On Thursday, no appointment, no arrangement, bee in my bonnet, I camped out at my bishop’s office door. In all fairness, I did email to warn him- it’s time for my Recommend. We have been dancing around this for years now, and this week was my personal Appomattox. For no reason in particular, it was time. And when I say it was time, I meant now.
At 9:33 on Thursday night, I left the Stake Presidents office with a bright, shiny, signed living endowment recommend and a two-year, bar-coded, bona fide Temple Recommend.
Friday afternoon, a good friend and I called the Temple to set a date. It went downhill from there. First, the dates and times that worked for me were all filled. Then, the dates she had openings were suddenly filled when she entered my name. There was no living endowment session at this time, or there were no escorts available at that time- pretty soon, we were looking at dates more than two weeks away- and I felt my bubbly elation melting into frustration and irritation.
I remember the weeks between when I decided to get baptized and when it actually happened- and it was not pretty. My life has been full of rocks lately anyway, so adding some more bumps and potholes just doesn’t sound like all that much fun. Why torture myself?
Determined, I looked at my friend. “Can you go tonight?”
Startled, she covered the mouth of the phone, “I don’t think we can get you all your stuff by tonight.”
“OK, so tomorrow. Can we do it tomorrow?” The elderly lady on the phone tip-tapped into her computer, and confirmed that yes, tomorrow evening had plenty of room available, and was in fact a living endowment session. “Awesome. Book it.”
Distribution Services was open for two more hours- if I could find someone to watch my kids, we could totally make it. I just had to run carpool and make a few phone calls- Can you watch my kids? Yes? Fantastic! Be right there…
At the Distribution center, the kindly little ladies got our their measuring tapes and flipped through the catalogs and fabric samples. Lots and lots of white things later, I went home with two shopping sacks stuffed with my new duds, and specific directions from the nice little ladies on what I could and most emphatically could not do with my new things- including trying them on.
I live in a ward with a Temple in it’s boundaries. Half my ward works in the Temple. I can walk to the Temple from my house. So I decided to fly under the radar. While I appreciate the idea that so many people are excited and happy, and want to share in this with me, I just wanted to keep it small and quiet. So I only told three people. And then they told three people. And so on…
It was perfect anyway.
Less than 48 hours after receiving my Recommend, I find myself a fully endowed, temple attending, true-blue Mormon. Whoa. Yeah, whoa.
Those sweet, kind ladies at the Distribution Center? On Tuesday, when I go back down there, (because I have to, because seriously, I could fit me and all three of my kids in my under-duds) I’m taking them new tape measures. And maybe some reading glasses, too.
Cheers!
By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog 
Congratulations, Tracy!
Congrats. :)
~
Wonderful!
Tracy, you are awesome! Congrats!
You can get the reading glasses cheap at Costco or SAMS (I buy mine there, in four packs, for about 3-4 dollars each).
Congrats.
That is SO cool. Congratulations!!
Congrats! (And yeah, the nice old ladies are notorious for overestimating garment size. What’s up with that?)
Welcome to the world of temple-going Mormons, Tracy!
Wonderful news!
Oh, Tracy! Congratulations! That is wonderful, awesome news.
Congratulations,
It does seem that spur of the moment temple trips seem to work out better for me then planned ones.
FABULOUS!!!
Those cute ladies at the distribution center, what can I say? They are famous for sending you home with clothes that are easily 3 sizes too large.
Just thrilled for you, Tracy.
Curses! The measuring ladies strike again!! Their sizing is about right for women who are shopping for garments to wear during their upcoming triplets pregnancy.
Seriously though, congratulations!! It’s a lot to take in at first, but I hope the temple can be a special place of refuge for you. Congratulations again, –SB2
Congratulations!
Fantastic! I’m so SO happy for you, Tracy. I think this is great. And yeah, garments and measuring tapes just don’t mix.
Tracy, I’m elated!
Congratulations! Sounds so lovely. Some day I might even go. =)
What a happy post, Distribution Center ladies and all!
Congrats Tracy. I’m so glad that you posted this, offers me a little inspiration to think about actually doing it myself, I’ve been a member years.
I’m so glad that you sound like you are “breathing”. I’ve thought about you and your family a lot since your last post.
Good for you.
Awesome post!
Yeah, my garments were also FAR too big, and I didn’t have a distribution center near me:) I also found that I needed three sizes smaller than my dress size. Maybe we should have a letter writing campaign to ask them to fix the sizing chart…
When I grow up I want to be a Half-Blind Temple Grandma. That really would be the happiest job ever…
Lizzy, I took my own sweet time. I was baptized six years ago next month, and while everyone wanted me to go, waiting until I was sure I was ready was a (really very super) good idea.
Hooray! Smart, wise woman.
Congratulations! That’s awesome!
Congratulations!
Congratulations!
They used to have unmarked garments you could try on for size over your Gentile underwear. Don’t they do that anymore?
I’m very glad for you — so many things can go get mixed-up that first time.
Nope, they don’t do that anymore. You gotta measure and guess.
Wonderful! Congradulations!
Congrats indeed. Cheers!
Congratulations!!
Congratulations! I had the same issue with the oversizing. The charts are so off – Natalie’s right, 3 sizes smaller than your dress size is a pretty good estimate. I actually enjoy that, only in garment world can I wear a size Small top! :D
Anybody have the link to the funny garment post handy?
That was a riot!
I worked at the Distribution Center up until last year. Yeah, the sizing… :-( We kept being told that the Church continually does surveys to try to redefine the sizing charts. Strangely, those charts never seem to change even with the constant “readjustments” (who is filling out their surveys?), but those charts are what we’re trained to go by: we are not allowed to tell customers to go two or three sizes down – we can only tell the customers “This is the recommended size for your measurements.” Of course, everyone working there knows that in the modern world of American fashion, people just don’t wear clothing that loose anymore but we’re told in no uncertain terms that we cannot give our opinion on garments because it would limit the customer’s choice.
Now that I don’t work there anymore (although my wife does now, which is kinda cool) I’m not afraid to say it: if you are a woman don’t depend on the sizing chart and don’t be afraid to go a size or two down! (Us men, strangely, don’t have nearly as many problems with the sizing charts)
Congratulations!
I really appreciated this post — I was baptized just over a year ago and start Temple Prep classes next week.