Week 19

Spring Break this week!!  I see why this is a good thing--since BYU didn't have one, I didn't realize how nice it is to have a little R & R at mid-semester.  Virtually all the kids were gone all week.  We spent Monday doing errands around town (including joining the YMCA so we can get some exercise on weight machines, etc) then joined in FHE.  One of the counselors in the bishopric lives a bit out of town, where we had a bonfire with hot dogs and s'mores. They also had a TV set up by the fire to watch a movie, but they never got to the movie; just visiting.

Relaxing by the fire

Tuesday morning we had our inaugural YMCA visit then drove down to OKC to spend a couple of days.  On the way we saw a turtle in our pond and about 20 wild turkeys in a field.  Just a note about our geese--there are not nearly as many now as a few weeks ago.  I guess they flew north.  This doesn't seem south to me, but perhaps to a goose Oklahoma is a lot better place to spend the winter than Canada!  Anyway, we went directly to the temple and had a nice session.  

After the temple we went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.  It was very well done and very moving.  Last year was the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and some of the exhibits had been redone in commemoration.  Outside is the Field of Empty Chairs, one for each of the 168 people who died.  Smaller chairs represent the 19 children who died in the daycare.  The chairs are arranged in 9 rows, one for each of the 9 floors of the building, and a bronze chair with the name of each victim is placed in the row representing the floor where he or she was when the bomb went off.  At night, the glass bases are illuminated.

The Field of Empty Chairs

Outside the museum is the Survivor Tree--a 90 year old elm that was charred and hit by debris and shrapnel but didn't die.  The inscription on the low wall surrounding it reads:  The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.

The Survivor Tree

A wall of hand-painted tiles sent to OKC by children showing their support for the lost children surrounds a children's area just outside the main entrance.

Inside the museum are 10 different display areas taking you through the events of the day and following weeks in chronological order.  One of the most disturbing exhibits was where we went into a room to simulate a Water Board meeting that was being held and recorded in a building right across the street from the Murrah Building.  The meeting recording started at 9:00 am, and the explosion occurred at 9:02 am--hearing the actual explosion was truly horrifying.

Hate and fear take many forms, and seeing the aftermath of this particular form was very sobering. Across the street is a Catholic church, and after the bombing they erected a statue of Christ named Jesus Wept--He is facing away from the memorial.

Jesus Wept, from the street side

The Gate of Time--memorial entrance across the street from statue of Jesus

On the church property was a lovely specimen of a redbud tree--just love those!!

We spent the afternoon shopping for some comfortable shoes for me and a suit for Kerby--and despite the disdain with which most clerks met our request for a brown suit, we found one.

Wednesday morning we attended the temple again (the hyacinths are in full bloom in the garden), and then went to a movie--Race.  It was really enjoyable; a movie about Jesse Owens, the 4-time gold medal winner in the 1936 Olympics in Germany.  It rounded out our OKC theme of fear and hate--this time in the area of racial/ethnic bigotry and  discrimination.  In both instances (federal building bombing and the movie) heroic feelings and actions always rise to counter-balance the negative. Pretty amazing how that happens.  Must be very frustrating for Satan to have heroes and goodness pop up whenever he gets a foothold in the fear and hate department.

Most of Thursday was spent at the institute working on lesson preparation--we saw one student there the whole day, and she didn't stay for very long.  Just before we left the carpet cleaners came, so the carpets were wet well into the afternoon on Friday.

Church attendance was still pretty sparse today, as quite a few YSAs had not yet returned.  This evening I spoke at a stake singles (older, not young) fireside.  There were about 25 people there, many from outside the immediate Stillwater area.  My topic was "Be of good cheer," and we had a nice time.