Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple

Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple

Saturday, January 25, 2014

P Day!

I have a whole new appreciation for Preparation Day now that we're putting it into practice! Busy, busy, busy M-F then Saturday is our do everything else day. I had big plans for everything I was going to accomplish. The best laid plans, right? We made a quick trip to sams club this morning, came home & put groceries away then decided to take a little drive around BR. 

Our first stop was at LSU. I've been wanting to see the tiger since we arrived. I must say that LSU is a beautiful campus full of gorgeous, massive trees (I think magnolia & oak) & and alot of southern charm. Saturday was probably a good day to go because we could drive around the campus and there was no traffic. 
I love bell towers at every university.
So we were driving around the stadium looking for Mike, the tiger, but we hadn't found him. Elder L, aka dad, pulled over so I could ask 2 men where to find Mike. (I didn't ask for him by name because I didn't know his name.) A very friendly man came over to the car and said "Oh yeah. He's right over there and out walking around. You'll get a real good view of him."  Marc said "Thanks coach." I just figured he was one of dozens of coaches at LSU. The the man extended his hand inside the car to shake Marc's hand. As we drove away Marc said "that was Les Miles!" I'm so mad. I wanted to go back & take his picture but Marc didn't think it was appropriate to bother him. Darn! (Les Miles is the head football coach at LSU). Well, at least we got Mike's picture. 
Beautiful animal!

Next stop was downtown to see the old & new Capitol buildings. The new one was dedicated in 1932. It has 49 granite steps with the names of each state engraved in order of statehood. Alaska & Hawaii are on 1 step and were added after the Capitol was completed. It's also the tallest state capitol in the US--450' tall. (34 stories)
The old Capitol is my favorite.
It was actually built (in 1847) to look like and function as a castle. It's on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and some believe that it was placed on the site that was once marked by a red pole, or "le baton rouge," which French explorers claimed designated a Native American council meeting site. 
End of today's history lesson. 

We had stake conference tonight, and I'm never disappointed with the Saturday evening session. It was outstanding. I'm thinking that many others stakes are having the same format--inviting the youth to this session. The theme was "Hastening the work of Salvation." All of the talks were inspiring. The youth were every bit as powerful as the adults.  Pres. Riggs, the stake pres, made an analogy between a line from "Fiddler on the Roof" and a prophecy about the South regarding the growth of the Church. The Fiddler line was something like "Great things are going to happen in this country and can't happen by itself." The comparison is obviously that great things are going to happen in the South, also, and those things won't happen without the help from all of us. Now I need to find the Fiddler quote and the prophecy. 

As I wrap up the day and look back on my accomplishments I can honestly say that my productivity is lacking, but the cleaning will wait. At least we have clean sheets, clean clothes and food for the week!

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