Mission: First International Temples

July 22, 2016

After loading the car this morning, Sherry Ann and I went over to the Cardston, Alberta Temple. Mattina Ann would go over later, because the Baptistry wouldn't be open until noon. It had rained during the early morning hours, so everything was fresh and butiful. When we entered the front doors, we were greeted by an indoor atrium. Apparently, it used to be outside, but they built around it so that it is now indoors. There is a fountain with a frieze sculpture depicting the bible story of the woman at the well. The session we attended was really nice.

After the session, we went outside to find Mattina Ann. We didn't see her, so after taking a couple of pictures of our own, we went to the Baptistry to find her. She had just finished being baptized for some family names, and was going in to be confirmed for them, so we were able to go in with her. I was even invited to perform the ordinances for those deceased ancestors. It was a really neat experience.

When we were done at the temple, we went downtown to have a quick tour of the Charles O. Card house. He was one of the first LDS people in the area and the town eventually took on his name (Cardston). After the tour, we went to get lunch on-the-go and hit the road. We were intent to get to Calgary for the 6:00 session and we only had a couple of hours to get there.

Our plan was to stop a the Costco in Lethbridge to top off the gas tank and then continue on. But, like so many perfectly laid plans, this one fell short of perfection. First, my Costco card would not work at the pump, so we went inside and got a new card. We went back to the pumps and this time my debit card wouldn't work. News Flash...apparently U.S. Debit cards don't work at Canadian Costco fuel pumps. So we had to go and find another station. Gas hear looks like it's really inexpensive. The price was $0.878! Oh, yah. Did we mention that everything here is in the metric system? So that is the price per Litre. Whatever that converts to in dollars per gallon, we don't quite know. But it is more than it costs to fill the car at home.

Mattina Ann was kind of weirded out on the drive to Calgary. There were NO visible mountains to giver her any reference of direction. She just about had a panic attack.

Sherry Ann's panic came with the heavy rain and the fact that in a new car, we weren't quite sure how to work the wipers. It's not like we use them often in St. George. Then there was the standing water on the road. Combine that with the discussion we had with our hostess, Bronwyn, in Cardston about destructive hail and tornado warnings from the past, Sherry Ann was quite on edge.

We arrived safely in Calgary just after 6:00. Well, we missed the session at the temple that we wanted to attend, but we had enough time to get there for the 7:30 session, as the temple was only a 25 minute drive from the hotel.

Wow! What a beautiful temple. Mattina Ann even commented later that the Baptistry was amazing. Sherry Ann and I were asked to be the witness couple for the session. It has been a long time since we were able to perform that service. After the session, we went outside and found Mattina Ann quite quickly. We took some more pictures, and headed back to our hotel. By this time we were hungry and it was 10:00 at night, and the sun had just gone down.

We found a Jim Horton's and had some sandwiches, then went back to the hotel. Mattina Ann likes the LED lighting around the base of our beds. She can change the color depending on her mood. Purple, blue, green or red.

All-in-all, it was a great day. Now we have a few days here in Calgary, so it won't be so much driving. It will be great to see what Calgary and Banff National Park have in store for us. TTFN!