 |
| Br & Sis Allen at the temple |
 |
| Detail of Santo Domingo Temple |
 |
| Santo Domingo Temple, Dominican Republic |
When we were sent to Nevis in June, 2013, we began to work
with Br and Sister Allen.
 |
| Br & Sis Allen and Young Elders |
 |
| Nevis Group Activity |
They are a
sweet couple who have been members of the church for many years, but were sort
of stalled. We held FHE with them and
immediately took a liking to them, and they to us.
Over the next 10 weeks we worked on Br Allen receiving the
MP.
 |
| With Son-in-law Elder Hanley |
He was such a humble man, quiet
spoken, always kind and patient with us and everybody else they had any contact
with. We taught them the temple
preparation lessons and told them that we would love to go with them to the
temple in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for Br Allen’s temple blessings
and then for their temple marriage.
There is a fund to help first-time temple goers get there, but since
Sister Allen had already been there she would need some help with her ticket. He would receive assistance from the
Church-administered fund.
Some of the details are too personal to present here, but 2
weeks ago Gaye and I boarded a plane in SLC and flew to Santo Domingo, where we
met up with our dear friends flying in from St Kitts. We had made arrangements to be picked up at
the airport and to stay at the guest house next to the temple. The shuttle driver even took us to a grocery
store to get supplies for our 5-day stay there.
We bumped into one of the young men from St Kitts who had
barely finished his training period at the MTC in Santo Domingo, also right
next to the temple.
 |
| Elder Jeffers |
I had the privilege
of interviewing Elder Jeffers for baptism shortly after we arrived on St Kitts,
and now he is serving a mission. I am confident he will be a great missionary, too.
We spent a wonderful 5 days attending several sessions at
the temple. Sister Allen had some family
names that they had the blessing of taking clear through all the
ordinances. It was a time of just plain
joy. Some will say that they were surely
blessed by our helping them get there.
Gaye and I will respond that we are so thankful to have been in a
position to meet them and help them get there.
Our lives are changed forever by this experience!
Sister Allen has trouble walking very far, so we borrowed a
wheelchair from the MTC so we could go to Antonio’s Steak House, just a couple
of blocks from the temple grounds. She
did not really want to ride in the wheelchair, but we convinced her that it
would be better. I told her that we
wanted to have supper at Antonio’s, not breakfast. She was a good sport about it, even when I
tipped the chair back and did some wheelies!
 |
| No More Wheelies!!! |
After dinner we went to the park across the street, where hundreds of
locals of all ages were participating in physical fitness activities like
aerobic dancing, walking, biking, rollerskating, and just enjoying the perfect
evening weather.
 |
| Park across the street |
We even saw the temple
president and his wife headed over there to take their regular evening 2-mile
stroll.
Worshipping in the temple, performing sacred ordinances for
brothers and sisters who have concluded this part of their mortal journeys, is
always a tremendous learning experience.
 |
| Temple Door |
We serve in the Twin Falls Temple every Wednesday morning starting at
0300. It never gets boring. In fact, it is becoming more interesting and
mind-expanding every week.
There are people who claim to be LDS but who feel that they
are smarter than the prophets who lead the Church. Some of those people, even some who are quite
near and dear to us, feel that they can’t be fully committed to the Church because
they have questions they can’t answer. I
have had lots of questions, and I am sure I will have more, but I have finally
learned that I am not smarter than God.
That should seem obvious, but I have learned some very valuable lessons
in recent months and years. Elder Maxwell said in a fireside at BYU in
September 1974, that if we are not careful we might try to pray away the tests
that our loving God designed specifically for each of us, so that we might
become what he wants us to become. I have learned that the closest synonym to
faith is not belief, it is trust. Only
God is smart enough to design the plan.
We are not smart enough to figure out how or why God does what he
does. In fact, we are not even permitted
to know how or why he does most things. (Mosiah
4:9-10). Be still and know that I am God (D&C 101:16) has been spoken to
me, too.
Besides, if someone leaves the Church, what is he or she
going to replace it with? As Peter said,
where would we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. (John 6:67-68). Is there no other way? There is no other way, so stop kicking
against the pricks and divest self of pride.
As Elder Holland said, the winning team is already known. What we need to show is which jersey we will
wear.
