Open House for temple construction workers

Saturday we slept in after a wonderful and late night at the Institute. The Temple Open House started in the morning. The next two weeks are by invitation only, then there will be three weeks open to the public. This day was dedicated to those who worked on the temple construction over the years, letting the workers bring their families to take the tour. Apparently about 2000 people signed up. It started in the morning, but we signed up to help from noon until it finished at 4pm. On the way there we stopped and rinsed off the car, which was pretty dirty; I just didn't feel right showing up at the temple with the car looking like that. It was chilly but sunny, without wind, so it actually felt pretty good outside. 

At first we helped gather groups together as they entered the new stake center next to the temple. There were six rooms where each group would start with a brief video explaining about temples, with two young sister missionaries leading the group. We stood in the entryway and welcomed folks, separating them into groups by language (Italian and English), then directed them into a room as it became available. Local Italian members were the actual tour guides for the temple once the video was over. They waited in the chapel for their turn to lead a group. It all went pretty smoothly. We didn't get to see inside the temple this time, though we had been guests on a dry run last month. I got dragged aside for a while to do tech support for the Walkers, here from Frankfurt to help with the open house. Their wireless printer wasn't working. I gave up on the wireless connection after a while and just hooked up a USB cable to get it going.

After a while the Pickerds asked us to go to the Visitors Center and help there, just mingling, answering questions, directing people, etc. There was a room where you could have your picture taken, in front of a big photo of the temple on the wall, and emailed to you, so we did that too. 

It was fun to visit with people from all over, mostly locals but also a bunch of Americans. Brother Fenn, who spent over six years here helping manage construction on the temple, is going home Sunday; this was his chance to meet all the construction workers and craftsmen he knew, so he was having a great day. Elder Bednar, one of our Apostles, showed up with his wife in the mid-afternoon and went around greeting everyone. All the senior missionary couples from the northern part of our mission were there, along with the young sisters, plus tons of local members, many of whom we now know. It was a nice afternoon. The entire complex is beautiful, and quality of workmanship at the temple is incredible, as always.

By the time it was over, my feet were really tired from standing. We hadn't known whether we would be inside or outside, so I came prepared with a sweater under my suit coat and thermal underwear under my suit pants. Once it was clear we would be inside, off came the sweater, making me much more comfortable. On the way home, we stopped at Lidl to get some groceries. Dee went in while I rested my feet in the car. She got some wonderful bread and a microwaveable soup with rice, quinoa, and veggies, so we had a warm, quick feast when we got home. Then we got to stay home for the evening, preparing for our Sunday activities.

The Open House has begun. The next few weeks will be very busy for everyone here, which means it will go fast.

There was a man sitting in front of the stained glass art in the visitor's center. I sat to talk with him and found out that his wife's face was used for the Widow of Nain in the piece. She died too young, 13 months ago, and he was pretty broken up. The artist put all the parables and miracles of Jesus together. It's really great. I want to get the book that is coming out shortly. Anyway, Jim Moss was very interesting and knew a lot about the piece. I found out there are 19 physical objects, including a 2000 year old coin from Jerusalem, which is in the fish's mouth.