Semana Santo

This has been a very tiring and very, very spiritual week. As the title indicates to those of you who speak Spanish this was the Holy Week. It began with about twenty-two members from Haiti coming in a bus last Tuesday. On Wednesday I gave Own Endowment Instruction to eight wonderful, sweet, humble sisters who were there for the first time. The are so humble and anxious to learn. The look so beautiful in all white and they thought my Spanish was good. That shows how humble they are. They stayed here on the temple grounds until early this morning (Saturday). As I was walking over to the temple this morning at 5:15 am they were boarding a bus that would take them back to Haiti. I'm sure the temple and the surrounding grounds were like the Garden of Eden to them. They came every morning and again in the evening. They brought their own family names to do. Some on pieces of paper napkin and the Family History Center would help them get the names temple ready so they could go over and do all the ordinances for their loved ones. They would sit in the Celestial Room and not want to leave and we would be very hesitant to close until they had 'supped' their fill. Oh, how we take for granted what we are blessed with. Many brought children and they would play around the temple grounds until their parents were through. I'm sure they felt very safe here. We would pass by the MTC cafeteria and see the families sitting around the tables with their children. It would bring tears to my eyes. (But then at my age reading the phone book brings tears to my eyes!!!)
Then on Good Friday, yesterday, the temple was opened for three extra sessions. All the stores were closed and the city was deserted. It was great driving around. Except we had to go out to one of the larger stores to get ham as we am hosting a potluck dinner tomorrow evening and we are furnishing the ham (again). Inside the stores it was like the day before Thanksgiving or Christmas. Crowds everywhere-that is why they were not on the streets!
We had large crowds in the temple in the morning. Then at one o'clock we drove out to the airport and, wonder of all wonders, we picked up our second counselor and his wife and another temple missionary couple. How we have waited for this day. In fact, I teared up at the sight of them (like the phonebook!) We will have a complete presidency for 4 weeks and then our first counselor is released to go home and we start all over again.
Today we were on the morning shift, arrived at the temple at 5:00 am and there were crowds all morning long. There were more people than we have seen since we arrived. We finally shuffled home about 2:30 and collapsed. I think this is the tiredest we have been since we got here. But it was so worth it.
I think the moral of all this is please don't take for granted what you have in the way of your families, your homes, the luxury of having temples close by and all that that stands for and means to us as an eternal family. We can get in our cars and drive to the temple, do a session and be home in about 2-3 hours. These people sit on buses with their whole families and come to the temple once every six months if they can afford it. They have to pay to get out of their country and then pay to get back in. They are so patient and just want to absorb all that they can to last them until next time. Some can't afford to bring children to be sealed to them this first time but will later.
We wish you all a very happy Easter. We will be thinking of you and knowing that you will be with loved ones and enjoying your day. You with younger children probably had an easter egg hunt today or this evening. Dad and I did too. We walked around the temple grounds, each with a plastic bag, and picked up the trash left by our visitors. (If there is a fault in this land it is the trash). We picked the grounds clean though and now the Garden of Eden is back the way it should be for the Lord. We love you all. Mom, Grandma, Di