To the temple!

I had another long, wonderful weekend! My stake (a group made up of multiple congregations from different areas of the city in our church) hosted a dance at one of the buildings this past weekend-kind of like a back-to-school/welcome-to-fall dance. Ely and Shanequa and I all planned to go, so we took the bus downtown, and we had kind of a late start. But I figured, with the way LDS dances are in the States, its better to be a little late than right on time, because there are only like 6 people that are right on time and you just do a lot of standing around or have awkward conversations, or both, and frankly it's boring, so I planned on being a little late (really, I did). So the dance was supposed to start at 8, we got there around 9, and we found Grayson and Asami standing in the hallway-with about 10 people outside, playing basketball in their skirts and slacks. And there was no one in the gymnasium. No one. We were like, what is going on? I soon realized that not only was I attending an event that recognized Mormon standard time but I was in Mexico so this was Mexican Mormon standard time....so everything starts twice as late! Haha. It was pretty funny. So we sat around and talked for a while until finally some people started showing up around 10 and the party really got started. We had a blast. This was not your typical Mormon dance. Kids were doing legit dancing-like, traditional Mexican dances and they all were so good at it. I was so impressed. There is something in Mexican DNA, we've decided, that just makes Mexicans way good dancers. Grayson and Asami and I are in a salsa class together at school, which I think helped us out a little (most guys that I danced with still asked me if I had ever danced before, haha) but we had a great time and I learned a lot. We're excited for the next one! :)

They had this picture frame that was hanging from the ceiling that you could stand in and take pictures. We took about 45. 

So after the dance, at midnight, a bunch of us loaded up on a bus and made the 5-6 hour drive to Guadalajara to go to the temple!! When I first got here, I learned that Mexico City was the closest temple to us, and that it was about 3 hours away. I didn't think we would be able to go right away because of the distance and the expense. Then I learned that the Mexico City Temple was under construction and wouldn't be completed until the middle of next year. I was really sad to hear this, and learned that the next closest temple was 6 hours away in Guadalajara. I thought, there is no way I'm going to be able to afford to go to the temple while I'm here, and I came to terms with the fact that my opportunities to go now were pretty slim.
But last week, my ward (the congregation that I attend each week with other members of my faith that live close to me) announced that they were taking us down to Guadalajara after the dance to go to the temple. I was ecstatic and knew that the Lord knew how much I wanted and needed to go. The drive was strenuous and most of us got very little sleep, but it was wonderful to be there. We left at midnight Friday, got there at around 5:30am on Saturday and stayed till 2pm and then made the drive back to Querétaro. When we got there at 5:30 to change and get ready, the place was packed. They have these stalls where you can go in and change and shower and get ready. They kind of reminded me of campground bathrooms. Not the greatest, but sufficient. There were so many women in there, and when we got up to the temple, the line just to get into the temple was running out the door, down the stairs and onto the sidewalk-not to mention, groups of people standing on the sides and a waiting area inside that was full of people. It was amazing. I couldn't believe the dedication of these people, coming to the temple so early in the morning and many of them sacrificing much, much more than we did to get there. Our transportation was completely free, thanks to the Church; the only thing we had to pay for was food (and I have great friends that bought me food while we were there). We had so many reasons to be grateful. I was touched by the willingness of the members in Mexico to come and worship the Lord so early in the morning. They knew, however, the benefits of coming to the temple far outweighed what they paid to get there, and their sacrifice was a lesson learned on me. It was a wonderful experience and I'm so grateful that God knows my heart and helped me get there this weekend.

Picture credits for all the pictures on here go to Asami (the cute girl on the right :)