I went, I tried not to look, I conquered.

Last week, Matt spent 5 days in San Diego helping his granddad out while Granddad's wife was out of town. I decided that while he was gone, I'd take the girls to Idaho Falls to visit their cousins and hit the Twin Falls Temple open house on the way.

I excitedly made all the plans. I would drive to Twin on Thursday, we'd stay Thursday night at a hotel with cable and a pool, go to the open house Friday morning, and on to Idaho Falls after that.

I was quite satisfied with my little plan, until I remembered one thing: The Perrine Bridge.



The Perrine Bridge is the bridge that connects Twin Falls to I-84: the quickest route from where we are. It also happens to be a quarter mile long and almost 500 feet high. I'm afraid of heights. I'm afraid of bridges. High bridges? Forget it.

So I looked at alternate routes and decided I'd go through Hagerman, which would add an hour to the trip but didn't include any ridiculous bridges; also it's a pretty drive.

We dropped Matt off at the airport and headed for Twin Falls. The baby fell asleep. At Mountain Home, she was still asleep. As I neared the Bliss/Hagerman turnoff, she was still asleep. At that point I had to decide whether to take the long way and quite probably brave a cranky toddler over the next 2 hours, or take the short way and brave the bridge. I decided that the latter was a better option.

And I did it.

However, I did not close my eyes, as my sister suggested. (Don't worry, I know you were kidding.)

Why is missionary work so hard?

We have some next door neighbors that we love. They're some of the best Christians you'll ever meet. Their denomination is Baptist, though they only want to be identified as Christian and they've recently been "church shopping" because they're unhappy with how their congregation is feeling more like business and less like worship.

These people are really the salt of the earth. Very family oriented, and they sincerely live Jesus' teachings.

So of course we've been looking for the opportunity to share the Gospel with them. We're friends, we have mutual respect for each other, and we talk about religion now and then. But I've been waiting to really jump in and open my mouth.

The Twin Falls Temple open house starts next week. I know they have family there, and I know they're probably curious about the Temple. For our fifth Sunday combined lesson, the missionaries talked to us about opening our mouths, and about inviting people to the open house. Until now I haven't felt that it's the right time for our neighbors, but the spirit I felt at that meeting was awesome! My heart was leaping and I KNEW it was their time. I even shed a few little tears of excitement for them. I couldn't wait to come home and invite them.

I came home and chickened out.

I almost went Tuesday, and noticed that her mom was visiting. And chickened out.

This morning she called and asked to borrow some flour. I went over and we had pleasant conversation, and with a prayer in my heart I jumped in and did it. I handed her an invitation, told her that this is a special and unusual opportunity, and I knew they had family in Twin, so I wanted to offer it to them. She was very warm and receptive.

Then it came. I was braced for it. "I have a question about your temples." What was she going to ask about? I knew she'd gotten, and rejected, a lot of anti-Mormon literature. I told her I'd be happy to answer, but I was nervous.

"My husband noticed that the temples always face East. Why is that?"

I paraphrased the scripture about Christ returning from the East, and she nodded knowingly. The Spirit was there. She thought that might have been the answer. I expanded that those East doors are reserved for Him, and we don't use them. She loved that.

I hope they go. I pray for further guidance.

When was the last time you were purely happy?

For me, it was last Friday. I got some wonderful news from one of my favorite people. Then Matt had half a day at work, so we took a family day. We went to the hobby store, saw Kung Fu panda, got dinner and ice cream, and shopped a little. We had so much fun with our little girls. Watching a kids' movie with kids makes it so much more fun! The day was just simple and perfect. The sky was clear blue and everything seemed to just go right. I think it's those simple days that are the most significant.

RIP, Sam.

Our weird little shih tzu, Samwise Gamgee, has passed on. When people start doing fireworks, he often gets spooked, finds a place to dig under the fence, and runs. He ran away about 6 times in June, but every time someone found him and returned him. This time, he didn't come back. Animal Control came by yesterday to inform me that he's deceased.

Overall he was a good little dog. Pretty easygoing, and best of all, wonderful with the kids. He'll be missed.