Saturday night we filed into the college stadium very early to get great seats for the TCC. [I should explain the TCC. With each temple dedication, there is a cultural celebration held where the youth (boys and girls ages 12-18) in that temple district do a program for the Prophet, President Monson - and people in the community also get to come]. We had to wait for a loooong while before the program started, but there was too much anticipation to be bored. 
As it was getting close to the time that President Monson would arrive, all of the youth came out and sat on the field. There were 1600 of them! It was an amazing site.
When the first golf carts rode out carrying President Eyring (of the First Presidency) and his wife, Elder Holland (of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) and his wife, along with Elder Costa (of the Presidency of the Seventy) and his wife, Elder Walker (of the First Quorum of the Seventy) and his wife along with a few other people, an amazing thing happened. Everyone in the stadium stood up and were quiet within a matter of 5 seconds. We all expected that President Monson would be coming out, which is why everyone stood up, but he didn't come out for about 10 more minutes. None the less, it was nice stand for the other general authorities. And the greatest thing I thought was the spirit of reverence and respect that everyone showed and felt for the oppurtunity to see and be in the presence of these great men, especially the prophet. When President Monson came out, he was so fun. He cracked jokes, told stories, and even got President Eyring to sing with him. 
He also gave a short address to the youth and then it was time for the program to start. At the beginning, all of the youth marched onto the field. They kept coming and coming and coming and coming. Wow! There are a lot of youth and they are a strong force. The TCC was really well done; fun, spiritual, uplifting and entertaining. It told the story of the history of this area in singing, dancing and some short video clips. I was especially proud of the youth that I know from my old ward (my parents ward), they did an awesome job. Here are two links to the TCC thanks to the local newspaper: part 1 and part 2. Each video clip is about 9 minutes long, but they are worth watching in my opinion. Note, my dad arranged some of the music and most of the singing was recorded by students in his choirs.
Sunday, May 23 was the dedication, which was held in three sessions. The first session also included the cornerstone ceremony. I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the members of the cornerstone choir and my dad got to direct the choir (but he wasn't the one who selected the members of the choir). You may be wondering what the cornerstone choir means? It is the choir that stands outside of the temple and sings for the cornerstone part of the dedication. It was a great experience to be in the choir and sing so closely to President Monson. Again, thanks to the local paper, here is a video clip of the cornerstone ceremony. If you look carefully at the end of the first song, you can see me in the back. And, even if you don't look carefully you will see my dad directing the choir. Also, the young woman who goes up to do some of the mortar for the cornerstone was one of my laurels when I was Young Women's president. Way to go Kayla!
It was a bright and sunny day, but thankfully not as hot as it could have been. In the afternoon I attended the 3rd dedication with my parents, who also had tickets inside the temple. Now, I am looking forward to being able attend the temple very often as it it so close. I am truly grateful that I was able to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime event.
