Sarah Comes to Visit

Our good friend Sarah was in town the week after Christmas. She was in Utah for a wedding and to help a friend move to Provo. With all the ski resorts, national parks, historical and church sights in Utah, WE are on her "must see" list. This makes me so happy. It was so nice to see her again. She is truly part of our family. We named Vanessa after her and I hope our Sarah Vanessa turns out just like her.

The girls had a blast with Sarah. They loved watching "All Dogs go to Heaven" with her. Sarah grew up watching that movie and lived in New Orleans for a time. It brought back childhood memories for her. The boys had fun hanging out with her as well. She is like an older sister to them. Sarah and I worked on a puzzle together (what else do you do when it is cold outside and neither one of us likes the snow?) Aaron didn't see her for very long because he was on a business trip that week. Bummer.Sarah is an amazing person! She joined the church after going to girl's camp with us. I was a Young Women's leader back then and we became really close friends. She stood by her beliefs all through high school and came to church by herself for years. She had aunts and cousins in our ward so she traveled from the neighboring town to attend with them.

One year, when it came time for a youth temple trip to the Houston Temple (it was 6 hours from our home). She told Aaron she wouldn't go unless I went. Aaron replied, "Then it is settled. Colette is going.). Of course, I was excited to go. We rode buses to Houston leaving at 11:00 pm in order to be there by 5:00 am when we would change into our church clothes and go into the temple.

I didn't have a blanket for the bus so she gave me one of hers. (I still use it on our bed to this day.) The night we left, we didn't know there was a tropical storm hitting Houston at the time. We were headed straight into tropical storm Alice. I remember waking up to rain and flooded streets (it is amazing I was asleep on a bus full of teenagers).

We had to use different roads to go the back way in order to reach the temple. At one point, the bus in front of us, stopped due to the fact the driver couldn't see the road in front of him. A woman on the bus, got off and waded in water that was up to her thighs in order to feel where the road was with her feet. With her guiding the bus and a lot of answered prayers, we were able to make it to the temple.

The problem was, the temple president couldn't get to the temple. His neighborhood was flooded and there was no way out. Very few temple workers were able to be there. A member of the temple presidency who did make it to the temple that day, called church headquarters for special permission for our group to be there. I worked in the laundry since there weren't enough regular temple workers there to help keep the temple functioning. It was interesting and fun work to do.

I'm so grateful I was able to go that day. I learned that the Lord really does answer prayers. When we do our part, He will take care of the rest. If we are lost, scared, or stuck, He will help us keep moving forward. There is a peace that comes from knowing that. This experience reminded me of that and I happy I shared it with Sarah.