Karen no last name

Last week I had my first experience with finding a name on family search and doing temple work for them. Her name was "Karen" - no last name was listed. I don't remember how I ended up with her name either. I was clicking around on the Family Search website and ended up somewhere, and according to the website, there was this person in our family line who needed to have her temple work done. So I printed out a piece of paper with her name and a bar code, and my visiting teacher who is a pro at family history, told me, yup, that's all you need to do, now just take it to the temple and they'll make you one of those pink cards just like you've seen other people have through the years. So I drove over to the Jordan River temple (which is literally within walking distance. True, it would probably take an hour to walk there, but still, it's awfully close). It was a beautiful springy day too. It was a yellow day. As I walked toward the temple awww, there was my first sighting of forsythia blossoms this year.

Then I saw a bright yellow Volksagen bug parked up ahead. I recognized it as belonging to my friend Karen Helton who was chairman of the decorating committee for Stake Women's Conference last year.

While composing this post, I remembered a photo I'd taken of Karen in her yellow bug  last year in the parking lot of the Stake center, and it is copied below. Hey, she even has on yellow sun glasses. If I were the chairman of the decorating committee I would not look as happy as Karen does in this picture. This was taken right before many, many mini-vans began backing into the stalls, loaded to the hilt with planters, quilts, end tables, chairs, couches....... She's a powerhouse of happiness, that one! My counselor Jennie is sitting next to her. You heard me talk about "my counselor Jennie" for the last five years. Isn't she cute?:
 

Now, to return to my original post, and complete my yellow experience, here are photos I snapped of some yellow temple daffodils, a yellow-skirted fellow temple lady, and the deeply yellow angel Moroni.

sideways!

Once I entered into the temple I ended up behind a sister who I overheard telling the man at the recommend desk that she had brought a family name and it was her first time doing this too! So I followed happily behind her to the family name desk and watched as they printed out her card and said "I'm with her! Here's one more!" With all of the cards they print out each week at the temple, I was amazed that the temple worker used a little craft store-size paper cutter, and "slice" "slice" "slice" "slice" neatly cut the page she printed out into a pink index card.  Harry Hale Russell would probably have had something to say about that! There was additional information on the pink card they gave me which indicated Karen "no last name" was christened about 1838 in Denmark. Her parents were Maren Rasmussen Pedersen and Peder Pedersen (so, obviously she is Karen Pedersen, but Karen no last name is much more fun) and she was sealed to her parents in the Manti temple in 1912. This caused much head scratching for the people at the desk, because she should have had the rest of her work done in Manti at that time. Which made me think that either a) it had already been done in 1912 and just not recorded which once again, would not make great-grandfather Harry Hale Russell happy; or b) she really has been waiting around for 100 years, sealed to her parents, but  unbaptized and unendowed, so near but yet so far.  

Brenda Cowdell, the sister who I'd attached myself to, was a relatively small woman. I decided to ask her if she could do the baptism for my Karen and she was so nice to do that. So I waited and watched from the baptistry chapel (where I used to play the organ many years ago). While I waited for sister Cowdell to get changed into baptismal clothes, I listened to the organist and interestingly she played "O Little town of Bethlehem" at one point. She was playing "Abide with Me" when the baptism was performed.Occasionally I've walked into a room where the spirit stops me in my tracks and I felt it walking down the stairs to the baptismal area.  Just as strongly as in Nauvoo last summer watching while Angie's family performed baptisms in the gorgeous Nauvoo temple. It was a sacred experience then seeing Dennis and Forrest and Ethan and Elise and Jonas do baptisms as I watched through the glass, and it was a sacred experience witnessing the baptism of Karen this day. In both instances, there was the pane of glass separating me from the baptisms being performed, and the veil felt as close as a second pane of glass, just one I couldn't see as well. 

It was sweet to watch the temple worker wrap up those who have just been baptized with a big, white towel and a smile. After the baptism and confirmation had been performed, I asked the woman at the baptistry desk what was next (it is always so daunting to do something for the very first time!) and she told me to just wait a couple of minutes while they record it up in the office, then she will bring me back the card. While I was waiting, Sister Brenda Cowdell who performed the baptism changed her clothes, and came up to me in the baptistry chapel and said "It was neat. I could feel them just jumping up and down. I could feel their joy!" I wanted to write this down so I wouldn't forget it, because it really was a special experience and I was between heaven and earth.


So, to place me squarely back on earth after this heavenly experience, I could smell the faint aroma of mashed potatoes and gravy wafting into the baptistry from the temple cafeteria down the hall. It was noon and I was famished. I thought, "Is it weird to eat alone in the temple cafeteria?" Turns out, kinda. I was disappointed when they told me they didn't have mashed potatoes and gravy. Bummer. I settled for corned beef and cabbage soup. The salt and pepper shakers in the temple cafeteria are always so CLEAN! As I was eating, I overheard someone at the table next to me say "My brother is going to BYU...." and I realized the BYU NCAA game was on t.v. at 1:00. Now, I had not planned to stay and do the initiatory and endowment for Karen, but after witnessing the baptism, I changed my mind. So, I decided to drive home and get my temple clothes, and DVR the BYU game. I looked at my half-finished salad and the thought crossed my mind, "Do they have to-go boxes at the temple cafeteria?" nawww.

I made the quick drive home (all the while telling "Karen" that this would just take a second!), DVR'd the game, got my temple clothes, grabbed two tootsie roll midgets (the colored ones, oh I like those), put one in my pocket and one in my mouth...and pulled off a crown. My dentist, who is my home teacher, has his office right up the road. "Hello, Dr. Dunn's office? I'm in the middle of doing Karen no last name's temple work and just pulled off a crown. Could you work me in?" After all was cemented back in place, I drove down the street to the temple and told Karen, "See? I told you I'd be right back!"
In closing, it was a wonderful experience and it left me with a peaceful, joyful feeling that lingers still.

Before I sign off, here is a photo of the corner of my bedroom where in startling contrast to each other, a rocking chair and an exercise bike sit unhappily side by side. Neither of them makes me happy, and I don't think they like each other very much. A rocking chair? An exercise bike? How on earth did these two end up taking over an entire corner of the master bedroom? If I was left to my own devices, these two would be waiting for another 100 years before I touched either of them - kinda like Karen-no-last-name.

Love you!
Mom/Babette