Our family has made a rule to attend the Temple each month.
This was an easier task when we lived in Provo; Temples were close
and moresical effort was madeneededget to them.
When we moved to the ranch, the closest Temple was in Albuquerque
which was 1 1/2 hours away and made Temple
attendance for us a little bit trickier, but we made it work.
and serve inside the Temple, too; we have decided to make it a family event,
meaning we all go- I mean all of us! Angus included!
We have a temple here in North Carolina, but it is under
construction at the moment- and will be for the next year
which means the closest Temple to us is in
South Carolina- 3 hours and 40 minutes away.
We packed blankets, snacks, games, markers, paper, whiffle bat, and
balls, and with a simple temple plan, we hoped to execute
our Thursday as follows:
10:00- Leave home
12:30- Eat at Whole Foods in Charlotte, NC
3:30 -Arrive at the Columbia, South Carolina Temple,
change clothes, and scout out a park for kids to play in
(across the street from the Temple).
4:30- Begin Temple service (session) with Christian
6:50- Done
7:00- Claire, Jane, and Oliver serve (Baptisms for the Dead).
8:00- Finish work, head to our favorite pizza joint for a quick dinner
8:45- On the road back home.
12:30- arrive home.
We knew it was going to be a late night,
but we knew that the Little Nies probably would sleep in the car most of the way.
We've done that before; no big deal.
Is this plan what happened?
No.
Everything was going smoothly, and we
were on schedule until after Mr. Nielson, and I left our temple session.
I went to turn on the car A/C so I could change out of
my nice clothes and into my street clothes in the back of the car.
It wouldn't start.
I tried again. Click. Click.
Then it started to rain.
We had discovered that while Christian and I were in the Temple,
the Little Nies had watched a movie in the car with A/C blowing,
the doors open, and the lights on. It drained the battery lickity-split.
Lottie, Nicholas, and I played about 50 rounds
of Guess Who in a hot car with Angus
asleep in a cool puddle of rain in the parking lot.
When the older children finished their work in the Temple,
it was later than expected, and by this time,
most of the other patrons had left the Temple.
Stuck in a muggy parking lot, we circled together, and Mr. Nielson said a prayer.
We expressed our gratitude to God that we had made it
to the Temple and asked Him to help us get home.
We managed to ask a wonderful older couple who had just walked out
the doors for the night if they had jumper
cables to help us wake up our car.
They did!
We tried! We failed!
We called AAA!!
The day had turned into night, and the humidity was heavy.
Around 10:00, AAA showed up in an empty
parking lot with 5 hungry children, a restless dog, and two tired parents.
The good news: we got a new battery.
The bad news: it was now almost 11:00.
More bad news: no pizza for dinner.
Better news: we drove into the Krispy Kreme drive-in and
ordered 2 dozen donuts for dinner.
We finally made it home at 2:30 in the morning.
We will never forget this trip and can't wait to do it again next month.
