guide who explained things very clearly and plainly.  Holly was very impressed with the temple.  We happened to meet up with Mark, so I introduced them.  She called the temple “exquisite.”  She is a realtor, so I knew she would appreciate the beauty of the temple.  I think she also appreciated having a greater knowledge of what we believe. 

We visited near the fountains for a while, then made arrangements to meet for lunch next week.  I’m so glad she came.

 There have been some challenges with people not showing up who signed up, but those of us who came did the best we could.  Some days it was so hot; I felt sweat sliding down my back.  Wednesday of the last week I wore protective clothing:  navy skirt, nylons (knee high) and shoes and a long sleeved shirt.  I didn’t want to be burned any more than I had been.  I felt so grateful when clouds rolled in and hid the sun and the wind came up.  It felt so good and it felt so good when I had an opportunity to sit in the welcome tents with the air conditioning blowing through me, able to sit down for a few minutes before standing outside once more to welcome people to the temple, and “enjoy your tour.”

I’m not complaining.  It's actually been quite fun and I have loved meeting people from the different stakes who have come to work.  We visited with people, and welcomed our visitors so hopefully they felt welcome and glad they came.

One day it just down-poured and we were told to go to our vehicles because of the lightning.  Many people just gathered underneath the tent near the parking lot, but I ran to my car.  It was nice to sit for a few minutes while the rain continued and I waited for it to slow, then stop before going back to work.  I listened to my old time radio station on Sirius.

Wednesday, I left from the temple, picked up a burger at Burger King and went to the Family History Center.  There was a gentleman waiting when I got there.  He’s a pretty regular customer.  I opened everything up then went out in the foyer to eat my burger.  Mark happened to be there with one of his potential eagle scouts going over some stuff for his project.

The man in the FHC stayed until around 7:45.  I asked if he’d had a chance to see the temple, and I gave him an invitation I had in my purse.  I wonder if he came.

 It rained like crazy on Thursday; very hard!  I thought I lost my keys but thankfully found them in a side pocket. 

An anti-Mormon family from Utah got into the temple and disrupted everything.  It seems this is something they do-travel to disrupt.  Sad.

I worked the rest of the week and both Mark and I worked on Saturday, staying until everything closed up.  It was close to nine.  There were huge groups that came in all day on Saturday and we were busy all day.  I did take a lunch break though and ran over to Panera for some soup and salad (and a carrot cake cupcake, yum!)

The most heartwarming thing that happened was two young men were waiting for their friend, a young woman, to show up for a tour.  She said she would come, but they waited and waited.  Finally just as the last tour was beginning, a cart came flying over with her and one of the guys in it.  She had finally come!  I was so relieved.  They had waited for her for over 1 1/2 hours.  It almost made me weep with gratitude for them.

This open house has meant so much to all of us as members!  Many of us invited our friends and family members to come and see what the temple is all about, to help them understand and hopefully to invite them to learn more.  We are so blessed to have this temple here and it has been an honor for me to have been a part of this wonderful open house.  When it was all said and done, I heard there were 45,000 people who came through during that three weeks.  I will get an accurate count for the history.

At the end of each tour, an exit tent was available with missionaries who answered any questions.  No one was allowed to proselyte, only answer questions.  People were encouraged to write their comments and impressions of the temple on comment cards.  We received 5,000 comment cards and 500 of those asked for the missionaries to teach them.  Awesome!

The Temple Open House was an amazing experience, but after three intense weeks we were all relieved to have it come to an end.

These photos are courtesy of my friend Margie Hathaway.  Thanks Margie!

Bishop Brown from the Fort Lauderdale Ward and Harrison Barrus 

President Fermin Acevedo, of the Mission Presidency.  He was in charge of the Exit tent.  He was one who helped me so much on the chandeliers on the temple and he also helped with the Cultural Celebration.  He's always so willing to serve!  What an awesome, humble man!

Fort Lauderdale Mission President and Sister Anderson.  They're awesome!

President and Sister Baugus.  I believe they were over the open house, then they were called to be the Temple President and Matron of the Fort Lauderdale Temple.

President and Sister Rincon served as tour guides.  He is in the Fort Lauderdale Stake Presidency.

Sister LeBaron and Sister Gordon served in the welcome tents.  They are also teaching our friends.

The sister missionaries served in each of the welcome tents, welcoming and showing the introductory video.

Epcot and the Keys

Mark and I drove to Orlando Monday afternoon to spend the next day or two with President and Sister Berry (Mike and Beth Ann), Mary Alice and Kim and Dad.  We enjoyed a nice dinner with grilled hamburgers with all the trimmings.  

Because the mission home is set up for missionaries to stay when they first arrive, we ended up sleeping in twin beds.  Dad, however was given the GA room (General Authority) with its connecting bathroom.  It's just as well.  Between Allie and Kim and Mark and I was a connecting bathroom.  It was just fine.

Tuesday, we spent the day at Epcott.  I love Epcot.  It is one of our favorite places at Walt Disney World.  I think everyone had a great time.  We talked Dad into getting a wheelchair.  I think he was really glad he did because even on our way from the car, he was having a hard time walking.  I know he enjoyed the day much more because he didn't have to walk everywhere.

I have to say that since my experience at Harry Potter World, I've been leery about doing the rides that tell you if you have motion sickness not to ride them.  Mark has stopped going on those kinds of rides too.  I think we missed some fun.  Dad was a real good sport and rode on everything everyone else did.  He would come back and tell us it wasn't that bad.  And it probably wasn't, but since Mark wouldn't go on the rides,   I usually stayed with him.  Neither of us wanted to risk feeling miserably sick.  We still had a really good time.  

Having fun in Norway

We grabbed up some space for the fireworks and then Mark noticed a family with a couple of kids in back of us trying to see, so he invited them to come in front of us so they could really see the fireworks.  We had a nice conversation with the parents.  The family is from England.  He told us when his mother died, she left money for her grandchildren so they could come specifically to see Walt Disney World.  They had waited quite a few years for their children to become old enough to enjoy being there.  They were having a wonderful time.  It was such a pleasure to talk with them.  There are so many wonderful, friendly people from all over!  They really appreciated us letting their kids stand in front of us so they could see.

Of course, the fireworks were magnificent!

Wednesday, we went to the Orlando temple before heading home.  The others were staying until Thursday and were headed to the Church's Ranch for a tour.  It was business as usual for President and Sister Berry. 

Thursday, Mark and I spent the day driving to the Keys:  Key Largo and all the way down to Key West.  It's been on my bucket list of things I wanted to do before going home, so I was really glad we finally got to go.  I got some great pictures.  We had a lot of fun seeing things and I think we got a pretty good idea what Key West is all about.  We toured through Ernest Hemingway’s home. 

Ernest Hemingway's writing room

We climbed this lighthouse.  This is a view from Hemingway's second story balcony.

They were partial to cats.  They had one with six toes and now there are many cats from the original that is on the property.  This picture is of a ceramic cat made by Picasso and given as a gift.   The original was stolen or broken (I can't remember).  I believe this is a replica.

We went to the lighthouse we saw from the balcony of the Hemingway house.  It was originally right on the ocean, but over time is now about one mile inland.  Amazing, huh?  There is a nice museum and gift shop.  We both started to climb the 77 steps to the top, but Mark got part way up and could go any farther.  He kept looking down.  I concentrated on looking at the stairs so I was able to get to the top.  I have to admit it was a bit freaky being up so high, but there was no danger.  The rail was wired on top so no one could fall off.  The freakiness was all in my mind.  It was a great view!  I got a shot of the southernmost end of Florida.  The sign said Cuba was only 90 miles away.

Views from the top of the lighthouse.

The tip of Florida as seen from the lighthouse.   Cuba is only 90 miles away.

Looking down from the top of the lighthouse.

I took this after I got down to the bottom.

Isn't that tree cool?  What an awesome looking tree!  This was where I found Mark waiting for me after I came out of the lighthouse.

  He posed with this statue lady depicting the olden days.

It was a warm day.  The last thing we did before we drove by the beaches was we found a homemade ice cream parlor and went inside to have something.  It was delicious!

I thought this house was interesting.

This is a picture of the marker of the southernmost point of the continental United States.  It's quite a landmark, so there was naturally a lineup of people wanting their picture taken.  I found this one on the Internet.  I'm grateful to whoever took it.

What was really cool was driving across the bridges that connect the keys where the Atlantic is on one side and the Gulf of Mexico is on the other.  It makes me wonder how deep it is right there and was it very difficult to build those water bridges?  It was interesting to think of the two oceans mingling underneath us.  There was one water bridge that was seven miles long!

I think this is the seven mile bridge.

The old bridge.

We just spent the day there and got home late that night.  I tell you, if I had to drive we’d never make it home!  I just cannot stay awake!  Maybe it’s all that Coke Mark drinks.

The sign for Key Largo says it’s the diving capital of the world.  I was looking on the internet and there’s some pretty interesting information.  I did not know that ships had been deliberately sunk so a new coral reef could grow.   I’m so glad we went. What a fun day!

  

Public Open House Begins

 The public open house started Saturday the 29th.  We brought our landlords,  Henry and Dina Flesch.  We've become quite good friends with them and they have expressed a desire to hear more about the Church.  They were so impressed with everything and expressed how beautiful everything was and how they felt something so special in the temple.  Dina is from Columbia and still struggles with her English, so Henry talked with her in Spanish a lot throughout the tour.   When she looked into the mirror in the sealing room and saw "eternity", her jaw dropped.  I think we all felt the Spirit.  It was a really nice experience for all of us.

Afterwards we took them out to dinner.  The introductory video talked about the persecution the Saints suffered.  I think Henry was shocked.  Of course he had no knowledge of any of that.  We were able to talk about the Church with them.  We are hoping to have the missionaries visit them soon.

After dinner we were invited into their home to visit for awhile.  It was such a lovely evening.  We're planning to get together one last time at Menchie's (frozen yogurt) before we leave.

VIP Week

So much preparation went into the Fort Lauderdale Temple open house!  The VIP week was March 24th through March 28th.  During that week, we enjoyed having political dignitaries, religious leaders, the temple construction workers and their families, neighbors (from across the temple), the media, etc.  

I worked in the hospitality tent, where they served a variety of cookies and bars and punch.  Around lunch sandwiches, veggies or fruit was brought in.   I thought it was a lovely gesture for those coming that special first week.  It made a very good impression after their tour of the temple.  And was greatly appreciated as well.

Mark's dad and sister and brother-in-law also came during that week on Wednesday from Idaho to see the temple.   They flew into Orlando and drove down.  Dad stayed with us and Allie and Kim had a motel room.

I made dinner at home for everyone that night:  lasagne, parmesean toast and salad.  Mark had to be at the temple, so we ate without him.

We met up with Darin Zwick from Zwick Construction.  His company had partnered up with Suffolk in building the temple.  It was interesting to be with his group because between Mark and Darin, we not only heard the spiritual aspects of the temple, they talked about the construction aspects.  Elder Kent Richards from the Temple Department was our tour guide.  One of the fun things was we went all over the temple, which is not normally allowed on the tours.  We went into the administration area, into the girl's baptismal bathroom, downstairs into all the rooms there.  When we got to the Celestial room, I had an opportunity to share the experiences I had with the people who had come to help me hang the crystals on the chandeliers.  There were a couple of times, particularly in the Celestial room and the sealing room that we were enjoying it so long, one of the ushers asked us to leave because other tours were trying to get in.

There is a beautiful video shown before the beginning of the tour that sets the mood so wonderfully, explaining why we build temples.  I'll tell you, when I saw that first shot of our temple, knowing what all has taken place to build it, it brought tears to my eyes and I could see that Mark was feeling a lot of emotion too.  The Spirit is so strong inside the temple too.

Afterwards, Darin invited us to join them for lunch at Antonio's.  It's a coal fired pizza place.  The other people in our group were John Eyring (President Eyring's son), Mark and Debra Bateman (Elder Bateman's son and daughter-in-law) and Eric Calder and his wife, who work for Darin.  Mark and I sat next to John during lunch and enjoyed getting to know him.  His mannerisms remind me of President Eyring.  We had a wonderful lunch and it was fun meeting everyone.

Dad Berry, me, Mark, Allie and Kim Taylor

Darin Zwick, Dad Berry, Kim and Allie Taylor, Mark, me, John Eyring, Eric Calder and his wife, Debra and Mark  Bateman

After lunch our party went back to the apartment and changed.  We all went to the Everglades for an airboat ride.  I thought it was really fun and our captain (Don) did a good job trying to show us as much of the wildlife of the Everglades as he could, beside telling us about the Everglades themselves.  It seems that water flows throughout the Everglades, even under the sawgrass.  We saw a couple of alligators, some buzzards, a heron and several other birds.

Captain Don had been able to train a couple of the birds to take popcorn from him-one especially would come when he called and would climb on his arm to take the popcorn from his mouth.  He told us this bird used to dig her claws into his arm and peck his mouth and make it bleed, but over time she has stopped doing that.  He is the only one she is so gentle with.

He told us once he was sitting on the edge of the boat talking with the people when this bird started chattering excitedly-warning chatters.  He didn't pay attention to her and continued to chat with his passengers.  Finally he glanced back and to the side and saw a huge alligator headed towards his backside with it's jaws wide open.  She saved his life that day!

The air boat's propellers are in the back instead of in the water.  this is perfect because the propellers in the water would get tangled in the foilage and could damage wildlife as well.  When the captain revs up the motor, these boats are really LOUD!

One nice thing was when those on one side saw some wild life, he would turn the boat around so the other side could see it clearly too.

There was an alligator show we could have seen, but Mark was meeting Steve Pineau, who was the first project manager from Suffolk for the temple, so we needed to leave, which was fine.

As we were riding through the Everglades, I thought and marveled at the beauty and diversity of this amazing work we've been provided with.  Tod truly had our happiness in mind when He created this beautiful work.  He wants us to be happy-to appreciate His handiwork.  "Men are that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25)
Here are some pictures (Thanks Kim):

Buzzards

See the alligator?

That waterway will go on for 25 miles!

Mark was still at the temple, but Dad wanted to take us out for dinner, so after resting for awhile, we went to Outback and had a really nice dinner.

I worked at the temple the next morning.  Dad, Allie and Kim were headed back to Orlando.  They were staying with President and Sister Berry at the mission home.  We would be spending a couple of days with them next week.

Turnover

The temple was turned over to the temple department on February 19th.

I ran a gamut of emotions for the last couple of weeks before turnover  between depression and discouragement to elation and joy.  Some of it had to do with everything that was going on at the temple. 

It was interesting to me the things that went wrong the last few weeks before the temple was turned over.  It got to be that something new seemed to be going wrong almost every day!  I finally just had to laugh—it all seemed so over-the-top!

I know to Mark it was no laughing matter, however.  He has been so incredibly stressed out!  And he worked so long and hard to get everything ready for turnover, as did so many others.

I wrote him this email one morning after my morning prayers.  This message seemed so appropriate:

In part it read:

"As I was praying this morning and it started to rain hard, I just had to laugh because here was another obstacle being thrown in your path! 

"I was reading today in the Book of Mormon about the incident where Nephi's bow breaks and he is unable to provide food for his family.  In the student manual, a quote from Elder Richard G. Scott caught my attention.  I hope this will encourage you:

'May I share some suggestions with you who face the testing that a wise Heavenly Father determines is needed even when you are living a worthy, righteous life and are obedient to His commandments. (Personal emphasis added)

'Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously.  (That's for sure!)  'When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Proverbs 3:11-12).  He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion, which polishes you for your everlasting benefit.  To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain' (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 16-17)

"It may be that these experiences are just what are needed for the next temples you will work on-as hard and frustrating as it is right now...  I know this will all work out.  I know you will do your best as you always do.  I am thinking of you and my prayers are with you."

(mushy stuff deleted)

Throughout this time I enlisted the faith and prayers of our family.  I'm grateful for their love and support and prayers.  I believe they really helped.

I went in to the temple on the Friday before turnover to clean the inside and I couldn't believe what was happening.  Sidewalks were torn up, plastic everywhere outside, a big dumpster onsite, crews everywhere, the font torn apart.  I walked into the Celestial room and saw everything covered in plastic and I started to cry. 

Everyone worked hard all weekend, including me cleaning.  By the time everyone came on Wednesday for the turnover, a miracle had taken place.  Everything was cleaned up, a crew was working on the outside making sure trash was cleaned up, but the sidewalks were finished and the inside was completely cleaned.  The font was still torn apart in one area where the leak is located, but everything looked great.

I had gone back and forth on whether or not I should go over to be at the temple during the turnover and tour, but in the end, I felt it was important for me to go as a show of support for Mark.  I’m really glad I went.  It meant a lot to him and I think it meant a lot to Cory Karl and Bill Smith.  They both give me hugs and Cory always puts his arm around me and tells me how much he loves Mark and “when is he going to learn Spanish?”  (They are now over all of the international temples and special projects).

After everyone got there, we met in the chapel for the main meeting.  We opened with a prayer, and then Mark went over everything, answering questions.  He did everything with confidence, even though he’s never done a turnover for a temple before.  Cory told him he did great!

Those that were there that day included the temple department, ecclesiastical side, the temple department building side and Suffolk head guys, including a couple of vice presidents.

Everyone was so complimentary and pleased with how beautiful everything was.  Through all of this I took pictures and watched Mark.  I see how he has grown throughout this process and I am so proud of him!

An appreciation lunch had been arranged at “Brimstone Wood Fire Grill” restaurant for our construction group and Suffolk’s leadership group.  It went very well.

I went on home after the lunch, and Mark and the others went back to the temple to discuss what more needed to be done.

That evening, we ended up at an Argentinean beef restaurant- a small place, but the food was awesome!  It was a wonderful, relaxing evening.  We stayed for quite a while just visiting—a celebration dinner for sure.

We have been asked to stay until after the dedication.  I was a little surprised, but of course I said it was fine.  I had geared myself up to go home in March or April, so the next day I was down a bit but I just needed to readjust. 

I’m fine now.  Mark will be flying out every week to Hartford one week, then to Salt Lake the next.  I will be alone four days out of the seven, but he has things he has to get going on.  It will give me a chance to really work on the history.  If I stay busy, I should be okay.

Mark continues to go to the temple when he's here. When the temple president and recorder finally come on, he may end up working at home. 

I had the opportunity to fly to Salt Lake with Mark on the 28th of January.  He flew back for business, but Gabe was getting baptized that weekend, so I came too.  It was so great to see the kids and grand kids.  The baptism was nice and we had a lovely family get together afterwards.  I'm really looking forward to going home and spending more time with family.  Lyndsay's mom, Melody and her lovely grandma was there too.  My kids are so lucky to have such great in-laws.

Jonathan and Gabe

Jonathan, Lyndsay, Gabe, Reagan and Felicity

Two of my lovely granddaughters:  Maisen and Celeste Dailey.  My camera died after that, so there were no more pictures.

The air conditioning in our Jeep died.  The weather hasn’t been terrible, but it has been uncomfortable driving the car without air and just rolling the windows down.It's not the first thing that has gone wrong.  The CD player died quite a while ago. The windshield is pitted, the side driver's mirror needs replacing, and it has been overheating sometimes.   We finally realized with everything that has gone wrong with the car the last little while that it was finally time to get a new one.  The jeep had 154,000 miles on it and we have had it for 10 years.  It's been a great car, but it really was time. 

We bought a Chrysler Town and Country van.  It seats seven.  We decided on a van because we know when we get home we will want to take kids and grandkids places.  We had talked about buying a regular car to travel home in and then getting a van in Utah, but then we asked ourselves why?  It was a long drawn out process, but we settled on one fairly quickly; it was just the process of getting the price down, then the financing and everything else.  We left to go around 5 and didn’t finish until about 10:00!  Everyone who helped us were awesome!

We love our new van!  It has some great features including doors that open and shut themselves and Bluetooth, plus a lot of other features I haven’t figured out yet.  We have a free year of Sirius radio.  I’m going to really enjoy that.  Mark says we should get a sign on the back that reads "Grandma's Taxi", but I think it should be Grandpa's taxi.