Week 10

Elder and Sister Blattman’s Missionary Weekly Journal
March 6-12, 2011

Saturday we left our mission boundaries – to go to the Washington DC temple. We took a couple young adults from the Susquehanna Branch along to do baptisms while we enjoyed an endowment session. We didn’t do any sightseeing beyond the temple. It’s a very impressive building, much larger and imposing than it appears in photographs. The smooth marble exterior shoots straight up out of the hilltop like a building from the Crystal City. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera.
On Friday we took the train down to the city center to see the Liberty Bell. There was no way I was going to discard my pocketknife to enter the building so we stood outside and pressed our faces against the glass to peer at it between the bodies of the weaponless wimps inside. Anyway, the real fun of this trip was riding the train and finding our way around the maze of buildings. Next time, to emulate Nicholas Cage and ‘National Treasure’ we’ll go out onto the grass of the mall, triangulate a position from landmarks, and bury the pocketknife. Then make a map…. Unfortunately, we again forgot the camera, another reason to return.
Here are some other photos from when we did remember to bring our camera. The first picture is of the library where we volunteer on Thursday mornings. The little part of the building in front was erected in 1810. All of the churches in Jenkintown started in that little building before they built their own churches. The next photo “Divine Lorraine”, we have no idea of what it means except it shines over North Philly. The last photo is of the William Penn statue which was supposed to be the highest point in Philly until they build lots of taller buildings around him. We drove down town after our Wednesday morning class but stopping and getting out seemed out of the question at the time.