This post is a part two of my last post Don’t Run Faster Than You Have Strength. My friend, Evelyn and I had decided that we wanted to travel up and down the East Coast and visit all of the temples. When the Richmond Temple was closed for a couple of weeks, we decided it was a good time to go on our first trip. My husband’s busy season at work is about to start and it just worked out perfectly.

As we were trying to decide which temple to go visit, we were thinking about people we knew that we could invite to meet us at the temple and then go and have lunch and visit with them before traveling back home. We were contemplating between the closest temples with people that we knew and I just had a feeling that Pennsylvania was the destination. Evelyn wanted to try one of the southern temples and see if a friend could meet us. I shrugged and said okay. After reaching out to a friend, going south wasn’t going to work out this time and I suggested going to Pennsylvania. She shrugged and said okay.

My friend, Darby, that lives in Pennsylvania is my friend from the Find Me post. The Aunt of my missionary that came to visit that I knew from somewhere and decided that it was from before this life. I reached out to her and she said she would love to meet at the temple and then go eat lunch afterwards. I was so excited. God had us meet for a reason, let’s go find out why.

Last week there were so many things that happened in our home that were difficult, a kiddo was going through some things that were really big and I needed to help them figure some things out. I realized that the car I wanted to take to Pennsylvania needed an oil change and new brake fluid, so I made sure to fit taking it into the shop with all of our other appointments for the week. Then I realized that the other two cars needed things done as well. I was trying to find time to squeeze in moments to prepare for my lesson and talk that was to be given on Sunday. I was juggling so much, I had almost forgotten all of this! God did indeed answer my prayer to help me run faster than I had strength!

Evelyn’s husband got in a fender bender the day before we needed to leave. He was on the phone with her and then she heard the car get hit and the phone hung up. She left and went to go find out if he was okay, and I was just praying that everything would be alright. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt and the car had minimal damage that didn’t keep it from being drivable.

The morning we were to leave, we took my little one to a doctor’s appointment an hour and a half away. It went well and we were driving out of the parking garage when this noise started in the car. It was a high-pitched alarm sound, the kind that goes off when there is something wrong with the sliding doors in our van. We could not figure out where it was coming from. It went on for the entire hour and a half drive home. It was very obnoxious.

When we got home, I had a few more things to grab before I was ready to get back in the car and travel to Pennsylvania. I asked my husband to see if he could figure it out. He had taken the car apart and disconnected the battery and everything. The noise never stopped.

I was getting ready to take a different car since we didn’t know what the alarm was and we didn’t want to endure that terrible noise the entire five hour ride up to our destination. An hour and a half had been long enough.

I gathered my bags and was coming out into the garage and my husband was holding up our EZ Pass to his ear. The noise was coming from that. Apparently, if it dies it will either just be dead or emit a lovely high-pitched noise. Now you know. You’re welcome.

I was so excited to take the car I had originally intended to take and we threw our bags into the car and said our goodbyes and got on the road. After that, we had smooth sailing until we got into our hotel. We were exhausted when we checked in. When we got to our room, the key cards didn’t work. When I went downstairs to tell the desk attendant and he said, “Something about that room. It will only open with the Master key.” I should have asked for a new room right then, but I was so exhausted, it didn’t even cross my mind.

I waited as patiently as my exhausted mind could for him to come and help get our room open. I went to the elevator and he said, “oh let’s take the stairs, that will be faster”. I should have pointed out that our room was right next to the elevator and that the stairs were more walking and I was still carrying my bags. But, I didn’t. It wasn’t until I was walking into the stairwell that I had the thought, ‘I just walked into a secluded area with a strange man…’ I just felt so dumb. So, I mentally prepared myself for a fight just in case. Luckily, everything was fine and we emerged from the stairwell to see Evelyn waiting in the hallway. He said the same thing about the door only working with the Master key and Evelyn had warning bells going off in her mind.

He let us in the room, we turned to lock the door and the deadbolt was hanging off the door in a very unhelpful way. We jimmy-rigged it and put a piece of furniture in front of the door to make sure we were safe and got ready for bed.

We seem to always have a lot of adventures when we travel together. I’ll have to write another post about a different time we thought we broke into a stranger’s house instead of my cousins… Anyways, we laugh about our crazy adventures and fully expect to have something go awry when we plan trips now.

The next morning, there was a loud knock on a door. It woke me from sleep and of course, I was wondering if our furniture in front of the door was enough to prevent someone from coming into our room. Once I checked to make sure it wasn’t our door that was knocked on, I decided to just start getting ready.

We left the hotel and drove to the temple. It was an overcast day and as we first glimpsed the temple, we were able to see the glow coming from the windows. It seemed like Heaven was glowing inside the Temple and the building was trying to contain the majesty of it. So beautiful. We arrived with enough time to eat breakfast in the car and wait for Darby to arrive.

When she got there, it was raining and we took a selfie together in front of the Temple doors. We spent several hours in the temple together and then went to eat lunch afterwards. We spent another three hours together and really got to know each other in a more special way.

Darby had shared with us similar struggles with her week and thinking that she might just want to stay home and not come to the temple that day. We talked about how the Adversary was working over time to keep this day from happening. I am sure we won’t fully understand why, but I have enough of an understanding that relationships are so important and this one is important enough for him to try and prevent us from getting together.

We left each other that day with a promise to get together again soon and to keep in touch, especially when things are difficult. I am so grateful for this experience to see another temple dedicated to the Lord and to feel His love there. I am even more grateful for the connection we got to make with Darby.

Luke 2:19

“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”