Twice in 1 day

Yeah, I don't really have time to post today at all, but here I am again, for the second time.  There was actually something else I wanted to write about earlier, but I wanted to do that tag, so I'm back.

This afternoon, during my 1 hour lunch break, I walked out the doors of the New College Building (in the same building as Hahnemann Hospital, for those familiar with Philly), over 1 block to Broad Street, and then up the few short blocks to Broad and Spring Garden- the future location of the Philadelphia temple (or so I've heard).  On my way up, I took in the sights around me.  I walked past medical students rushing to get some lunch before moving on to the next thing.  I watched the traffic pass on Broad Street, which street name is actually quite appropriate.  I examined the buildings I passed on the way up there- the Philadelphia School District Building, the Philadelphia Inquirer Building. When I reached the intersection at Broad and Spring Garden, it was bustling.  Food trucks were lined up along the southwest corner of the street and the lunch crowd was lined up to get a delicious bite.  On the southeast corner, on the ground floor of a building was a rehab center, and the higher floors probably residential. On the southwest corner with all the food trucks was a tall-ish (I'm not talking skyscraper or anything, but decently tall) building, dated in its style.  In the northwest corner was a parking lot, stuffed with cars, advertising all day parking for only $10.  And there, on the northeast corner, was an empty lot.  It was fenced in.  No cars were parked there.  None of the lunch crowd was lounging there.  It was just an empty lot, with a few weeds, and a large mural on the building next to it.  Now I don't know for sure if that's where the temple is going to go, but it sure seemed like a good candidate to me.  So I walked over to the lot and stood outside the gate and just looked.  As I turned to make my way back down Broad Street, I again walked past the lunch crowd, and the people on street corners taking a smoking break, and the students rushing from one thing to another, and I thought about how life was going on in this city I love so much, and how so many people have no idea what special things are going to take place just blocks from where they stood.  I rejoiced in the thought that an inconspicuous street corner, unremarkable and probably unnoticed by so many who pass it, is going to become sacred ground.  I thought how it is going to be amazing that our temple will be in such a location, with a straight-on view of City Hall a 15 minute walk down the road.  I walked by the subway station at Broad and Spring Garden, the very same coordinates as the future temple, and knew that such a location could bless many lives.  I went back to school feeling different.  I know the people of Philadelphia will be so blessed because of this temple.  I know many who have made great sacrifices to get to the temples in Manhattan and Washington DC, who would go more often if they only had the opportunity.  In Utah, I have lived the kind of life where, in the time it takes the members here to get to the temple, I could drive by at least 5 or 6 temples.  I had no idea what kind of sacrifices people make to worship in that sacred place.  So, this comes as an answer to prayer.  God has been and continues to be mindful of the people of Philadelphia. Although we will probably not be here when the temple is completed, we will return to visit this temple- our temple.  I know my words on this topic are not as beautiful or articulate as my husband's but I wanted to express some of the feelings I've been having about it also.  What a happy announcement that was.