Rome!
People talk a lot about "bucket lists". Although I have never had a "bucket list" per se, if I had one, this week would have been on it! Monday and Tuesday were kind of a blur because we were kind of sprinting our way through them so that we could get ready to be out of the office. Although this was an experience that I will remember for many years to come, its timing was anything but convenient. We are in the middle of trying to find pisos to accommodate the 5 new couples that we are getting along with a new wave of new young missionaries that we will be seeing this month. Right now the count is up to 22 confirmed, and will go up to 28 if the rest of the visas come through. We have had to resort to getting some Airbnbs for the short term. I say that the timing was bad, but then I need to recognize that the timing was good from the standpoint of being able to catch our breath a little.
Wednesday morning, we quickly finished packing, and then jumped on the Metro to the airport. The train ride takes longer than the drive, but we didn't want to have to worry about long-term parking, and we wanted to see just how viable an option the train really is. Turns out, it's not that bad. We got there in plenty of time to meet Gerald and Tammy as they got off their flight from the U.S. We then took our time to get all checked in, and comfortable for our flight to Rome. It is always great to be with the Jones'. There is always a ton of stuff to talk about, and just have fun with them. Once we got to Rome, we took a cab to our Airbnb. It was a cute little apartment that was just perfect for what we needed. After we got checked in, we walked about a half a block to a little hole-in-the-wall pizza place for some of the best pizza I have ever eaten. The next morning we got up and picked up some delicious pastries on our way to catch the metro downtown. Once we got there, we jumped on a Hop-on-hop-off bus ride around Rome. We saw several of the classic sites like the Colosseum and other roman ruins. When we got to the Vatican, we decided to get off and take a tour. It took a lot longer than we hoped it would, but it was an eye-opening experience. Lots of amazing art in the Pope's personal art museum, and of course, the Sistine Chapel was amazing. St. Peter's square was incredible as well. What was completely missing though was the Spirit. Our guide was very knowledgeable about everything. She spent a ton of time discussing the genius of Michelangelo, of the history of the popes, and politics of the church. What she failed to really talk about at all was the Savior. We heard a lot about how the popes decided to include all kinds of roman art in their museum in order to make the statement that the leader of Roman society was really the pope, but talking about the Savior much didn't make the grade so to speak.
Friday was the day we were the most excited about. That is the day that we set aside to go to the Temple. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. We walked into that beautiful visitor's center into the room where the statues of the Savior and the Apostles are, and the Spirit hit us like a tidal wave. The sweet visitor's center sisters came in, and, of course, focussed right in on the Savior which is right where the focus should always be. We then went around to where that beautiful stained glass window is and talked about all of the many teachings and experiences of the Savior's life that are depicted in it. Again the Spirit was really strong. When it finally came time for us to head over to the Temple for our session, we were really in the right frame of mind. It was amazing. When I walked into the Celestial room I felt like I was truly home, like I was actually in the presence of Heavenly Father and the Savior. We had decided that we were going to do sealings and initiatory, and so I couldn't spend all day there, but I would have liked to. When we left the Celestial room it was almost like I was being dragged out of the presence of Heavenly Father, and I just didn't want to leave! The sealing session was amazing as well. Our Sealer was fluent in 5 languages, and switched between them with ease depending on the nationality of the people he was sealing. We heard those sacred ordinances in English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German. After that we did initiatory. It was all in Italian, but I was able to ponder the words in English, so it wasn't that bad.
I think that the real lesson for me was the stark difference between the Vatican experience and the Temple experience. Where one was interesting, but definitely NOT spiritual. The other was like immersing myself in an ocean of the Spirit! It was an experience that I will never forget.
Brenda and I had been wondering what we were going to do on Saturday. We knew that Tammy and Gerald needed to leave about 9:00 A.M. to catch their cruise ship, and that our flight out wasn't going to happen until about 9:30 P.M. We had thought about possibly spending more time in Rome seeing some of the sights, but after the experience in the Temple, we knew that we needed to go back there the next day. We truly had experienced Temple "Worship", not just temple attendance, and we wanted more. After spending more time in the Temple we went back to the visitor's center. Fun fact about the Rome temple. It sits on ground that used to be an olive grove. They transplanted 4 olive trees that are almost 450 years old. Each year they harvest those olives, and get them pressed so that they can provide their own olive oil for initiatory anointings. Olive leaves are the main theme of the Temple stained glass windows and other features of the Temple.
As we were about to leave the visitor's center for the last time, I just had the urge to run in and take a picture of the feet of the Savior's statue. The thought was that hopefully one day, I will be able to kneel at His feet, and wet those feet with my tears. We are so very grateful to be able to serve Him in the mission field, even though we sometimes don't think we are able to contribute very much. Just being able to wear that nametag is an honor.
We got home this morning a little after 1:00 A.M. and so we're a little bleary-eyed today, but it was totally worth it. Tomorrow it is back to the office to scramble getting things caught up. We also get to welcome Brenda's sister Carla who is coming to Spain with a friend of hers. Time to put our "track shoes" back on and continue the race!
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