Day 3 - Sydney Temple

Our third day was Thursday, November 26th. We woke up, got some fabulous breakfast, and then took our first train ride outside of downtown. We headed to the Sydney Australia Temple and I'm so glad we were able to go. It took us about 30 mins on the train and then a 5-10 min. cab ride to get there.

Before leaving I checked the website and it said they didn't rent clothing, so we didn't think we'd be able to do a session, just visit the grounds. But once we got to Sydney we called and we were told they did have clothing we could use, but they don't "rent" it, so there was no charge. So, be advised if you are traveling somewhere and would like to attend the temple, they may have clothing you can use, even if their website says otherwise!There were 5 LDS couples on the Auto-Owners trip the same time as us! The Gublers, from Hurricane and Doug and Cynthia (I don't even know their last name!) from Provo. The 6 of us went to the temple together. The other 2 couples were both from Colorado and we hadn't met them yet. They were bummed when they found out we had gone!

This was the first time I'd been to one of the mini temples. It was beautiful, but definitely smaller!Jared had a slight obsession with the cars over there...they weren't really that different and the funny thing is that Jared isn't really a "car" guy! He was positive this was the temple presidents car because it was by far the nicest one, and in a reserved spot! It is pretty cool though :)

We met some incredible people while we were at the temple and it was truly a humbling experience! In the dressing room we met a lady who was on a "temple trip" from Tasmania! She was so incredibly nice and told us she was in Sydney for about 5 or 6 days and would attend the temple 3 of those days, doing 2 or 3 sessions each day! She asked us if we would do some family names for her and we were happy to. She had 4 sisters that we were all able to do in the session we were there. After we were done we were visiting with her a bit and she asked us if we attended the temple often. I think the word GUILT was written across by forehead! I know we take the many temples we have so CLOSE to us for granted and was thankful for this wake-up call!!!

On our way back we took the bus back to the train with a elderly man who had also just done a session. It takes him 2 hours on the train (not to mention the bus rides to/from the train) to get to the temple from his home and he goes to the temple 2 or 3 times EACH WEEK! Again, a much needed reminder of what sacrifice really is. Although I'm pretty sure neither of these incredible people we met considered it a sacrifice!

I noticed as we walked around the small grounds area that they were getting the Christmas lights put up. I would have loved to see the temple with lights on!This little "excursion" was a GREAT addition to our vacation and I'm so glad we were able to go!