A Temple in the Marriott Center?

Today was a bit crazy, at least for a Sunday. Usually Sundays are pretty laid back, because there is nothing really to do. No one works around here, no one really does anything besides lay around and kill a lot of time. It is great! Today, I went to church, as usual, and managed to stay awake for most of it. For some reason I was really tired, though I am not sure why.

After church, I went over to the Marriott Center, because I had to work. The recently completed Draper Temple was being dedicated today, and rather than try to cram everyone in there for the ceremony, they decided to broadcast it to churches and such in the area, so people could watch it. The Marriott Center, being the largest building in the area, also was a broadcast host. They have seating there for over 22,000 people, though we were not expected to fill up for the dedication. I was assigned to be the Usher at Portal N. At the basketball games and other more typical events at the Marriott Center, the Ushers stay fairly busy, telling people not to stand on the seats, chasing people out of the stairs, asking people to put away the megaphones or refrain from throwing stuff, etc. The list goes on and on. Today the crowd was a little different though. It being a religious ceremony, the people came with a more reverent attitude, and there was no one to yell at. Actually, it was the easiest event I have ever worked at. I heard that there were about 15,000 people there, but it was very quiet. It sounded like there was only a couple of people there, it was rather strange! I have never seen such a quiet crowd. Part of this was because one brother kept making announcements from the pulpit that we were there for the dedication of a temple, and as such, the Marriott Center was considered an extension of the temple. This was the reason for the reverent attitude. Most people whispered, if they talked at all, and everyone behaved very well. In a way, it made my job a little bit boring! It was a nice change though.

After the dedication concluded and everyone filed out of the Marriott Center, I went to the Wilkinson Center for a fireside with President Brown. He is the president of the Utah Provo Mission, and he was doing a fireside for Karen's ward. I figured I would go, since he was my Mission President, and I wanted to say hi to him again. It was quite nice. As I expected he would, he made several comments about me and my work in the mission, which was strange to listen to. I always find it a little weird when people publicly compliment me, I am never quite sure what to do.

Finally, eleven hours after leaving the apartment this morning, I returned home, after President Brown's fireside. Then I went to Ward Prayer, also known as "Ward Stare," and I had a reason to stare! :D That was good, I guess, there really was nothing particularly exciting or unusual about it. It was a busy day, but fun. Tomorrow is back to the normal routing. I really don't want to go to Spanish class. I hate it, it is way to easy and I don't learn anything. I will I guess, and be bored to tears or asleep through it, as usual.