Power Outage and Tender Mercies

One thing I try to do daily is to look for tender mercies from the Lord. They are all around us...we just have to recognize them. Such was the case yesterday in the temple. 

About an hour before our shift was to end, the power went out. This was about 10:30 a.m. Many rooms in the temple do not have any natural light, so that can be a problem when trying to carry on a normal routine in a power outage. Fortunately, a back-up generator kicked in, so most places had some light, although dim. All over the temple there are plug-in flashlights for emergencies like this. I could see that they lit up during the power outage, allowing some light. 

Here is a list of some tender mercies I noted:

1. The film never stopped working in the two sessions that were in progress at the time. They were able to carry on as if nothing happened. The lights and phones wouldn't work, but the film was not affected. What a blessing that was!

2. At our last veil of the shift, I could see that there was some emergency lighting behind the veil. It was interesting to see how the light shone through the fabric. To me, it felt like an invitation to go into the light of the Celestial Room. [However, the Celestial Room was fairly dark...only natural light in there.] 
The Lord is the light of this world. We were in His house. He was lighting the way.

3. A sister who comes every week in a wheelchair finished the session and was in the Celestial Room. Her husband works on our shift. He was concerned that the elevator would not work and she would be stuck there on the 2nd floor. She doesn't have a normal wheelchair. Hers is more like a very heavy reclining gurney. Her spine has dissolved away so she can't walk at all or sit up straight. Just the thought of having to carry her down a flight of stairs seemed impossible even with several men assisting. Fortunately, the one elevator she needed to take was working. It was pretty dark inside it, but it was working. The other elevator was not working. That's a definite tender mercy! 

I had to use that same elevator to get to my locker on the 4th floor to change into my street clothes and to gain access to my purse with my car keys. I have no idea how to get to the 4th floor locker room without taking the elevator. I was so grateful that it was working.

I don't know how long the power was out or if the next shift was able to carry on without any problems. I'm just glad that in spite of the power outage the Lord's work was still able to continue while I was there. The Lord truly works in mysterious ways. 

I love this quote by Elder David A. Bednar: