Draper Temple

After moving to a new (for us) house in December, we were lucky enough to have moved from a stake in the Jordan River Temple District to a stake in the new Draper Temple District. This is particularly remarkable because our old stake borders our new stake. Yesterday, Joseph and I were able to be ushers in the open house for the Draper temple and it was a pretty amazing experience.

I was an usher in the Celestial Room and Joseph was an usher about 20 feet outside the door I was standing near. What a wonderful experience to stand in the Celestial Room for 3 hours! One of the many highlights of the day (and probably the best highlight!) was that Elder M. Russell Ballard came through the temple giving a tour to Martin Luther King III. When they came near to the Celestial Room, we waited for all the other guests to leave and held up the line behind them and they came into the room with their security personnel and then the doors were shut. It was just me, the other usher, and these two great men with their security in this amazing room for as long as they wanted to sit and enjoy it. How marvelous to be given that chance!

Then, at the end of our shift, we hurried home to drop Joseph off and then I went back and was able to play the piano for an hour for the guests at the stake center adjacent to the temple while they ate cookies, drank water, and looked at the beautiful pictures on display before loading the buses back to where they started. Another amazing opportunity! I am so glad that I was selected and able to do this wonderful service.