The Work and the Glory

Dear family & friends,

We hope everyone is doing well. Farrell writing this week.

Sunset Thursday evening around midnight.

We are currently hosting another group of visitors. We picked up Kitty's sister, Anne, on Thurs. from the airport around midnight. We were waiting in the park and wait and saw a beautiful sunset. Anne also saw it coming in on the plane. Of course our photos never do it justice. Take what you see and double the scale and color. Kitty invited Anne because their mother's 1st cousin, Dianne, and best friend Laura were coming to Alaska. Kitty talked them into taking a cruise from Vancouver and we picked them up Sunday in Whittier. Dianne's grandmother was born in Wrangell AK and was a Tlingit Alaskan Native. She celebrated her 81st birthday on the cruise. It is an adventure for them and Kitty is so excited to show her the beauties of Alaska. The girls and Dianne were very close as children and adore her.

We have gotten to know & love Diane over the years. She provided some exceptional service to our daughter Amy in Michigan after the birth of her preemie twins so she has earned a special place with us. Diane and Laura are both Catholic nuns. They are relaxing now and visiting a few places of interest. It is great to have Anne here to be the host when we are busy at the temple site and Visitors' Center.

Mike Kennedy fireside.

Kitty was excited when she met Mike Kennedy selling Traeger grills at Costco. He is the 4th great grandson of Joseph Smith. Turns out I had sat by him in church Priesthood Meeting the week before without an intro. He wanted to go to the temple, so Kitty called to make sure there was an opening. Kitty and Anne saw him that evening in the Celestial Room. He joined us again Sunday morning at church before work. Then she arranged a place for him to give a fireside Sunday evening at Evan and Lois Swensen's home. They are also good friends and he is a temple sealer. Seven were able to attend on short notice. I was a little skeptical but I guess it turned out OK. I did not go to fireside, but Kitty and Anne loved it. He has many inspiring histories and personal experiences to share.

Here is his father's story. I think you will find it inspiring as well as very entertaining.

https://josephsmithjr.org/missionary-moment-the-michael-kennedy-conversion-story-third-great-grandson-of-joseph-smith/

Elaine Jesse Rawle

We received the news this morning that our dear friend, neighbor, & past ward member, Elaine Rawle, passed away last week at the age of 93. We first met her and her family in about 1984. Kitty was pregnant with Ryan when we moved in next door to the Rawle's. She had such a calm and gentle personality, always speaking with a quiet voice and encouraging tone. We would bring her a little Christmas gift every year until we left on our mission. We haven't seen a lot of her since we moved to Mapleton in 1994, but always had and will always have a soft place in our hearts for her. She is one of those people in life that you feel blessed to have crossed paths with. I don't believe that is by accident. So we send our condolences to all who loved and admired her, especially her children and grandchildren, many of whom are also dear and treasured friends. We look forward to seeing her again in the eternities. We will ever be grateful to our Savior Jesus Christ for making resurrection possible.

Temple construction progress is quite amazing -- at least to me. They formed the arch in the main entry and poured it with concrete. I have seen a lot of concrete but have never seen the type they used for this pour. It was almost as thin as water with aggregate floating in the water. It is called self consolidating concrete and I understand it has been around for awhile but gained widespread use in the US in the early 2000's. Usually excess water makes concrete weak. It has to go in water tight forms to contain it. It has a high cement (8 1/2 bag mix vs a normal 5 bag mix for any who care) content and gets it's full strength quickly. It has polymers and other "magic" ingredients to keep the rock in suspension. They use it for architectural pours i.e. exposed concrete that has to look pretty. That's not the case here -- gets covered with granite. The plywood in the front rectangle is the arch form.

Drone view of the Temple from the Front.

They have also been framing the top "dome" (can't see it in the picture). So that is a couple or three guys working at high elevation putting metal roof joists from a center point to the edge. The have it almost done in one long day. It is beginning to look like the rendering picture.

Our Visitors' Center visitors have been coming in a steady flow. We have a pretty standard presentation that seems to work for most of them. I have lots of show and tell pieces which makes the dialog easy. But, the part I enjoy the most is sharing a testimony of the Savior and our connection with Him in the temple. There is always a strong special Spirit. Many sweet tears of joy have been shed.

Love you all, Elder & Sister Badger