Recommend: The Saga

My friends and I were going to Nauvoo the weekend of Fall Break. In Nauvoo there is this beautiful building called a temple. I wanted to attend this temple and receive my endowment. In order to do this, I needed a recommend.

The recommend saga: (by Alisha Heavilon)
[there are a few stories mixed into the one. don't get too distracted]

We had a serious saga tonight.

Jeff and I had to work in the family history center, but neither of us has a key to get in (because got robbed in Utah…that haunts us!), so we called everyone who works in the family history center, and no one answered. No good. So then we went to the stake center and sat in front of the door so we could at least let any potential patrons know why it wasn’t open. Well, then our bishop showed up, and he had a key and unlocked it for us. Awesome.

And, to our surprise, Laura and Pete West were at the stake center too—Pete was having his Melchizedek priesthood interview with the bishop! While he did that, Laura hung out with us and we discovered that the internet was absolutely not working on the FHC computers. We couldn’t figure it out for anything.

At the same time, Julia arrived at the stake center, for her interview with Pres. Connolly for her temple recommend interview. This was sketchy, as her call still hasn’t come. But she went on faith that he would just let her do it, or plan to have the interview tomorrow or something, so that she could still go through the temple this coming weekend. This is important because that’s fall break, and we’re going to spend several days in Nauvoo. Not only is Nauvoo the temple that Julia wants to be endowed in, but we will also have the opportunity to do several sessions while we’re there, and she’ll be able to get used to the temple a bit.

Well, Pres. Connolly checked the handbook. And said what it said. No.

And even if it comes tomorrow, he’s going to be out of town for fall break and she won’t be able to meet with him tomorrow night.

In the meantime, we told Pete to go see if he could just have his interview with Pres. Connolly tonight to finish off his effort in getting the Melchizedek priesthood, and there just happened to be an opening between Julia and the next person. Pete was in (and passed)!

Julia, of course, was kind of crushed at this point, so Jeff decided we ought to call the Missionary Department in Salt Lake and see if they could fax us her call or something so that Pres. Connolly could, in good conscience, give Julia her interview. They couldn’t do that, of course, but they did say that once the call was en route, the stake president could look online and see if her call’s status was “sent.” Potentially this might convince Pres. Connolly to give her the interview.
Julia, Laura, and I tromped back to Pres. Connolly’s office and waited until Pete got out of his interview. Pres. Connolly came out, looked at the three of us, and said, “I don’t want to talk to you, you, or you,” point at each of us in turn. Julia exclaimed, “But I have a question!” She told him that we called Salt Lake, and he was like, “…right now?” and kind of laughed a bit. Basically, he told us to get some internet and he’d look at it.

So of course this happens the night the family history center internet doesn’t work!
He told us to go do what we could to fix it. We did. Nothing worked. And then it worked on my laptop…and stopped right before Pres. Connolly’s interview ended. We frantically went throughout the stake center, looking for anyone with an iPhone, or someone with a key to the clerk’s office. I kept working on getting it on mine. Nothing worked. No iPhone, no internet working in the clerk’s office, no internet on my laptop anywhere.

Pres. Connolly finally took Julia’s number and told her she’d hear from him tonight when he gets online and checks—if she gets her interview. He’s not calling if she can’t do it.

We told Julia we’d take her out for ice cream, but she was still fasting.

And so we had to disperse, go home, and wait. And wait, and wait, and wait.

He finally called around 9:30pm. That’s right—he called. Julia’s mission call was sent on October 3rd and is en route. Julia is going to have her temple recommend interview tomorrow morning after Pres. Connolly administered an exam right before he leaves on vacation.
That’s right. He’s letting her go. And her call is probably going to be here tomorrow.
There is hysteria in our apartment. Julia gets to go to the temple as she wanted. And she can finally break her fast and eat something. AND SHE HAS A MISSION CALL!!! Baaaaaah!!! This is so exciting!!! Clearly, prayers are answered. And Pres. Connolly is a hero.

And Pres. Connolly is a hero.