Temple Bucket List

A goal

without

a plan

is just

a wish

I have had a goal since my freshman year of college (2007) to visit every temple in Utah. All the temples between Provo and Logan were easy. I visited those in just a couple months. However, the outlying ones, Vernal, Manti, St. George, and Monticello, have been a little more difficult. Finally I realized something about goals.

If you make them happen, they do.

It just takes a little planning, a little determination, maybe a little time and money, but once you decide to just do it, it actually happens. So far this summer, I've accomplished more towards this goal than I have in the last six years. Granted, I was out of the country for one and a half of those last six years, but the point is, I let six years go by without making any progress toward a goal that took less than a few months when I actually buckled down.
So here's my progress:
I finally went to Vernal with my family. We visited all the dinosaur sites and made a weekend of it.

I finally went to Manti. I just grabbed Aubrie, Mary, and Chanel and drove down there. I don't know why it's taken me so long to get to Manti. I've lived in Provo for several years, and Manti is only an hour and a half away. I've been to Manti 3 times to see the pageant, but never had the opportunity to go inside.

It was such a beautiful day. I had a handful of family names that I helped my mom find and prepare for the temple. They were some of my German ancestors. My friends and I took the names to Manti and spent SEVEN hours in the temple. We did all the baptisms, confirmations, and initiatories for all of the women I had, then the endowment for four of them, and we were also able to do some sealings for Aubrie's family. It was a long day, but so rewarding to be able to spend a day performing every ordinance in sequence. I absolutely love the Manti temple. My mom has always said that the Spirit is stronger there, and I thought she just said that because that's where she was sealed to my dad. Well, it's true!
Maybe it is because that is where my eternal family began, but the Spirit there was stronger than I've ever felt it. It is the most beautiful temple I've ever been in. It's a true pioneer temple. I felt like I walked in just after it had been dedicated. So beautiful. (I also got to see the sealing room where my parents were sealed, and let me tell you, they must have spent six of the seven years that it took to build the Manti Temple just decorating that room.)

Then, just a few weeks after we went to Manti, Aubrie and I took a mid-week adventure/road trip down to St. George. We packed in hiking and letterboxing in Snow Canyon and all over town, Mary Poppins at the Tuachan theatre, and Love's Labour's Lost at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. But the highlight of the trip was the St. George Temple. We did initiatories and an some more endowments for my German ancestors, and it was wonderful.

So, now all I have left is the Monticello Temple (Until the Cedar City Temple is built and we'll have to take another trip down to Dixie). We planned to take a weekend and go to Monticello and then go camping in Moab, but we ran out of time before school started, so it will have to wait till I get a little break. But hey, I think I made some good progress this summer.

Sunny Florida

I spent a week with Joe, Heidi, Henry, and Amelia in Ormond Beach. Here are some highlights:Joe and Amelia and drip castle #1.

Joe and Henry and drip castle #2.
Me and Amelia enjoying the beach.

This lovely picture is in the jungle that we floated through at the Springs. It was gorgeous and way better than the flume in Dayton. There were tons of fish just swimming right under us in the clear water. We had a lot of stick races under the bridges after we floated down until the sticks, including a red ant-covered tree limb chosen by Henry, became so big we were afraid they would be a hazard to the other patrons of the Springs.
The Ponce de Leon lighthouse.
The view from the top of the lighthouse.
Inside . . .
Outside . . .
And in case you are incompetent, but by some miracle can read or interpret diagrams, or your first stop once you got out of the jungle you grew up in was the Ponce de Leon lighthouse . . .

Racing at the Daytona Boardwalk Speedway. Joe lapped us three times.
A little luck at Aunt Catfish. This is where I ate Alligator and my first real Hush Puppy.

Henry's Graduation from Preschool. All day, he told everyone we saw, "I'm graduating." Earlier he had told me, "Now I go to Noah's Ark School. When we lived in the brown house, I went to Challenger School. And before that, when we lived in the white house, I was home schooled." I had never realized the pre-preschool was considered home school. Congratulations to Henry and Good Luck to him as he goes on to kind-er-gar-ten at Pine Trails Elementary!
Henry only looks like he's training to become an alter boy because Noah's Ark is run by a Lutheran church. Really, he was graduating!

On the weekend, we took a little road trip up through Jacksonville, St. Augustine--the oldest town in Florida--and Amelia Island, finally ending up in St. Mary's, Georgia.
Henry and a shrimp in Amelia Island. That ain't no cocktail shrimp.
From St. Mary's, we took a ferry over to Cumberland Island, Georgia. Thomas Carnegie (Andrew's brother) and his wife Lucy built mansions on this island for his family, and while a few of them still stand as inns and private residences, the main attraction open to the public is the ruins of Lucy's mansion, Dungeness. After the Tycoon Age ended, and her husband died, Lucy stopped using the mansion very frequently, and it eventually caught on fire and was never rebuilt.
Now the island is basically home to wild horses that are everywhere, rangers who maintain the National Park, and some vacation homes of the people who own Coca Cola.
Some romantics choose to be married on the island, usually at the Grayfield Inn that was once the mansion of Thomas and Lucy's daughter Margaret. As I was waiting for the Ferry to take us to Cumberland Island, I struck up a conversation with a man who pastors a church in St. Mary's. I asked him why he was dressed in a suit and tie when most ferry goers were in swimming suits or hiking boots. Turns out he was performing an intimate marriage ceremony on the island.

After we got to the Island I couldn't help but take a picture of the intimate ceremony. Just the couple, the pastor, and the photographer, right in front of the ruins of Dungeness, with only the tourists and wild horses as witnesses.

12 August 2009- The End of the Adventure

I’m home!! After 26 hours of traveling, I am finally back in my home little Idaho. The trip home was so much fun. Sitting in airports and on planes all day—nothing better! We started early—5 in the morning. Then we sat in the Edinburgh airport for about 4 hours. I swear half the people we saw were wearing Kilts. I think the Edinburgh festival had something to do with that, and some of them were rugby teams on their way to some tournament or something.

After we finally got on the plane we had a nice short ride to London Heathrow. When I got on the British Airways plane I was thinking, this first class is huge! When are we going to get to coach? Then I got to my row. I was impressed British Airways had big leather seats even for us, and there was no one in the seat next to me. It was great, although I’d like to see first class. They also served us a hot English breakfast, with eggs, British sausage, bacon (aka ham) a tomato, two mushrooms, and a bun (roll) with butter and preserves. That was the best airplane breakfast I ever had.
When we got to Heathrow, we had about an hour till our next plane left and I decided to go straight to the gate. After going through security for the second time that day, I walked through the giant shopping mall, complete with a Harrods, and got to a long hallway with doors with gate numbers on them. I walked in to the room behind my gate’s door and got my boarding pass ripped and passport checked and was then directed to a table where two people were waiting. They had me put my bags on the table and stand with my arms up and I realized I was being searched. After they patted me down and rubbed my shoes, and the outside of my bags, they took everything out and examined it. The guy searching my little bag opened it to see all of my 6 books that I had taken out of my suitcase in Edinburgh to make it under the weight limit, and said, “She likes to read.” He went through and commented on each of my books and journals and then found my scriptures. He asked me how many times I had read the bible. I told him I’d only read it once all the way through but I read parts of it all the time. He said that was good and that too many people say they are religious but have never even read the bible. He then asked if I was Roman Catholic. I told him I was a Latter-Day Saint, a Mormon. The lady asked me what the focus of our religion was. I said Jesus Christ. Then she asked me how/when I prayed. I said all day everyday, whenever! She said it was good that I felt comfortable to talk to God all the time. It was kind of fun getting grilled about my religion by the security at the airport. I’m glad I had nothing to hide. The lady pulled everything out of my backpack, including the 5 packages of Digestives I was bringing to my family. So the British security probably think I do nothing but read and eat biscuits…
After I re-packed everything into my backpack, and got attacked by a little French boy before his mom sadly made him leave me alone, we got on the plane for the 8 hour flight from London to Chicago. I slept a bit and tried to watch a movie but the lady next to me kept pushing the volume on my armrest with her elbow so it was kind of annoying to my eardrums, so I gave up and read a lot of one of my 6 books. Finally we got to Chicago and after going through customs and security yet again, we waited around for a few hours for our plane that had been delayed half an hour. I was excited to get on the plane and sleep for 3 hours but I ended up sitting by a guy from Massachusetts who went to BYU and has lived in Salt Lake for a while, and I decided to be friendly and say hi and we ended up talking for about two hours. We talked all about how BYU has changed in the last 20 years and about my study abroad and his job at a school in Park City. It was fun and I felt like Dad, just chatting with every stranger he meets. I did manage to get to sleep for the last hour and then I enjoyed coming into the Salt Lake Valley by night. It was fun because I actually know the area. There were fireworks at Franklin Covey field—I have no idea why but that was neat. Finally I was back in the SLC. I got off the plane, past all the people with flowers and signs, got my suitcase and walked out the door and still saw no sign of my family. Even though my plane was half an hour late. That’s when I knew Dad must have come. Turns out he did and when they finally got there we headed north with a quick stop at DQ for some good old American fries and ice cream. I tried to tell my family all about my adventures but ended up sleeping most of the way home. When I got home at two it was 9 in the morning in London and I was wide awake so I unpacked my suitcase and organized my room. It only took me 3 days to get over the jet lag and I feel like I am in the right time zone now.
Wow, that was long, but 28 hours makes for a long day.

11 August 2009

Where did the last six weeks go? I have been waiting for this trip for about forever and suddenly it is over. I have decided I love Scotland. Of the countries I have been to this summer I love Scotland most of all, then Wales, then Ireland, then England, then Spain. The people in Scotland are even friendlier than the Irish, and slightly less drunk. Someday I will come back, but next time I think I would like to spend more time in the Highlands. Edinburgh is great as far as cities go, but there are fewer tourists the farther away from the cities you are and I like to meet and hear the Scots. Today I didn’t hear many because I spent the morning in the hostel cracking the whip and making my group get our paper done, and then I finished packing and am happy to report that I managed to fit everything in and I don’t even have to throw away my towel like everyone else. Then I went to the shops to find a few last minute souvenirs for you spoiled people (don’t expect anything too spectacular though, I had to save some sterling for textbooks you know). Later a group of us went to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen to get us back in the American mood. I think it was the most expensive burger I have ever purchased but it was AMAZING!! And HUGE.

After we had licked our plates, some of us went to a few more shops on our way back to the hostel, and I almost bought a CD called Bagrock to the Masses by Red Hot Chillie Pipers, but I resisted because it was 12 pounds. I’m glad I did because it is $9.99 on iTunes. It’s a bagpipe band who plays Coldplay and Beatles songs on bagpipes, as well as some traditional Scottish songs. It is so sweet. When we got back to the hostel we had a little party for Diane, one of the directors, because it was her birthday. Some of the girls made cakes with Belgian chocolate and marzipan instead of frosting and chocolate covered strawberries on top. They were spectacular. Now I am just biding my time until I get to go home tomorrow. I am so excited for a big group hug as soon as I see my family. If mom doesn’t forget my plane comes in tomorrow and no on Thursday.
Well, it is a bittersweet time. I am sad to leave this place and all the wonderful experiences I have had, and the friends I have made, but I am excited to go back to my family and friends and back to school for another year of nonstop homework. I’m also excited to see Frank and get to drive, and I will try to remember to stay on the right side of the road. It will be great. Life is GOOD!

10 August 2009

I saw fireworks again tonight. I guess that is the extent of my summer experience—the Edinburgh Festival. The festival also brings loads of interesting people to Edinburgh. There are men in Kilts and bagpipers and lots of other random people who think that a festival gives them an excuse to dress up as African warriors or something. I saw all of these and more while I wandered around the city today. I walked up the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh Castle and then walked back down Princes Street.



Somehow I had been separated from the group and I wasn’t exactly sure how to get back to the hostel. All I knew was that it was in the general area of the end of Princes Street and that it was on Clifton Terrace. So I stopped into a bus information centre and found a map of Edinburgh, but unfortunately Clifton Terrace is apparently too small of a street to be on the visitor’s guide to Edinburgh. I asked a lady at the desk and she said, “Oh, it’s right around here.” I knew that. After asking 3 more people who all said, “Oh, it’s right around here,” She got one guy to check out a real map and told me where it was. So I walked about a block more, and there it was. I felt very independent at that moment. I can travel Europe by myself.
When I finally found my way back to the hostel I started packing. That’s when I really started to get excited about coming home. I think 6 weeks was perfect. Enough time to really experience the British Isles and to see so many amazing things, but not long enough to get sick of them, or too homesick.
The whole group also had our banquet at some fancy schmancy restaurant down by the docks. It was very gourmet and tasty—even the goat cheese bruchetta. After dinner we had a slide show of the past 6 weeks and an awards ceremony. I got the “cutest Idaho spud” award. Both I and Matt who has lived in Soda Springs his whole life were surprised that I got it. Oh well. At least I didn’t get the “invisible student” award.

9 August 2009

I love church. Today we got to go to church with the Edinburgh Ward. I love their accents. The Bishop gave a really good talk and a few other people bore their testimonies. The ward was a lot bigger than any ward we have been to yet, and the leadership was mostly Scottish not American. Oh and the missionary playing the piano was the one boy from my freshman ward at BYU that I went on a date with. That was interesting. After church we hung out in the young men’s room for about 6 hours. I took a nap and read my scriptures, a lot. A bunch of us also sang some primary songs for a while, just for fun. The reason we stayed at the church all day was because we provided a fireside for the Edinburgh Stake, and we probably could do the same things at the church as we would do in the hostel. The fireside was really neat. We did three musical numbers; one of them was all the girls singing a Child’s Prayer, then the men all sang a song and two girls did a duet. We also had three speakers and they did a great job. Some of the girls went back to the hostel in between and when they came back they brought our friend Peter from Newcastle, Australia with them. I’m not sure what he really thought of it but he said it was good, and he’s still hanging out with us. Now we are finally back at the hostel and a nice South African boy opened my soup for me because the can opener was a poor excuse for a kitchen tool. This hostel is very social and I am meeting all kinds of people. Also there is some big festival going on in Edinburgh that started today. It was kind of fun, just as we were going to bed at midnight last night, there were fireworks. We all leaned out the window looking at them. That made me happy because I feel like I missed summer, having missed the 4th and 24th this year. How can you have summer without fireworks?

8 August 2009-Taking the Highroad to Loch Lomond

Today was basically AMAZING!! Our whole group went on a Scotland tour. Basically the same thing we’ve been doing just with a few extra people. Our coach driver was wearing a kilt. He was a showoff. As he said, “you have to be a showoff when you are wearing a skirt.”

His name was Brian and he was full of Scottish history and humor. He told us all about the origin and uses of kilts. They really are skirts for real men; and useful too. First we went to Glasgow on our way to Loch Lomond. The group went on a boat ride out to the Loch but Garret and I wanted to actually experience it, so we walked along the bonnie bonnie banks, and stuck our feet in.


Then we crossed a bridge and walked the other way. It was beautiful. Seriously bonnie, and we found a sweet castle type building in a clearing surrounded by mist, and a sweet playground a little farther down. I love Scotland. When the group got back from their boring boat ride we headed off for lunch stop in a little town called Abergyle where I may or may not have purchased a kilt at the Edinburgh Woolen Mill. Isn’t that just something you have to do when in Scotland? Don’t tell Peter, I want him to worry, and then realize I am the best sister in the whole wide world. After lunch it was back on the coach for a beautiful ride through the Scottish Highlands. SO pretty. It is even prettier than Ireland.

There were lochs every couple of minutes and loads of ferns, sheep, and heather. Oh and a few castles, but those are a dime a dozen here. Eventually we got to Stirling Castle, It was pretty neat, but I’ve run out of things to say about castles. I thought I loved Wales but, I think I’ve decided to move to Scotland instead. I just need to find a castle “to let.” It shouldn’t be too hard, it seems like there are To Let signs everywhere. I can’t wait to come back with you Mom and Aliza!

7 August 2009

Every day, a new adventure. Today we left York early and started our journey to the North of England and into Scotland. First stop was the Fountains Abbey, where we had a guided tour. It was the best abbey we have been to yet. It looked like just another ruin, but it, and the surrounding area was gorgeous, and I learned lots about monks.


Next stop was Durham Cathedral in Durham. Some shots of Hogwarts Castle were filmed there, and it really was a very pretty gothic style building. The interesting things there were the grave of the venerable Bede, an Anglo Saxon historian, and a shrine to some Saint that did something.


Then we got back in the coach for another ride through the English countryside on the way to St. Hadrian’s wall. That was amazing! We hiked along the wall for a while and climbed up a hill (they think it’s a mountain) and then back in the coach for another long ride to EDINBURGH!!


We spent the ride watching Harry Potter 1, the only DVD we had that would play in the coach. It was kind of fun watching the movie and saying, hey we’ve been there, and looking out the window and seeing the same kind of scenery as pictured in the film. Finally, the piece de resistance… SCOTLAND!! So far it has been beautiful! Loads of green fields full of sheep. We got here kind of late so we haven’t seen much of the city yet, but I ate a delicious Doner Kebab for dinner, from the Clifton Fish Shop. Our hostel is on Clifton Terrace, and boy is it cozy. There are 12 of us in one tiny room and no plugs anywhere. I can’t wait to get home and unpack and sleep in my own bed that doesn’t feel like it is about to collapse on the person below me. I’m going to enjoy Scotland as much as I can and then I will be happy to come home next week.

6 August 2009

Today we explored York. Old York, not New York. It was surprisingly more fun than I expected. The best part though was that we stopped at the Preston England Temple on the way. I convinced the directors that going 30 minutes out of the way was worth it, and boy was I right. It was so pretty. We couldn’t go in sadly because it was closed for cleaning but I got some great pictures outside. And I saw the Preston MTC.


The first thing we did in York was a walking tour that took two hours but gave us a lot of random facts about York that the crazy man leading it thought we should know.



It was great fun. We saw the York Minster, and the city walls which are probably the most distinctive thing about York. After that we wandered around for a while checking out the shops and sights of York. Eventually, at 5:30, in proper European style, everything but the restaurants closed, and we had until 8 before the coach would be back to get us so we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Yes Dad, I went all the way to Europe to eat Italian. Then, Luckily McKell had a deck of cards in her bag so I taught everyone how to play Sevens and then we finally got to go to our hostel. It’s on Clifton Street in York. I feel right at home, except that it smells like a damp dog. Other than that it is great.

5 August 2009- Beatles Tour 2009

Today was basically Rockin’. We left Stratford early this morning and arrived about noon in Liverpool—home of the Fab Four. The first stop was the Beatles Story a museum all about the history and songs of the best band ever, they had plenty of paraphernalia from guitars to vintage lunchboxes and ladies nylons with Beatles heads in them.


After that a big group of us hopped on a double-decker bus and headed out to Penny Lane. I once had a cat named Penny Lane, back when Aliza first planted the love for Beatles music in me. While on Penny Lane we saw the Dovedale Primary School where John Lennon and George Harrison learned to speak Scouse (Liverpudlian English). After that we went to Strawberry Field. This used to be an orphanage, but the only thing left is the gate. It was really pretty; that area of Liverpool was gorgeous.



Finally we came back to the hostel for free food : ) well food we had already paid for, I guess. It was delicious! Or maybe I was just hungry. And it was nice to eat something besides a sandwich or a baguette and hummus.
After dinner, Courtney, Jules, and I went back to Albert Dock to see the statue that the LDS church donated to the city of Liverpool to commemorate all of the saints that emigrated from the ports at Liverpool, including my great great great great grandma, who was baptized in a pond in Liverpool before crossing the plains with the Willie Handcart company.


To finish off the evening, we met up with a bunch more of our group on Mathew Street to see the Cavern, the club where the Beatles performed 292 times. I stepped past the bouncer and took about two steps in, saw all the Beatles Paraphernalia, including the “man who let the Beatles go” their first manager who was sitting at the bar, looked around and felt very out of place, and left. I’m not a huge fan of dark clubs. We searched around and finally found Eleanor Rigby, the lonely lady and tried to cheer her up a little. She was still lonely. Finally we headed back to the hostel before it got dark. Tomorrow we are off to York.