Good Night, Sweet Prince

This week will go down in history as the absolute busiest week ever in the Conference Center Ticket Office. We printed 5 sessions of General Conference tickets and mailed them to 1485 stakes in the United States and Canada; prepared funeral seating passes for the Conference Center Auditorium, Theater, Tabernacle, Assembly Hall, Joseph Smith Memorial Building Chapel and Legacy Theater; copied and counted 3,000 parking passes for the funeral; created cortège passes for the cemetery; cleaned our office from top to bottom; lived for two days without our ailing ticket manager; and trained a new assistant ticket manager...oh, and the week isn't over yet.

As we all know, President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away on Sunday night and immediately our events staff jumped into action. I was placed back in the Ticket Office for the week because I'm the only one right now who knows how to make the funeral tickets and I've worked long and hard to get them done. It has been a wonderful experience to have such an important hand in this process and it's my small way of paying homage and respect to our beloved Prophet and also my beloved uncle.

This is a little example of what I've been working on the last few days back in the ticket office.


The public viewing began today. President Hinckley is lying in state in an open casket in the Hall of the Prophets of the Conference Center. It is a beautiful setting with busts of all the past prophets surrounding the room, overlooking the Temple. The atmosphere of the entire, huge Conference Center has been very subdued; today it is a most holy and sacred building. Members of the Church are coming to say goodbye to the Prophet in their Sunday best, bringing their little children and making this an opportunity to teach their little ones about the Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Plan of Salvation.

This afternoon I called Jennie and convinced her to come down with her kids. Though they are young, I think this was a very unique and special experience for Colette and Jamison. I hope they remember it for the rest of their lives. Jamison was so enthralled in the occasion he noticed the little things, like President Hinckley's ring and glasses. Colette is beginning to understand what a Prophet is and what it means to die. I'm glad they came to see him and that I tagged along with them. It was a special experience for me too.

I've often heard President Hinckley close funerals with these words and now I use them to close this entry..."Good night, sweet prince." How we will miss you; how grateful we are to have known you, to be led by you; how much we love you and we will always remember you. Thank you for your lasting legacy.

Cleaning Up

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity of cleaning the Salt Lake Temple. Our ward was assigned to take it's turn sprucing it up during it's winter cleaning closure and I jumped at the chance to serve. On our shift we dismantled scaffolding in the Celestial Room and carried it through the World Room out the big wooden door just across from the Tabernacle. Then we headed up to the third floor with the three big sealing rooms and cleaned up scraps from the newly laid carpet, vacuumed, washed the walls, dusted the gold trim, polished the chandeliers, and replaced the altar, couch, and chairs in Sealing Room C, and got half-way through that list in Sealing Room A. Next we headed back to the Celestial Room where they lowered the eight chandeliers for us to dust and wash and we moved all the furniture around a few times. All too soon our four-hour shift came to an end (I could have stayed for another four hours it was that much fun).


It really was an amazing experience just to be in the Temple, to help clean it, to see it out of it's usual state of perfection, to feel the Spirit that continues to reside in it despite it's current state of chaos. But to top off the afternoon, we saw Elders Scott, Perry, Uchtdorf, Holland, and Bednar pass through a hallway in front of us and they each stopped, looked our way and waved to us (well, Elder Holland saluted). Seriously, if you ever get the chance to help clean the temple near you, do not pass it up. It will be hard work but it will definitely be worth it!

Got Talent?

Last Monday at 7:00 p.m. I decided I wanted to spring out my rarely-used talent of sewing and make a scripture bag. The new thick Joseph Smith manual just doesn't fit in my old scripture bag so I set out to create a new one. I rummaged through the scraps of material and found a cute pink floral print and some matching muslin. I sketched out a Chelsea-original pattern, selected some thread, and began. Three and a half hours later I emerged with this beauty.

Yes, it is way too big for a scripture bag and looks a whole lot like a beach bag but I am darn proud of my craftsmanship! Maybe this weekend I'll try that scripture bag again.

Two Tributes

I ran across these two videos tonight and even though they are old I had to post them because they are hilarious.

This clip is a tribute to one of Mom's favorite movies, "Bride and Prejudice" out of Baliwood. Hopefully the words to the song will get through to those aging elders in my singles ward. Remember, brethren, it's no life without a wife. (Special thanks to the unique vocal stylings of Jamison, Colette, and Jennie Mabey and my apologies I couldn't get it to rotate.)

And this last clip is a tribute to our massive slide in the backyard. You know it is one of a very few man-made objects visible from outer space. All hail the mighty slide!

Do I Cry or Shout for Joy?

Today I was promoted to Event Coordinator at the Conference Center. I don't know whether to cry (and incidentally I have shed a few tears already) or shout for joy.



Here is the long story...I have applied for this job three times. During the second interview process I realized that I did not want it after all and I was relieved when another candidate was chosen. About a month ago my boss came to me and said he wanted me to apply a third time. My response was that I didn't know if I wanted it any more so I would have to think about it. I hemmed and hawed for a week and thought it over and prayed and fasted about it and though still not certain, I put in my application. Then the holidays came so it became a waiting game for interviews to be set up. In the meantime, I changed my mind a thousand times. One hour I wanted it and the next I didn't. Finally, I decided to let fate take over. If it were offered to me I would take it, if not that would be my answer--today I guess I got my answer. The funny thing is that my boss didn't ever offer the job to me, he just said, "You're it!" That was probably a good thing because who knows what my answer would have been had he asked. I'm glad the wait is finally over. It has been extremely stressful and emotional trying to figure out what I wanted to do. The tears this afternoon were mostly tears of relief that that the roller coaster ride of indecision has at last come to an end.

So, starting tomorrow, I have a new title, new responsibilities, and a new office. When you come visit I'll be at Door 13. See you soon!

I Gave In

For months now I have enjoyed reading through the daily blogs of my friends and family but I never really wanted to start one. In fact, I often thought that I don't have cute pictures of my own kids like Megan-Buddy or Heidi or the adventurous life of Ryan or Megan-Di so why bother. But today I gave in. It actually all started last week when I created a Picasa Web Album. Since I was brave enough to go that far I decided today I could take it even one step further to my own blog. So here it is. Read, leave comments, enjoy!