Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Peoria Week 65 *November 10,2014

Well hello everyone!

As I am sure many of you know based on church news and me telling you
last week, the Phoenix Temple is being dedicated this week. So they
have to make sure the whole temple is absolutely perfect! It's
probably cleaner and just as perfect as NASA. Haha. Well after having
over 10,000 people walk through the open house on a specific path the
carpet needed to be cleaned. And unlike myself they weren't just going
to do a halfway Harry job. They recruited 30 missionaries including
myself and elder Allen to go and help move out every price of
furniture in the whole temple. It was the most amazing experience I
have had in that temple. It was pretty tedious work just because they
didn't want you to ding any walls or any doors. But it was a work that
was well worth doing. There are way more chairs in those temples then
you would imagine. I think we counted 500 in this one. One by one we
brought them into the storage under the temple. When we got into the
celestial room there were these two identical 12ft long banana shaped
couched that didn't come apart. They each weighed about 300 pounds and
needed 8 missionaries to carry. It was a bit ridiculous. We almost
killed two missionaries and about 20 walls but we made it down to 3
flights of stairs and through the 9 doorways without any incidents! It
was a miracle for sure. After we got all of the furniture out the
engineers took us on an inclusive tour of the temple. It was even more
beautiful when it was bare. They told us all about the symbolism and
the special materials used. It was great. The best part though was
getting to go into the "Brides Room". I literally can not put into
words how pretty and intricate everything in that room is. Those
brides will feel like absolute queens as they look into the three
sided mirrors and crystal chandeliers hanging. It was a once in a
lifetime opportunity because grooms are not allowed in those rooms
when you get married. They showed us the rest of the temple and even
took us into the basement to see the foundation and the work that goes
on behind the scene. Overall it was a once I a lifetime opportunity
and a great blessing.

We are still working with Brian twice a week. He is learning a ton and
is having a blast doing it. He hasn't had any exposure to religion so
we are starting from the very absolute beginning with everything and
taking it all slow. He is picking up on it and wanting to make changes.
His changes are going to be gradual but I know that one day he will be
able to make them stick. He came to church all on his own this week
and he was even in a white shirt and tie!  That was the most
surprising thing ever! We are excited to see what the future holds for
him and where he decides to take things.

It was fast a testimony meeting for us this week and that is the
biggest change in the ward I am in now and my last one. The last one
had tons of little babies and they were always crying. Their was snack
bags crunching and toys rattling. But in this ward there in NONE of
that. It is absolutely dead silent. It is actually really nice and relaxing. It
gives me time to think and ponder what I want to be and how much
better I can really become. Which is a lot. On Wednesday we had a
leadership meeting. It was good but it was a bit long. I firmly
believe that less meetings with more precise shorter ones would be so
much more effective. But that's not my call so for the time being I
just go with it and make the best of it all. We learned a lot and have
some improvements to make!

Well I love you all a ton and thank you for all you do for me. I want
to congratulate Hannah on her big announcement and Jon for pulling the
trigger and putting a ring on the thing he desires most! Haha.

Until next week,
Elder Cole Safford

The moving crew

Elder Allen and myself

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