Temple Shutdown

 Temple Shutdown

These are my work girls! Christine, Cheryl, Dawn, Camille, Debbie, Malina, Carla, Pam, Karen, me. I started working at the temple as an on call in November. Dawn fell and really hurt her back so I was in almost every night cleaning the baptistery. One of the girls quit right before January, so Cheryl asked if I could start working full time. I felt like this job was an answer to my prayers. In fact, Cheryl is the vising teaching coordinator, and when she called to see if I had done my visiting teaching, she said she was inspired to tell me about this job opening.  It's been so much fun and so good for me. I've really struggled with my self esteem being a stay at home mom, but I also didn't want to miss any of Gracie's growing up stages. This job was the answer. I work from 10pm-2am so I don't miss out with Gracie, and I feel so happy working and having my sanity back again. The girls are so much fun to work with and they have really welcomed me into the pack. I've been able to work in every area of the temple, and I have felt my spirituality deepen and my love for Jesus Christ and the gospel expand. I am truly grateful for this opportunity. 

Shutdown happens twice a year and it's when we deep clean the temple. We basically extract all of the furniture, clean the temple from ceiling to floor (I HATE the baseboards!), and clean all the furniture before putting it all back. All in two weeks! We are also in charge of about ten volunteers each. I'm not used to telling people older than me what to do especially since I had just started and I wasn't sure what to expect. We did it all though and it looks so clean and beautiful again. When the temple opens back up we each have our own assigned area to do each night.