TEMPLE EXCURSION

Sunday, March 01, 2009 Yesterday morning early, Judy and I headed out for Las Vegas via St. George. Our friend Julie Bird along with family and friends did a four p.m. endowment session in the Las Vegas Temple. By the time we reached St. George we were way early so we shopped for quite a while at the mall. Judy bought herself a new purse at a deeply discounted price at Dillard’s. I mostly walked around Dillard’s and the rest of the mall. I have been really weak from this diet Judy, Corey and I have been on the last three weeks, so I did my share of sitting as well as the walking. I have lost twenty-five or more pounds in three weeks so I am not complaining. Three more weeks of shots then three more days of strict dieting then I don’t remember how long of a modified diet. I have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After the mall, we went to Deseret Book on Bluff where we bought a plaque with a saying inscribed over an etching of the Savior for Julie. We got her a card also. In addition to that, we got a card for our granddaughter Bailey’s baptism next Saturday and I got a book by Robert L. Millet entitled “What Happened to the Cross? Distinctive LDS Teachings”. Brother Millet is my favorite LDS scholar now that Hugh Nibley has died. I see Brother Millet on BYUTV often, especially in a scriptural roundtable series. What a mind! From Deseret Book we checked into the Wingate Hotel just off the mile marker four exit and took our suitcase, my CPAP machine etc up to the room then got a cutup chicken breast at a Hawaiian restaurant next-door to the hotel to share. Oh that diet. We then headed out for Las Vegas. Thanks to my Tom Tom GPS device finding were we were going was a breeze and we zoomed right to the temple with all the twists and turns it takes to get there. We got to the temple two hours before the session so we walked around the public areas and enjoyed the ambiance there. Then we sat in the car and I at least took an hour or so nap. My eyes especially were tired from six hours or so of driving. I really like the Las Vegas Temple. I think it is prettier than the Mount Timpanogos Temple, the one we usually go to, though I prefer some features of the Timpanogos Temple better. After the session we went to Julie’s daughter Angie’s house to visit and have an informal bite to eat. Angie gave us her address at the temple so, again, thanks to Tom Tom; we were able to drive right to her house. After maybe an hour we excused ourselves and drove back to St. George where we spent the night. This morning early I sat in the hotel’s hot tub for ten minutes or so then we packed up and drove back home to Saratoga Springs in plenty of time before going to church.