OctGenCon
"Trust Again"
Elder Gerrit W. Gong
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
By divine love and divine law, we are responsible for our choices and their consequences. But our Savior's atoning love is "infinite and eternal." When we are ready to come home, even when we are "yet a great way off," God is ready with great compassion to welcome us, joyfully offering the best He has.
President J. Reuben Clark said, "I believe that our Heavenly Father wants to save every one of his children, . . . that in his justice and mercy he will give us the maximum reward for our acts, give us all that he can give, and in the reverse, I believe that he will impose upon us the minimum penalty which it is possible for him to impose."
Liahona
"Seeking the Blessings of the Patriarchal Order"
Abraham 1
Abraham seeks the blessings of the patriarchal order
Continues through Eternity
Patterned after the Family of God
For Husband and Wife
Sealed for Eternity
Happy Birthday to Adam and Joe!
We left for the temple this morning at 5:25. I said a prayer before we left and then we listened to the Book of Mormon, A. Theodore Tuttle's talk from 1972 "Altar, Tent, Well." In this talk Elder Tuttle refers to Isaac and his priorities. The altar is for worshipping God, the tent represents the sacredness of the home, and the well represents his life work. He likened this to us in our day. I loved this talk.
We finished the "Come Follow Me" lesson and then listened to Brother Wilcox's talk which will be taught in EQ/RS in our ward tomorrow, "Worthiness is Not Flawlessness."
James forgot his white suit so he had to go upstairs and get one in the temple closet. The pants were 8 inches too long so he had to roll them up inside his pant legs. We made it to preparation meeting just in time. As we sat down in our seats James whispered to me, "I don't belong here." I whispered back, "Worthiness is not Flawlessness."
He just smiled at me.
President and Sister Toronto presided at this meeting. They are from our stake. He was our stake patriarch before this calling. Now Brother Greer is our stake patriarch. He works the afternoon shift after us.
We were trained in issuing and remembering the new name, and the procedure to follow in an endowment session, which was mostly for the brethren. Sister Toronto did share a story about when they were in the Ukraine at the temple. She said she was so impressed with how warm and welcoming the Ukraine saints were to the Russian saints who came to do temple work. She asked us to pray for peace.
After the meeting was over, I told Sister Hamblin that I did not have a schedule. I waited for her in the upstairs foyer, gathering room, or whatever it is called. She came over and showed me that she had given Sister Nancy Farr and I the same schedule. Probably because both of us have been "sickies." Nancy had the schedule but Sister Hamblin had to make me one on a post-it. The first assignment was the celestial room. Sister Farr was sitting on the couch and I went to sit by her. Another sister was sitting in the chair where I normally sit. I think it was Sister Dewitt. Her first name is Darolyn and she is from Joseph City. She didn't stay long. Sister Farr and I served together in the baptistry a few weeks ago and we already have an established friendship. She lives in Holbrook. She is very tall as is her husband who is over 6'5". She is probably in her early to mid 60's. I really like her. I explained to her that I was going to be her guardian angel today. We got to talking about our health. She just recently got over Covid for which she was in the hospital because it went in to pneumonia and she was struggling to breathe. I was telling her about the Gentry's who are on our shift but are taking a leave of absence until April. Brother Gentry had a bout with Bells Palsy and Sister Gentry fell and broke her elbow. Sister Farr, Nancy, told me she randomly falls without any warning. She said she did it the other day while in her laundry room. Her son was in the other room and yelled, "Mom!" I said, "I hope he wasn't mad at you, but only concerned." She said he was very concerned. I asked her if she always had her phone with her and she said no. She does have a smart watch though. I asked her what her doctor says about these falls. She said he calls them mini-strokes. She has been having these falls for a couple of years now. I told her I was putting her on my prayer list along with the Gentry's.
Later, when I got home I looked up when we started working at the temple. Our first day was August 26th, 2017 so we are approaching our 5th anniversary. Some things from this day in 2017: Sister Wenhardt, the co-ordinator at that time is Kim Seaman's first cousin. Their dad's are brothers. Sister Farr was a temple worker back then and she always had a small cloth fan with her. I told her I would like one and she showed me where they were stored. She couldn't remember when they started working at the temple so now I can tell her I know she was there in August of 2017.
Our schedule is very easy. Our next assignment was at the top of the stairs in the gathering room where we are to stand and greet people as they come up the stairs. Next it was sitting in the locker room in case any of the patrons have a question. We no longer assign lockers. While Nancy was filling this assignment I went to the back of the room and sat in a chair by initiatory. Sister Elwanda Reidhead, our new assistant co-ordinator, was sitting next to me. She is from Heber and remembers growing up with Vickie, my brother Harold's wife. We are already good friends. We usually talk about our family's and it was no different today. She said that recently three of her grandchildren had received their patriarchal blessings. She also told me about her blessing as a young adult. Two of her granddaughters were told by their patriarch's in their blessings that they would serve a mission and how important this would be in their lives. The third grandchild is a young man. His patriarch said to him: "If you choose to go on a mission, you will receive these blessings", and then he listed some powerful blessings. Elwanda said to her husband, "We need to make sure he wants to go on a mission so he can receive those blessings!" Another interesting fact. The girls were from the tribe of Ephraim, as all others are in their family who have received their blessings, but this grandson was told he was of the tribe of Isachaar. James explained how this can happen to me this way:
"The tribes have intermingled since first established in the Old Testament. We have the blood of more than one tribe running through our veins. Maybe this young man exhibited the attributes of the tribe of Isachaar more than any other tribe."
Okay, I accept that explanation but I am still anxious to hear what Elwanda's stake patriarch says when she asks him.
Elwanda said she was a non-member growing up until her husband (now, but not then) baptized her. Afterwards he said that she needed to get her patriarchal blessing. She said she would although she really didn't know what that was. She then told me that since she was a little girl she had been afraid of the dark. She would not go to sleep at night unless there was a night light in her room. She said she did not know the patriarch and he would have no way of knowing this about her. During the blessing he told her she would have peace come into her life and she would be able to rest well at night with no fears. When he said this to her she was sure he was a man of God.
Anyone who is reading this right now probably thinks that all I do in the temple is sit around and talk. It was somewhat true today but I can promise that I respect the sanctity of the temple and speak with a quiet voice to maintain the quiet and reverent atmosphere that should prevail in the temple.
While waiting to do initiatory I was sitting by one of the younger sisters who is a temple worker. Her name is Kayla Whiting. I think she is a return missionary probably in her early twenties. Earlier I had seen her in the upstairs gathering room sitting by a young man who is also a temple worker, Brother Webb. As I was sitting next to Kayla I asked her if the young man she had been sitting by was her boyfriend. Her face, (what I could see of it because of her mask), turned red and she said yes. I didn't want to further embarrass her so I just said that it was nice that they were both temple workers. She added, "Yes and working on the same shift."
Sister Burns, whom I have never met before is subbing for someone on our shift. She was free for 30 minutes and volunteered to help in initiatory if needed. I asked her what shift she normally works and she said Thursday midday so I asked if she knew Chuck and Kathy Crane. I told her they were my next door neighbors and she said, Lucky you! I said I know. I asked if she worked this Thursday, two days ago. She said no she did not because of the snow storm on Wednesday which dumped 13 inches of snow where she lives in Christopher Creek. The road between the Rim and Heber was closed and she was excused from her shift.
I love working in initiatory and hearing the blessings promised to the faithful. It is such a privilege to have the authority to extend these blessings to others!
At 11:30 Nancy and I were at the top of the stairs again. I knew that James was scheduled until after 12:30 but when I saw him leisurely walking up the stairs I walked over to him. He said that Brother Hamblin told him that he could leave whenever I was done. I told him that could be now because Nancy and I were at our last station and I was sure she wouldn't mind if we left a few minutes before. I went over and said goodbye to Nancy and asked if she minded if we left. She looked at James and said, "Of course not."
We went downstairs to the dressing room and put on our street clothes and left for the parking lot. It's lunch time and we are hungry. I knew we needed to get gas so I suggested getting gas at the Circle K by Walmart and then driving through Burger King for lunch. I think James wanted more of a dining experience so we went to Eva's, after getting gas. I got a mini chimi with red sauce and he got a green chili burro with green sauce. We decided neither one of them was as good as those we got at La Casita. When James went to pay, the owner, Eva, a little catholic lady, checked him out. When he asked how she was doing she said, "Well, I am blessed to have you here today." How sweet. James had wanted to go next door to Streets but I reminded him that last time it cost us over $37 plus a tip. I am glad we didn't go, mainly because of sweet Eva.
On the way home I got a text from Joe that went like this:
Just got your card in the mail, thank you so much!
I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy hearing from you, and that money (sent $20 instead of $50) doesn't dictate the meaning or the intent behind it, I just appreciate the card and the kind words:). I love you, and hope you are doing well.
What a sweet message! I texted back: Thank you so much Joe. We love you very much and your kind words just made my day!
We listened to our book on the way home. After passing Hunsaker's neighborhood we went down the swail and quite a large herd of deer ran in front of us. One of the perks of living in the country.
We were both quite tired when we got home. I'm not sure why the temple wears me out, especially today when I mostly sat, but it does. I rested on the recliner. James started his nap in the bedroom then joined me on the recliner. He got up before I did to do some indexing. I "slept" until almost four at which time I got up and James and I walked around the high table and finished the chapter in our book, "The Slow March of Light." After the temple I only had 1,200 steps. James takes his phone with him in the temple and he had 8,200. I walk for a while, finish my food from lunch, and then go in to work on my blog. When it was time I went back into the family room to watch the new Hallmark movie, "Welcome to Mama's." I watched sitting down for 20 minutes and then got up and walked 20 minutes. I did this until I had my 10,000 steps. I didn't think I was going to make it because I had the most severe chest pains I have ever had, lasting longer than I have ever experienced. James told me to take some aspirin, which I did and felt a little better. He checked my blood pressure. It was a little high but nothing to merit such pains. I went to bed and the pains continued. James threatened to take me to the hospital but I told him I was feeling better.
Chuck called James and asked him if he would attend ward council for him in the morning because he was still sick. He said that Kathy was diagnosed with Covid Pneumonia by Dr. Moffat. I do not like hearing that!
Another one of my "girls" from
Young Women. Kelly lives in Idaho
Bench at Eva's
