Meeting the Prophet

We had a very spiritually fulfilling day today. My husband and I, along with our 3 oldest children, attended the final dedicatory session for the Oquirrh Mountain temple. It was a beautiful service, wonderful talks, lovely music. The kids got really squirmy during the session..the boys did..Brenna managed quite well. We did the Hosanna shout, sang "The Spirit of God" and headed out to the van to return home after the closing prayer was said. Rob suggested we go up to the temple to see if we could catch the prophet as he left. I said sure...Cade just wanted to go home, but Brenna and Jaron were game, so we went.
Rob had worked security detail for a dedicatory session on Friday evening and had been within 5 feet of the prophet as he left for the evening, and so Rob directed us to about the same spot he had been standing that night. They had temporary barriers set up from the front of the temple out to the parking lot, so we knew we were in the right place. All of the sudden there were a lot of security folks milling around and a couple of them approached those of us standing behind the barriers to give us the 'protocol' to follow when dealing with the church brethren. We were not to approach them, they would approach us. They also told us that it would be at least 50 minutes before we could expect the prophet to exit the temple. We were more than willing to wait so that the kids could have this experience! It turns out that that is one of church security's stall tactics that they use to 'thin' crowds. They hope that people will be put off by the possibility of a long wait and that they in turn will leave. No one there 'bought' the wait time, and no one left. Shortly thereafter, we noticed two nice Mercedes sedans pull up to the edge of the sidewalk where we were standing, and the security level increased ever so slightly. Suddenly, I heard the faint strains of "We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet" coming from the group by the temple entrance. Rob looked to his right and spotted President Monson and President Eyring, he pointed them out to me and the kids, but we couldn't see anything just yet due to the crowd. Gradually they made their way down the sidewalk, greeting fellow members and shaking hands, until the procession stopped right in front of us. President Monson walked right up to my kids and shook each one of their hands, he shook my husbands' hand as well. I was a little too slow on the uptake, and missed out. I was just thrilled that my kids got to meet a prophet in person! As we were walking away, we passed by President Eyring's car as he was walking to it. He stopped, and approached my family and shook all of our hands and thanked us for coming. Brenna was quite impressed with all of it and decided that she was never going to wash her hands again...that lasted until she got home and played with her brothers' geckos..then I made her wash her hands. I told her she could write about it in her journal if she would like, but that a case of lizard caused salmonella poisoning was not an option if I could help it! Jaron was happy and excited about meeting the prophet, Cade...well...when that kid is done...he's done! He was happy to shake the prophet's hand, but it was immediately followed by, "Can we go now?" This kid pulls no punches...what a pill...before we even got out of the van, he wanted to go home! Seriously though, It was a wonderful moment, and I hope my kids remember it for the rest of their lives. I didn't get any pictures..didn't think to bring my camera and didn't have my phone with me..Oh well, this one will go in the heart vault....