This past week has been fun with finding connections to the past and, of course, making connections for the future. I always remember that Jon Bytheway coined the contents of the book of Isaiah as the three “C’s”; Christ, Current events and Coming events. As I read this book throughout the year, I like to identify these elements. These elements also can be parts of our lives. We can have Christ in our lives, we are experiencing current events and we look forward to coming events. As I am able to explain to patrons at the temple what makes temples so special, I am able to hear their feelings and thoughts on temples. Erik and I are fortunate to serve in the baptistry for the large bookings and we are blessed to meet so many youth and their leaders as well as their parents. Their journeys to Palymra always have interesting stories of faith and perserverance. Our patrons come from all over the United States as well as other parts of the world.

I was contacted by Duolingo (a language app that I use to study Spanish, French, & Russian). I was about to complete the Spanish course and they wanted me to be tested by an independant company to see what I have learned over the years. The test was overseen by a docent and was done on my laptop. I thought that it would be a good idea to see the results. The test took an hour and a half to do and involved, reading, writing, speaking and listening. One of my issues is that I don’t get enough conversation in Spanish to be able to improve my skills and the test results show that I am an intermediate learner. I earned a gift certificate for my time and am determined to keep practicing. I was looking for Spanish scriptures in large print, indexed and a leather cover. Not to be found in USA or Canada. What are other senior Spanish people using to read their scriptures? I opted for a Quad version in regular print. My English/Spanish Book of Mormon is in really small print and I need my readers in a well lit area. Onward and upward I go!

I met a young lady this past week who came from New Hampshire. Her last name was the same as a former missionary who served in the Olds Ward. What are the chances that they could be related? As we were wrapping us, I asked her if she had an uncle Shea. Yes, she did!!! I told her that he served part of his mission in my Ward in Alberta. He is married and has three children and became a lawyer. I sent Shea a message about meeting his niece and received a message with a fond memory of us. We were the last home in which he had a meal with members before returning home to New Hampshire. I asked him what he would like to eat and he gave me a menu. Shea wanted grilled cheese sandwiches, Caesar salad, clam chowder, and cheesecake for dessert. He still remembers that menu and was so happy to have been fed his favorite foods.

I also had the opportunity to meet a dad and daughter from Utah. They asked me where I was from and I said Alberta. I hope it’s safe to say Alberta to people from Utah. Most Americans don’t know where Alberta is. When I told them, the dad said that his daughter-in-law was from Airdrie. Her parents were Brent and Karen Forsyth. We worked with the Forsyths in the Calgary temple on the Saturday afternoon shift. I absolutely love them!

Erik and I took a trip to Auburn for me to get labwork done. It was a lovely drive and then the GPS took us right beside the Correctional Facility. I looked at the imposing grey walls with frequent guard towers and wondered what lay on the other side of those walls. I did some research and found some nasty facts that makes me shake my head. It was constructed in 1816 as the second prison in New York State. It is the site of the first electric chair execution in 1890. It’s also the namesake of the “Auburn System”, a correctional system in which prisoners were housed in solitary confinement in large rectangular buildings, and forced to participate in penal labor under silence that was enforced at all times. Auburn’s role in introducing the electric chair contributed greatly to the historicity of the prison as it was soon adopted by many other prisons for being considered more humane than hanging, despite initial controversy. At the time of the prison’s founding, it was the town of Auburn’s largest structure. The prison is among the oldest functional prisons in the United States.

In its early years, the prison charged a fee to tourists in order to raise funds for the prison. Eventually, to discourage most visitors, the fee was increased. In the 1840s, adult tourists paid twenty-five cents, whereas the children’s admittance fee was half the price. Tourists would be escorted through the prison’s factory floors and observe prisoners at work directly, or escorted through tunnels, and remain out of sight, allowing tourists to watch prisoners while they labored. The Auburn Prison attracted enormous amounts of tourists in the middle of the nineteenth century, which added to the town’s local economy and service industries. There is quite a lot of information on the system and how prisoners were kept. It was fascinating, nonetheless but unnerving.

We stopped at Reese’s Dairy Bar on the way home for a little treat. Wanda says that they have the best ice cream. Erik chose a Guava scoop and I chose a sundae. Not a good choice on my behalf; the ride home was a little uncomfortable as I obviously ate something that wasn’t good for me. It tasted really good though, hahaha!

We also stopped at BJ’s Wholesale Club which reminded us of the Real Canadian Wholesale Club. This one does require a membership like Costco. It might not be exactly what we need because there are many items that are definitely bulk and not one offs. It was interesting to see all the goods and see what was similar and yet different than Costco.

We had a very full week at the temple including Friday which we normally have as our day off. The days are counting down that where we won’t be getting big groups anymore as the youth head back to school. The temple president commented on how smoothly we (the temple missionaries) handle the groups. That’s a plus!

That’s how I try to live my life. While in the temple, we treat our patrons and fellow workers with love and kindness to foster a feeling of connectivity and welcome. I certainly make mistakes and try to make amends if needed. I had a situation this past week that hurt my heart. I went to the celestial room and told God that I just wanted my heart to be pure before Him. He responded with, “Your heart is pure before me, now carry on.”

Share your joy by being kind and loving; ten una buena semana (¡have a good week)!