Lubbock Texas Temple
It started out last Tuesday night in Philadelphia what I was doing a small junk removal job. Somewhere in the middle of that job, my left knee just said, “I don’t think so…” and I lost my support from it. The nice young couple helped me load the truck and I drove back to DC that night. One firm knee brace, the final boxed set of crutches that were for sale, and a fabulous CVS employee named Nick who allowed me to purchase them over the phone with a credit card and then delivered them upstairs to me in my apartment, made my knee temporarily stronger. that explains the crutches you’re about to see in the photos.
three of the tougher temples to get to in the United States, when you live on the East Coast, are the Oklahoma City, Lubbock Texas, and Albuquerque New Mexico temples. So when I found a cheap round-trip airfare to Oklahoma City, I realized how to do it.
I left Washington DC Reagan airport yesterday at 1:22 PM. I landed in Denver Colorado at around 3 o’clock. At 4:20 I left for Oklahoma City and landed there around 7:30 PM. I rented a medium sized SUV from Avis and immediately drove 300+ miles west towards Lubbock. At 12:30 AM, about 70 miles north of Lubbock, I called it good for one night and went to sleep in the back of the SUV. I pulled off the road onto a side street labeled truck parking and settled in among five 18-wheelers.
At 7:30 this morning, I resumed my travels and at around 9 o’clock pulled into the stake center parking lot adjacent to the Lubbock Temple. I had made an appointment earlier for an endowment session at 10 AM so all was well.
Two interesting highlights I saw during my nighttime drive: first, dozens of flashing red lights on the horizon that looked like a flat Christmas tree that was lying down on the ground turning itself on and off consistently. I later learned those red lights are attached to the top of the wind generated windmills scattered all over Oklahoma and Texas. Second, I actually saw a place selling gasoline for $2.99 a gallon. This was really starting to look like heaven.
Once in the parking lot, I asked a middle-age man if he would take a photo of me in front of the temple. “Sure!” he said with enthusiasm. Then he said one of the nicest things I’ve ever been told. “You look like Elder Holland! “ he said.
I was starting to have so much fun in the parking lot, I thought about just staying there and not even going in the temple… But I’m glad I did.
The best thing that happened at this particular temple, happened at the recommend desk. As I approach, I jokingly asked if it was OK to come in with some crutches. A member of the temple presidency told me that was just fine as long as they were white. Mine were aluminum gray. He got me!
Then he did something that was flat out brilliant. He walked into a little adjacent closet, grab some spray cleaner, grabbed a washcloth, and came back to the desk and asked if he could see my crutches. This inspired leader then wiped off the dirt from the bottom of the rubber cap at the end of my crutches. How is that for keeping the Lord’s house clean? I was really impressed. There is an entire sacrament meeting talk that could be made out of that one small gesture.
Shout out, by the way, to a great taco shop just right up the street from the temple. I’ll let the photos tell you what I thought of the meal.
I will be framing this Lubbock Texas Temple photo in a lavender colored frame. If you’ve ever sat inside the celestial room of this temple, you will understand why.
Final shout out to the fabulous temple workers who are here. They make you feel like you’ve been lifelong friends even when you meet them for the first time. God bless these wonderful people! If the angels to greet you outside of the celestial kingdom are as nice as these folks, I have much less to worry about.