Temple Excursion

On the way to our 3rd new convert temple excursion we ran into the streets lined with people to see Pope Benedict. He was traveling up town from St. Patricks's Cathedral to Yankee stadium in the Bronx. Thousands of people had lined the west side of Central Park waiting for his motorcade to pass by. We were on the bus headed across town thru Central Park to the temple as we passed the parade of people. The throngs of people were amazing. It reminded me of when we go to General Conference in SLC. But there is a difference; we are all dressed in church clothes in reverent respect, not waving flags in street clothes and yelling and clapping.

As we were on the subway heading for the temple, Frederica, the new convert, and I were discussing all the people in New York for the Popes visit and saying how we just didn't understand the hoopla as he was just a man and how different it was, all the fanfare, showtime and media excitement, than from what happens when we go see our prophet. The lady sitting next to us became quite offended and stood up and said you don't understand because you are not Catholic and walked to a different place on the subway. Frederica piped up with: "Have a nice day."

It was a wonderful afternoon. Four of our young women and some of their leaders came with us with their husbands, along with the Elders who baptized Frederica. (And everyone was dressed in their best).

Just a side note: We woke this morning at 6:00 am to the smell of gas. Called Con-edison, the gas company, they were here with in a half hour. Found out our stove has a leak in a valve somewhere. He turned off the gas and told us to call a repair guy. So we won't have anyway to cook until Monday.