Indianapolis Temple Open House

On Monday morning we hopped in the car around 7:50am and arrived at the Indianapolis Temple at 8:50am! The length of time and the ease of the trip is astounding and brings so much joy to my soul for the future; a true contrast to Chicago traffic. I cannot express my excitement and gratitude with adequate words that this will be our temple for the next four years.

Andrew, Emily and I went on the 9am tour of the temple. It is one of the most beautiful temples I have ever seen, with details of Indiana an intricate part of the temples decor and design. Emily did fairly well during the tour, but she wasn’t super interested in walking around so Andrew and I carried her most of the way. Once we stepped outside she had no problems running, even with the little booties on.

Our car wouldn’t start when we were trying to get home. We asked one of the parking attendants if there were jumper cables. They pulled out a little box that jumped our car in a few moments and we were on our way. We headed straight to autozone, which turned out to be a really good choice because the battery was dead and wouldn’t start at all when we got there. A new battery to end our temple tour trip.

On Wednesday morning I left at 6:20am with a neighbor so we could go help serve as ushers for the temple open house. I was in the temple from 8-1:15 helping give tours, walking groups from the recommend desk to the entrance of the brides room. It was  a unique blessing and privilege to be part of the Indianapolis Temple Open House, and to be inside the temple for that long. I was able to go into the offices and break rooms and admire the absolutely beautiful and unique artwork in between groups.  The tours picked up and I was amazed at how many people went on tours Wednesday morning.

The most exciting group I took through were Andrew’s cousins.  I had never met them in person before, but we had talked on the phone a few times and I knew of them.  When he asked, “Are you related to Andrew Jackson by any chance?” the pieces clicked and it was a super fun mini family reunion/meeting. The tours just happened to be backed up at that moment so we were able to talk for a few minutes during their tour before they moved into the next room.

While I was gone, Andrew and Emily had a full and busy day without me. They played with play dough and Andrew showed Emily how to build a circuit with play dough, a battery, and LED.  They went on a run together. And they did all sorts of other things until I got home at 3:15pm and then another 45 minutes after that while I let my body just rest. 

Side note: In the evening we got some Indiana sweet corn. Emily proudly carried her heavy corn home.

I am so grateful for temples and the blessings they provide for families. I’m grateful our family will be together forever and for the peace and comfort that knowledge brings through the trials and challenges we face here on earth.