Upon hearing the Salt Lake Temple (my faith's flagship building) would be closed for 4 years for renovations, I told Ben I wanted to fly out to attend a live session, which I had never done before. Audra quickly piped up, "I can go, too, and do baptisms!"
And so, our mother/daughter trip was set in motion!
The temple will be closed for 4 years, but will be open for the public for about 6 weeks to go through for an Open House when it reopens- anyone can tour it before it gets rededicated. So, start planning a trip in 2024 if you want to go inside. It's worth the trip!
We had a beautiful and deeply spiritual time--it was so great to experience this together. We brought our own family names, but we discovered that every Tuesday morning, President and Sister Nelson drop off their family names to do, so Audra also got to do 10 names for the Nelson family, with "Wendy McNevin Nelson" on the cards (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry! It's a little bit of "temple talk"). She was pretty excited about that.
Taking the bus and train to get to our flight!
Once in the security lines I pulled out my driver's license only to realize it had expired on my Birthday! I had a minor panic attack to say the least! But, thankfully, you can travel for one full year with an expired license! PHEW! But, as Ben said when I later called him, "you might be able to legally fly, but you can't legally drive." Whoops! But, we made it and were off!
We stayed at the Chrystal Inn and Suites, and I would highly recommend them. Their pillows weren't very comfortable, but the room itself was wonderful! Very clean, and really big.
We were only there a total of 36 hours, basically one full day. We somehow got lost finding the train stop which was only two blocks away but took us 20 minutes and asking several people for directions before we finally found it.
Once we got to Temple Square, we then couldn't figure out where to get inside. We went to the wrong place and had to go around the temple a couple times before we finally found the hidden door that goes to the baptistery. By the time we found it, I missed my session by 4 minutes and because it's a live endowment they only do sessions every hour. So, we decided to go walk around Temple Square for 30 minutes and then come back.
It was very much worth the wait- and the trip! The live session really touched me. I loved the paintings on the walls and spent most of my time observing the art. Words can't describe it. While I'm so grateful Audra and I got to go and have "just us" time, I wish Ben had been there for the session because it really was indescribable.
In the Celestial Room, there was a woman crying. I sat next to her and felt the strong impression that I should give her a hug- but, weird! Long story short, eventually she sat somewhere else, I kept feeling the impression, and I finally went up and said, "I Mknow this is weird, I don't hug random people. But, you look like you need a hug, so here's a hug." She later sought me out to thank me and said that she was praying that someone would hug her and notice her. I'm glad that the Lord trusted and blessed me with the prompting, and that I finally decided to follow it, even thought it took me awhile.
Meanwhile, Audra was waiting outside for me for at least an hour and a half! I knew I would be longer, so we planned a meeting place. And, we planned for her to go watch a concert in the old tabernacle- but she was too nervous to go by herself so she stayed outside by the statue waiting for me the whole time! But, she was so sweet- she said, "it was actually really nice to have some peaceful time to just think." This is why she is so AWESOME to travel with! I have told her a million times that she is my #1 travel buddy! She is flexible, has a positive attitude, makes the best of seemingly difficult situations- she really is the perfect travel companion!
We went to The Garden Restaurant on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for lunch. It was wonderful! I even let her order a special drink which she loved.
Can't complain about these views!
Joseph Smith Memorial Building:
Can you see Audra in this picture?
After the temple, we did A LOT! Tour of The Conference Center:
These pictures are all the originals, which was pretty awesome:
Audra loved it because we had a tour guide who treated Audra like a real little girl- "a 7 year old" as Audra calls it. She kept asking her super simple question like, "Who is this?" for a picture of Jesus Christ and such. It was pretty funny.
We went to the Relief Society Building
Some temple close-ups. I love this picture of Audra. She is so grown up.
Replica of the Liberty Jail:
Sandstone from the Kirtland Temple:
City Creek Mall and another Temple Square image:
I refused to go to a restaurant that we have in Denver. But, we couldn't find much so we finally just went to The Lion House Pantry. In the upstairs room Ben and I had our wedding reception, so that was fun:
After walking so much, we were glad to go sit in the hot tub for awhile to relax.
And then the next morning, we came back home.
It was an absolute whirlwind trip, and we loved every minute! I am so glad we did this. It is a trip that neither one of us will forget!
