I Love This Work

I knew that summertime heat in Houston could be oppressive, but I didn't realize just how it would effect us.  The heat/humidity just drains whatever energy we may have ever had right out of our bodies.

It isn't as hot here as it generally is in St. George, Utah.  But the humidity makes it harder to withstand.  We look for shade, cool drinks, cold A/C, and a place to sit more readily here.

In our mission we have set aside the first Friday evening of each month as "Faith and Family" night.  New and returning members of the church are requested to come to the temple with names of their own dead ancestors (who never were members of the church) and perform baptisms for those dead ancestors.  Some of you are familiar with the process.  Others of you may need a little more information.

We believe that this life is simply a continuation of our eternal existence.  We believe that this life is a family experience, as was our pre-earth life.  We believe that our Heavenly Father is interested in a connecting welding link between ourselves, our ancestors and our descendants. That welding link for the dead is provided in Temples erected for that purpose.  The beginning step or ordinance is baptism by immersion by someone having authority.  Baptisms for the dead may only be done in temples.  We perform those baptisms by proxy for those who have passed without having received it in life.

On Friday we were delighted to take 4 young Hermana Missionaries to the temple so they could watch and help their new members be baptized for the dead.  I was asked to perform some of the baptisms.  I was honored.  It isn't often that I get the opportunity to baptize for the dead in the temples of our God.  I was asked to perform baptisms for Spanish speaking patrons and another man was asked to perform baptisms for English speaking patrons.  What a wonderful evening!

Afterwards, we took our Hermana Missionaries to dinner along with one of the new members who was there to do baptisms for the dead.  We always enjoy getting to spend a few minutes with the young missionaries.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Circle of Life

The circle of life comes to each of us.  We leave the pre-earth existence as we are born into this life.  We learn how to live here as we grow from babies and progress through puberty into adulthood.  For some of us our life cycle is long and tedious extending into our doddering years and we live without knowing what is going on around us. But for some our life cycle ends early.  Some lose their lives in childhood, some as newly minted adults and some just as their lives are blooming. Such is the case for Megan Forsyth Black.  If memory serves me correctly, Megan was born in 1985, married her sweetheart, my son Gardner Black in the St. George Utah Temple in 2006 and lost her life as a result of complications during a surgical procedure done in Mexico a few days ago at the age of 35.  The details of her travails in life are less important than understanding that her circle of mortal life has been made complete.  She entered the post-earth existence ...
Read more

Personal Revelation

This is a hard article to write.  These things are private, but I feel prompted to write them anyway.  Hopefully these musings will be helpful to someone else. Personal revelation comes often when we are ready to receive them.  In my own experience, I receive revelation after I have studied and prayed about a gospel topic about which I have had questions.  Sometimes it comes after praying and considering a personal or family problem.  And then it comes at a time when I am in a quiet location and when I am quiet. Occasionally, revelations come to me to warn me about a situation I may be in or to warn me of danger. Sometimes, they come to me at inconvenient times. Personal revelation can be persistent and can be hard to ignore even when we don't want to receive it. Do I hear an audible voice?  Sometimes, but it is very quiet and gentle.  Do I have thoughts inserted into my mind?  Sometimes, and sometimes immediately after asking for enlight...
Read more

Heavenly Father's Tender Mercies

We left Houston on Tuesday morning in great haste, took care of our last-minute errands and then headed on the trail to St. George, UT.  But when we got to Wichita Falls, where we spent the night, I could not find my pill minder.  In it were all of my medicines dosed out until Sunday morning.  We unloaded the car, looked through each suitcase, bag and every other container we are using to no avail. Last night in my prayer I asked Heavenly Father's help in finding my pill minder.  I cannot afford to lose any of my meds because some of them are very expensive and are only partially covered by insurance.  I got an immediate response: "garbage can". I assumed He ment the waste baskets we are using for small stuff.  So, this morning I went through them again.  Nothing.  I was pretty disappointed,  but I examined everything else just in casr.  The thought came to me that it had fallen into the garbage sack that we threw in the dumpster just as...
Read more