Gossip is Alive and Well, Pass It On

So,
way back in August,
an announcement was made in Church
that the whole Stake was having a "Special Conference".

Having lived in this area for most of 14 years,
we've learned that when these
"Special Conferences" are called,
it's usually because our membership has grown so much
that adjustments are made to our boundaries,
new wards are created,
etc,. etc., etc.

This is enough fuel all on its own
to fill the pools of speculation
by all the hens in the henhouse
and a few of the roosters too,
if you get me.

The rumor mill was buzzin' to capacity
though
especially because The Church (as in Salt Lake),
bought 18 acres on our end of town,
and in case you're wondering,
that's enough land to build
a temple,
a Seminary building,
and a new Stake Center upon.

And it's about 2 miles from our house.

The chatter was loud and in unison that the
"Special Conference" was going to be a
Big announcement regarding that land.

It got a little ridiculous, actually.
One of our missionaries read a text outloud to us
that he'd recieved from a member,
"Can you tell me the dates when the new temple in Gleneagle will be built,
so we can plan on attending the open house? thanks."
Ridiculous.
Mostly, because the missionaries wouldn't know that kind of information
before the rest of us.

So, the weeks went by
and the chatter was flowing like melted butter on a hot bun...
"the new stake will be
The Flying Horse Stake",
"the temple will begin being built in December"
"this ward will be part of that ward"
"that Stake will be meeting in that building until the new stake center is built"
yada
yada
yada.
Endless.
And I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, okay?
I would LOVE to have a temple closer than 65 miles away!
Love. It.

I was already daydreaming about going there every morning
before the yahoos got up for school,
n' going with my sweetheart for dates
every weekend.
Full-blown-high-def-surround-sound-fantasizing, ok?

SO.
The Big Sunday came.
We wanted to get a good seat in the chapel,
so we went to church 2 hours early.
And no,
we weren't the only ones there--
we weren't even one of the first families there.
Other folks had gotten there even earlier than us,
and within 15 minutes of our arrival,
the chapel was almost full.

The meeting was being satellite-broadcast to the other meetinghouses
in our Stake--
exactly as has been done in other "Special Conferences", ok?
So we're sitting there,
two hours early,
nervous energy about to spontaneously combust,
and all big smiles as the General Authority,
Walter F. Gonzales enters the chapel.
We also knew that Elder Holland was in the area,
as well as another G.A.--
so we're thinkin'--
"tem-ple. tem.ple. tem.ple. ooo yah ooo yah!!!"

I know it made no sense.
I know they don't announce new temples like this.
Okay, I know it.
Sorta.
That's what I've been told anyway.

So the meeting begins...
we  first hear a couple of talks--
one from a gal whose family has read the Book of Mormon this year
and her testimony of it,
and another one that I can't recall.
Then, our beloved Stake President stood and spoke of the glorious work in the temple.
This is it, I thought.
N' like coaxing a puppy to drop a sock,
I'm thinkin'
"C'mon....c'mon...drop that sock. tell us about the changes! Temple! Temple! Temple!"

But he didn't.
Hmmm.

Next the G.A. stood up to the podium.
Oh yeah, he's gonna be the messenger on this great day! Of course! It's only right."

So, I listened.
I listened with my ears,
and my eyes,
all my fingers and toes
and all the hairs on my head
were tuned into every.single.word.
comin' outta that man's mouth.

He was lovely. Inspiring. Equally touching and humorous.
And finished.

Nothing else.
Nothing about a new ward, new stake, new temple,
new-nothing.
Nothing, Nothing.

I looked over at Kent,
who shrugged his "I-wasn't-buyin'-all-the-hype" shoulders.
Talk about a let-down.

We pouted our way out to the car
and headed home.
Joseph said,
"They coulda emailed that stuff to us." to express his disappointment.

And yeah, I know,
it was just an absolute privilege to get to sit at the feet of a General Authority.
And that's exactly right.
The build-up was to blame for the let-down, no kidding.

Now, I forgot to share that Dara was not with us.
She didn't want to go two hours early.
She thought it was too early.
So she wasn't ready when it was time to go,
so we left her at home.
Even writing this now,
forces me see how stupid that was.

(live and learn, right?)

Okay so on the way home,
a brilliant light clicked on in my noggin:

WHAT ARE WE GONNA TELL DARA ABOUT THE MEETING?

Seeing as how the other two yahoos were with us,
I wondered how much I could get away with, ya know?

So,
I test the waters:

"Wow!" I said outloud in the car.
"We're gonna be in the new Stake That's so exciting!" I continued.
"And a temple! Can you believe it?!" I said raising my voice.

From the backseat:
{silence}

Okay, so the yahoos that were with us at the meeting,
didn't have a rebuttal, nothing.

Mwahahaha....

So
we get home,
change outta our Sunday clothes and sit down for the
crockpot dinner I'd begun the night before.

Daisie (Dara) comes upstairs and asks
"Well? What was the big announcement?"

"Oh, Day, you shoulda been there. It was awesome.
All kinds of changes are comin'.
First, we're in a new stake; the Flying Horse Stake,
and there's gonna be the new temple, stake center, and seminary building
just like everyone's been sayin'.
Oh and starting next Saturday at six a.m.,
all of the youth will be going to the temple site
to start clearing the land for the temple.
The Young Men will be digging the hole for the temple basement,
the Young Women will be using these screen things to sift the rocks outta the dirt,
the Primary children will scrub the foundation cement once it's poured,
to clean it before the flooring can go down--to keep it clean, right?
Of course, the Relief Society's assigned to feed everyone
and the Preisthood will be in charge of building the actual temple."

"What time do I haveta be there?"  Dara asked.

"Six a.m. Saturday."

"For how long?"

"Until it's finished, I guess." I answered.

"Hmmm. That's cool."

She turned to the yahoos, Joseph and Bee. "Is Mom right?"

Joseph and Bee just shrugged their shoulders.  (I was equally disturbed and happy at them: disturbed because they hadn't been paying attention to the meeting, and happy because they couldn't refute my big whoppin' tale."

Satisfied with her siblings response, she again replied, "Cool."

Now, I haveta say, it was SO STINKIN' hard to not crack a smile and confess the truth.
But, looking over at Kent whose face revealed nothing,
I just smiled and did not correct myself, yet.

Until.
Until later that evening as we were preparing for scripture study and family prayer.
We gathered upstairs in the loft,
and as if on cue,
Joseph asked, "Are we really in the Flying Horse stake, Mom?"

Finally!
I laughed and gave away my secret.
Dara's eye widened and she glared at me,
"You're ridiculous, Mom!"

"I know!", I hung my head.
I know.
And a little bit awesome.