I Love to See the Temple

Last Saturday Laurel and I decided we would try to find the LDS temple in Lima. All we knew about how to get there was that we needed to get on a blue bus, sit for about an hour, and then it would drop us off right in front of the temple. With only those directions, we set off to find it. While wandering around feeling (and probably looking) slightly lost, a nice lady walked by and asked us where we were going. She then asked some people which bus we needed to take, told us which one, and then hurried away with her son. She seemed like she was in a hurry, so that was extremely nice of her to take the time to help us. Another man had heard our conversation with her and decided he’d wait with us to make sure that we got on the right bus. I just love these people here. They are so genuine and focused on what they can do for others.

After getting on the right bus, we were dropped off right at the temple gate. It was such a beautiful sight! I love the look of this temple. Since it was a Saturday, it was very busy. There were people (small children included) walking all over the grounds. We found out that the temple was basically too full and that we’d have to wait for hours. We decided that we’d just go back another day. Even though we were unable to go inside, I was still able to feel the wonderful Spirit that the temple has. It felt so right. Here I was: in a foreign country, I don’t speak the language, streets and buildings are unfamiliar, the other volunteers that surround me live life in a way that I don’t agree with, and the only person I knew when coming to this country was Laurel. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and lost. But when I walked onto those temple grounds, I felt like I was home. Not home in the sense that I was back in the United States, but home where everything is clear, right, and perfect. There is no place on Earth that I would rather be.

As an added note, church was great on Sunday, too. It was held at the stake center because they were splitting the ward here. I was asked to play the piano for a choir musical number. It was a difficult hymn that I can’t actually play that well, but luckily the choir sang loud and well enough that they covered up all of my mistakes. It was a little nerve-wracking because I sat up on the stand for the whole meeting and worried that I’d mess up the song, but it turned out okay. I was happy to participate in the program. :)