Predictable Unpredictability....and Other Ponderables

The weather report said that we would most likely have snow all day and all night.  The reports have predicted snow for the last week.  This morning was gray....very gray, and then it began to snow lightly, which turned to rain after a few minutes.  By mid-morning it cleared up a little bit and by the time we left for the temple, it was almost pleasant. (For those of you residing in the greater Phoenix area, that means light gray skies and temperatures in the mid 30s - no wind and no precipitation.)

However, being the trusting souls that we are, we were sure that when we left the temple this evening there would be a foot of snow on the ground.  The walk/bus trip home was just as pleasant as the walk/bus trip there.  As I recall, last winter we did a lot of waiting for the predicted snow to come and it never really did.  It will probably be like that again this year.

Part of the whole unpredictability thing may be that the land is flat and there is often quite a breeze blowing....watching the clouds trot rapidly overhead is always a pleasure.  Being so near the sea probably contributes to our unpredictable weather.

Moving on to a more happy subject....It was a lovely day in the temple.  It was busier than I remember it being in a long time.  We had more workers than usual too.  We did the work for a lady named Edith.  So my sweet mother has been on my mind all afternoon and evening.

The temple is a great place to remember dear people.  Perhaps it is the peace and quiet that let you think deeply.  I spent some time with a woman who gets up every Friday morning at 6 a.m. to get ready and drive from her home in Sweden to the temple here in Copenhagen.  She arrives at 9 and leaves around 9 in the evening....getting home before 11.

She is 34 years old, tall and willowy with long brown hair and mesmerizingly beautiful blue eyes. She smiles often and is a one-woman welcoming committee.  Actually everyone in the temple makes you feel like a million dollars just for walking through the doors!

She speaks Swedish, English, French, German and Italian fluently, and can get along in Danish, Norwegian, Spanish and Portuguese.  If you listened to her speak, you would think she was from one of the midwestern states in the U.S......except sometimes she lapses into a bit of the Irish brogue (I think she spent some time there).  She also spent a year and a half in Milan Italy 20 years ago.

I may have reported to you weeks ago that I asked her if she has felt that she has been blessed for her temple service.  She was thoughtful before replying.  She said that her life is good, and she thinks that the blessings that come are like good health.  When you have it, you just kind of go along enjoying it but at the same time hardly noticing it.  On the other hand, if you were to lose your good health, you would notice it quickly.  For her, working at the temple is one of those things that raises the level of quality in her life, and she suspects that if she didn't continue giving one day a week in service, her life would show it.

It was definitely something for me to ponder.