Okay, okay, I need to make a little confession here. I am a card-carrying member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Yep, I’m a Mormon. But I’m not that kind of Mormon. I’m not that nice, and I’m a rule-breaker. To top it off, I don’t usually put on a nice appearance (no shoes, dirty, cherry-stained kids, no makeup, old, threadbare clothes). But I believe. I honestly think I have some purposes in life. One is to teach acceptance to those of my own faith. Another is to love everyone equally, as a pale representation of how Christ loves them.

That said, these two lovely ladies, Aunica and Cassandra, and I went to the Salt Lake City, UT temple bright and early to do baptisms for the dead. It is such a special privilege in my life to be with such wonderful young people.  

 
Still early, we headed back to the RV to round up the rest of the crew. A lot of buildings were closed, but we walked the grounds and the 2 visitors centers. My 3 favorite things were the Christus (a huge, white replica of a 19th century statue), a dollhouse sized version of the Salt Lake temple, and a light up relief of Jerusalem.

   
 We headed over to the Lion House cafeteria for lunch. Yes, the rolls are “world-famous” for a reason. Fun fact: the cafeteria was Brigham Young’s dining room, for all 55 of his wives and 59 children. Talk about feeding a crowd. After lunch, the older kids toured the rest of the house (Deon and I wrestled babies, I wonder if this was a common theme in this house). Kids enjoyed the tour. When the kids opted to take a swim in the conference center fountain, we made a quick exit.

Ready for a change of pace, we headed over to the Hogle Zoo. We had about three hours there, but it was a small zoo, so that was fine. The kids had a blast, plenty of big animals. Elephants, rhinos, monkeys, lions, a baby giraffe. A splash pad (are you seeing a theme here?) I met a really nice woman who was so excited about our journey. I hope we inspire her to take her own leap.

  
Dinner in the parking lot (I’m getting good at this) and we hit the road, headed out of Utah for wilder scenery.