Volunteers

 

Saturday June 13th Cory and I were able to volunteer and help out at the Temple Open House. Cory's assignment was parking, and mine was an usher at tent 3. What an awesome experience we both had. It was a very stormy day, and Cory headed out to his assignment in the rain. Kenzie was a little worried. "Is dad going to be okay?" she asked me. I said he would be just fine. He is serving the Lord. As Cory's group got updated and ready to go and and work, they were told that Moroni had been hit by lightning. WOW!!! Moroni did his job protecting the temple. (see pics below) At our Thursday night orientation we had been encouraged to be kind and willing to accept all those that came to see the temple, reservation or not, church dress or not. There had been feedback given to President Monson that people were being turned away because they didn't have a reservation etc. It was sad for us to hear that that had happened, but our Stake President told us in that meeting that he knew that our Stake would not be that way. To go out and serve all with open arms and hearts. Because Cory was doing parking he would be the first person people entering at his location would come in contact with. He shared with me the neat experiences he had. There were several that drove in (he was assigned the main entrance to the temple)and didn't have a reservation. All asked, we don't have a reservation, is that a problem? Of course the answer was no. One family was late for there reservation time, and they had a van load of hungry kids. Cory said, don't worry, you go get your family fed and come back. We will let you in. Another car pulled in, they had just taken their daughter to Provo, were driving by and wondered if they could go through the temple without a reservation...absolutely. He had so many other great experiences as well, just standing there at the main gate, welcoming and directing traffic. I had the opportunity to be an Usher at tent 3. There are 5 tents showing a 12 minute video on temples, and a little history of South Jordan. Patrons go to the tents first to see the video before they walk through the temple. I was on the north side of the temple and posted at the first place people would come to from the parking lot. Tent 3 was designated as the Spanish Speaking tent, or if there wasn't a need for spanish, we would show english as well. We filled the tent 3 times with spanish speaking patrons. An entire spanish speaking branch came together to go through the temple. It was such a special experience, greeting all those that passed by me, welcoming them to the temple, and directing them where they needed to go, even if it was to the bathrooms. It was so fun to be there with other ward members, carpooling over, and working side by side. Cory and I look forward to serving again the end of July.