Traveling to the Pittsburgh Temple

Obviously some people were not interested in getting a ticket for the temple dedication itself or had a change of plans so our Stake President offered us 2 tickets for the 10am session. If we didn't have the tickets we would have had our recommends checked at the door of the chapel and could have viewed the service from Lorain. Jocelyn was generous and invited us to come early with Jinx so it worked our perfectly. We drove down on Saturday, slept well, were first in line at the temple, came back to her home afterwards to be with the kid. Jocelyn's kids, Scarlett and Autumn and Honor and Val, worked before the 10am session by putting on the shoe coverings for the guests. They thought they would be taken to the stake center after their 'shift' but instead were ushered into the temple! What a glorious treat. Jocelyn and Steve worked the lines for the 1:30pm session and then returned inside the temple for that session of the dedication. Jocelyn of course was able to shake elder Uchtdorf's hand. They returned to the house and we had dinner and they convinced us to spend an extra night which I gratefully agreed to. I didn't want to drive home as the light dimmed and besides it was along day and we are old. Jocelyn had been asked by The Church News to take pictures of the event. She got up early for the magical BLUE HOUR, right before sunrise, to get the best lighting but felt the crowd pictures weren't very good. However, the Church News added all she submitted to the online site. It's lovely that her skills have been noticed and requested. She has spent so many hours at the temple, taking hundreds of people on the tours, cleaning off the chairs that were rented for the event. She is so blessed to have felt the spirit guide her to this area by the prompting she received that a temple would be here. She will be a temple worker again.

The session for us became with the recorded message from President Russell M Nelson: he talked about how the temple here would strengthen the members and the increased numbers of temples throughout the world would lesson the power of Satan in the world. Temples would be a sacred space from the contentions of the world. We are tolay our burdens at the door of the temple and be taught through the Holy Spirit. Attending the temple will increase our ability to repent and forgiven. THE TEMPLE IS A SYMBOL OF OUR FAITH INLIFE AFTER DEATH. The temple President: there is no end to the deceptions Satan will use. Listen only to the believers. There is a healing powere when we make and keep covenants. The temple Matron: 1) Learn to provide loving service ad Jesus Christ did in order to become more like God. Marian G Romney said that Servive leads to exhaltation 2) Hold fast to sacred things through CARE, DEFERENCE and Stake President Hoak: Nephi was asked a question but responded that he did not know the meaning of all things. The Pittsburg saints prepared all things Spiritually and altho there wasnt a temple for so long they didn't feel badly. Elder Uchtdork: Saints have lived in this area since the 1840s. 1919 James Talmage came to talk to the community and explain the gospel in defense to the community of Jesus Christ and then had to escape for his life. Various family names were mentioned as having lived in the area. HATCHes since 1920. First branch was organized in 1929. 2024 has 10 stakes in this temple district. The desire to share the gosel has always flourished. The blessings of the Gospel are universal. CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania — Because Pittsburgh is known as the “City of Bridges,” a granite bridge was incorporated into the landscaping design of the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple grounds. The bridge connects the new house of the Lord to a nearby meetinghouse and provides a picturesque location for photographs. Standing at the crest of the bridge under blue skies with the new temple in the background, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said the structure holds deeper meaning. “We are standing on a bridge here, right next to the temple, which is a wonderful symbol. This is a place where earth is connected to heaven and the other way around. It is a flow of information and of wonderful inspiration and revelation,” Elder Uchtdorf said. “The house of the Lord is here to make covenants which connect us to heaven. These bridges, from one side to the other, from earth to heaven, are real.”

“This temple will be a blessing to you,” Elder Uchtdorf said. “It will enrich your lives, inspire you to create in your homes and families a spirit of hope and peace, and endow you with blessings from on high.” Daryl and Karen May from our Lorain Ward. Daryl is heavily involved with the Cleveland Temple and gives us Drone videos of the update

Pittsburgh Temple Dedication

O God, Thou hast sent Thy prophet Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. This sacred space opens the gates to eternity that these purposes may be fulfilled. We ask Thee to strengthen families, individuals and especially our youth in their unique circumstances. Make them equal to the challenges of this generation. Bless them with courage, humility and charity. Bless them with the desire to make their homes and places of congregation havens of peace, spirituality, truth, love and unity. Dearest Father, forgive us our many shortcomings. Strengthen our faith and fortify us against weakness. Give us power to resist the deceits of the adversary. May love for Thee and Thy Son grow in our hearts, and may it be expressed in our dedication to Thee, our love for one another, and our striving to always keep Thy commandments. We dedicate and consecrate this beautiful edifice unto Thee for Thy sacred purposes, as a house of holy ordinances where thine eternal work may be carried forward. Protect this temple from any devastating influence, destruction or defacement. Wilt Thou accept this holy house as the gift of our hearts and hands. May Thy Holy Spirit dwell here always and be felt by all who come within its portals. May a mantle of holiness come upon this sacred edifice. May it stand as a beacon of everlasting truth and light and as an invitation to come unto Thee. May all who enter do so worthily. Bless them with the desire to be Thine covenant people and a willingness to give their Christlike service unto Thee and Thy children. The Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in August 2024. Bless the youth of Thy Church that they will receive an understanding that Jesus Christ is their strength. Bless them with courage, wisdom and a desire to follow Jesus Christ and come to Thy house often. We pray for those who will administer and watch over Thy house and all who will serve here in any way. Bless them with joy in their hearts as they assist in Thy sacred work. We thank Thee for faithful tithe payers whose offerings make Thy sacred work possible. Open the windows of heaven and shower blessings upon them. May the people living in Thy vineyard feel Thy love and Thine encircling arms of mercy. Shield them, we pray, from selfishness and sin and provide the power to rise above all that is below the dignity of Thy children. Our Father in Heaven, we love Thee and Thy Beloved Son. We thank Thee for His atoning sacrifice. How glorious and complete is Thy plan for the salvation and exaltation of Thy children. Our hearts are filled with love and gratitude as we now present this precious and sacred place unto Thee, in the name of our Redeemer, the Savior of the world, even Jesus Christ, amen.

Val living his best life along with my other kids! Putting the shoe covers on President Uchtdorf

And Elder Uchtdorf joking with Autumn and Val that he was going to see which one put his shoe coverings on best!

Makes you wonder about a lot of things

Dawn and Ken took Adelle and Evan to BYU-I, not without a lot of issues. They made it safely there and got the kids settled and then as Ken was driving behind a truck, the truck threw a rock that hit the windshield twice and the glass shattered and broke, putting broken glass into the car. Dawn was so upset and it was not a pleasant scene. She texted me that if you touch the window it would bend.

Of course Ken went ballistic and was his normal nasty self. Dawn had the presence of mind to call Linda Bruderer and and asked her to get in touch with her daughter, whose name Dawn was incapable of remembering at the moment, as distraught as she was. Of course Linda immediately called Kate and Darin Herzoff who raced to give aid and sustainance and Darin even gave Dawn another blessing. This sweet couple were so amazing to Dawn and altho I made sure Linda knew to fill in her kids the men were kind. And of course all abusers put on a good face for the world. She and kate are without duplicates in the Hatch/Bruderer birth ordere of kids so they figured they corrected that situation on this event. Keri and her husband Kevin (Kev) arrived for a family dinner on Sunday and Dawn loved seeing the 2 sisters and the husbands interact. She said Linda should be so proud of them. This was Saturday, October 14 and they could not travel to Provo to be with Connor on his birthday but kate made them feel very welcome and well taken care of. The window was replaced Monday and they drove to Provo to finally celebrate with Connor.

Couldn't see Connor right away but instead decided to drive by Joyce and Fred Day's home on the chance they were home. AND THEY WERE! And of course Dawn had to wonder if the whole rock/windshield incident happened so that she could meet our Patron Saints.

And that is how my wonderful daughter gets through this life. She has the big surgery on Oct 8 to get rid of the failed implant and repair her body. There cannot be enough prayers said for her and her surgeon, Dr. Minninger. But we try!

Catch up

Way too many days have gone by and I have not kept track of life very well here. So to attempt to fix that... Robert had every test, scan, CAT, Xray, meds, doctors and finally was treated as tho he had both chronic and acute asthma and the coughing got under control. Then his wonder Dr. Marc Guay did a roto router job on his sinus cavities (7/16) and he's better...still producing phelgm but so much better. Truthfully, I thought he was going to die. It's been a horrible 6 months.

July 4, 2024 would have been my mother's 100th birthday so a lot of the kids came to celebrate altho Cara, Kipp and Peter had come 2 weeks previously so they weren't with us. Jordan and Hillary and kids got great plane tickets and stayed here. We would have had like 25 people here BUT for the fact that suddenly we had a plumbing issue...the tiles under the island collapsed and had an obstruction. it took days to fix because of the July 4 holiday. It cost us $12K. We had a home warranty that would have covered $4K but they refused to pay so of course I cancelled that warrantly. This blue spruce tree that had to be removed was planted by a very young Jordan, Robert and Bonpapa decades ago.

We moved the party day to Marissa's home and it included wonderful food, games, fireworks, etc

Jordan and family stayed the week and as ever Jordan fixed, make lovely, gave us more light. He's such a worker

Since Lily is very mature and old enough we left the kids with her and we took Jordan and Hillary to Ibiza, in Avon Lake for dinner. They sure enjoyed the food.

June 28...new dress for me that was so inexpensive...from a place called Discount Fashion Warehouse in Elyria. all new, all named brands..but way cheap. I think this dress cost me under $10