I tried to post a comment on your update, Ruth, but it wouldn't let me. What a lovely transformation! Very, very impressive. I can't wait to sit on your swing! I hope you will take full advantage of it and spend many relaxing moments there, basking in your accomplishments!

We had a good week. Definitely the highlight was talking with Emma while she was at the Salt Lake airport! I'm glad she didn't call at 3:30 a.m. like she thought she would. They waited until they were checked in and through security before they called. She was the "travel leader" so she couldn't talk long, but it was wonderful to hear her voice and sense her delight and enthusiasm to be heading to her mission field assignment. She loved meeting her mission president at the MTC and was excited to see him again soon. We should hear more from her tomorrow, but if you want to read the cute email she sent after arriving at the mission home, you can look at the blog Dad and I made for posting her letters and photos. hermanabellistonmissionupdates.blogspot.com

The second best part of the week for me was when I got a text from a lady I didn't know to ask if I would take dinner to another lady I didn't know. I was SO excited to do something useful!! It's tiring to be continually self-centered. It was so satisfying, in fact, that I ended up taking dinner to two families and taking a loaf of bread to our next door neighbor who was moving. I just needed to be jarred out of my self-focused habit. It felt really nice and I'm very grateful. Hopefully I can remember how good it felt and keep it up!

House hunting continues. We've seen some nice homes and some not so nice homes. None feel like the right thing. We will keep looking.

We had a great experience touring a to-scale traveling exhibit of the portable Tabernacle that the Jews used while traveling in the wilderness for 40 years with Moses. It was quite impressive. It was at BYU for a time, so maybe some of you saw it. There were posters and ushers to teach of the symbolism in the temple including the direction you enter from, the colors of the fabric, where you stand to offer sacrifices, what the shewbread and incense means, the ark of the covenant and the priestly attire, etc. It was fascinating. It was constructed by a collaborated group from the University of Southern California, Widstoe foundation, and a couple of other groups. If it ever comes your way, it is worth going to see. There were children there when we were and they really enjoyed it. I learned a lot about the symbols and how they all point to the Savior, just like in our temples today. Sacrifices have never appealed to me, especially the fact that the person bringing the sacrifice had to hold the animal and kill it himself. But there is something richly symbolic in that. In speaking of sacrificing, Elder Maxwell said, "So it is that real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed! Such is the 'sacrifice unto the Lord... of a broken heart and a contrite spirit,' a prerequisite to taking up the cross, while giving 'away all [our] sins' in order to know God, for the denial of self precedes the full acceptance of Him."

Flags for each of the 12 tribes of Israel, off to the right, led us to the Tabernacle of the Wilderness, where you enter from the east. The opening curtains were made of crimson, purple, and blue - colors which signify royalty, the heavens and the blood of the Savior.

The Holy Place where the menorah burned continually, symbolizing completion with its seven candles. There was a table with flatbread and water, an altar on which the priests burned incense, and the veil to the Holy of Holies where the priest would enter to pray for Israel. In front of the Holy Place you can see the stand where the priests were washed, anointed and clothed before entering.

The sacrificial altar where a person would bring an animal to sacrifice for various purposes. The person would have to stand on the north side, hold the animal himself, and kill the animal. The priest would hold a basin to catch the blood and spread it symbolically on different places on the altar.