Sunday, September 18, 2011

Journey to the Temple

Luke and Lindsey had the opportunity with the Young Men and Women to bike and then hike to the Bountiful Temple. The girls have been training for some time, going on regular bike rides and building up stamina. The boys just showed up and started the journey. If I understood the distances correctly. They biked close to 20 miles then hiked the 3+ miles up the hill that leads to the Bountiful temple. They started at 6:30 am and arrived at the temple around 11:30 am. Once at the temple grounds, the youth were greeted by their families. Everyone got to listen to a special speaker who did a great job tying in all the symbolism of the journey as one prepares to go to the temple. The speaker had actually made the journey a couple of days beforehand so she would know what the youth had done. Her words related well to what the youth had experienced. Luke and Lindsey both said it was a difficult journey. Lindsey ended up with two flat tires and eventually had to use a spare bike and Luke was just unprepared as were most of the young men, but it was a great experience for them. I really hope it made an impression on them and they will look back at some point with fondness at what they learned and experienced.
**As a side note-- during one of the Young Women's bike rides, Lindsey hit a curb sideways and totally wiped out. One of her leaders came to my door and told me Lindsey had had a terrible accident and was just up the street. I wasn't quite prepared for what I saw. Lindsey had banged her face into the bike and curb. The front of her face was scratched up and she was sure she had knocked out her teeth. I'm sure I had shock on my face when I saw her but, as a mother, I had to quickly hide it and begin letting her know it would be OK. Her teeth were loose but because she already has braces, nothing had to be done because they would be held back in place until the gum healed. We cleaned the wounds and started ice packs. The next day she stayed home from school because her lipe were so swollen she could barely talk. The second day she had to go back to school because she couldn't miss those classes. Being in Junior High, she was very nervous to attend school with a swollen, scratched face. She was worried others would make fun of her. I told her that wouldn't likely be the case, in fact, it would probably be the opposite with people feeling sorry for her. When I picked her up that afternoon, she got in the car with a big smile and told me I was right. She had received quite a bit of positive attention over her injuries. The scrapes and bruises have since healed and we are happy to have her bright smile around again.