2/25/2018 Leaves, Trees and Temple

A great picture with the Statue of Liberty we had not seen before.  It reminded us of the picture of Kenyon and Marianne's family with the twin towers in the background not long before 9/11.

Apparently Florida has two "falls" as far as the leaves - in a warmer climate like this, some trees lose their leaves in the fall and others in the spring.  It is fun to see the leaves falling slowly through the air and to see them dancing across parking lots and then be able to shuffle through them - and not be cold at all.  You can even get a bit of a shuffle sound when you scuff through them. 

Another "every squirrel in the Grand Canyon"  - this time trees - and Gainesville has plenty  They kind of look alike but each is a little bit different.  One of the young men from here served his mission in Boise, Idaho, called the City of the Trees.  He said he had to smile - 

"City of Trees?  not really -- I'm a Florida boy."

Our favorite - across the street from the Institute building.

Coral snakes in Florida -- the kids said they are taught this rhyme young

Red on black - friendly Jack

Red on yellow - deadly fellow

We'll stay away from both.

There is something exciting and impressive about people's creativity, like Chris & Nicky Miller's school bus conversion. (Nevada)

And what we saw in the Orlando Temple parking lot last Saturday.  Unfortunately we didn't get to meet those it belonged to.  There is a solar panel on top.

 The white box on the right top is water and has a a hand held shower .  Below you can see the curtain rod for the shower curtain better.  The door can be opened top or bottom or all.  The A/C is at the top left.  There is also a lantern, a wash bucket and a ladder.

 The box at the front is a generator.  Wish we could have seen the inside.

  We called Claudia to get a name for me to take to the temple but when we got there they had to have her membership number so I just picked one up from the Gainesville Stake drawer.  I "just happened" to get  one submitted by Ellie Gordon, who, even though she is a young married, comes to institute occasionally because her husband is deployed.  She also is a first cousin to one of our missionaries so we know her pretty well. After I sat down, I noticed that I was born on Florence's (the name I had) birthday, exactly fifty years later.  When it was time to go through the veil, Ellie "just happened" to come in with the other veil workers and I "just happened" to go through her veil.  One of those tender mercy moments for me and Ellie - and probably for Florence too.

 
Our Institute secretary, Elaine May, told of one of her experiences at the temple.  In her family file, she had three sisters, but she could only take two down to the temple, so she left the youngest sister's name home.  She is a temple worker and when she was on her second assignment that morning, the temple matron came to her with a name slip, saying "You must have dropped this, it has your name on it as the submitter," and handed her the card with the youngest sister's name on it.  Three sisters, who did not bring names with them, came in so she was able to give them the three sister's to be done in the same session.

We'll close with these thoughts on temples:

Every Temple Built Lessens
the Power of Satan on the Earth
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George Q. Cannon (First Presidency) Every foundation stone that is laid for a Temple, and every Temple completed...lessens the power of Satan on the earth, and increases the power of God and Godliness. ("The Logan Temple," Millennial Star, Nov. 12, 1877, 743)

John A. Widstoe (Quorum of the Twelve) There never yet has been a time in the history of the world when temple work has increased without a corresponding increase in the opposition to it.  Some three or four years after the pioneers came to this valley, President Brigham Young said it was time to begin the building of a temple; and some of the old timers here will probably remember that thousands of the Saints dreaded the command, because they said, "Just as soon as we lay the cornerstone of a temple, all hell will be turned loose upon us and we will be driven out of the valleys."

      President Young thought that was true, but that they also would have, if temple work were undertaken, a corresponding increase in power to overcome all evil. Men grow mighty under the results of temple service; women grow strong under it; the community increases in power; until the devil has less influence than he ever had before.  The opposition to truth is relatively smaller if the people are engaged actively in the ordinances of the temple.  (Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Vol XII, 1921, 49-64)