We passed a new milestone in our family life last Saturday. We celebrated Patsy's 76th birthday without her for the first time. It was bittersweet, but also joyful. Whenever I asked her what she wanted for her birthday the answer always was, "Let's go to the temple."
So that's what we did. We reserved the largest sealing room at the new Orem Temple, and we did our best to fill it up. I never knew anyone who loved the temple more than Patsy. Her spirit, along with others who are in the spirit world with her now, were no doubt there with us. As we performed this sacred work where we unite families for time and for all eternity under priesthood authority, we were unified and uplifted in our service to them.
Grand-daughter Lily Bayles took my breath away when she showed up in one of her Grandmother's unique sweaters, inherited in the distribution of her personal clothing. She's standing next to the old white-haired guy in the middle of the photo festooned in hearts. That was a thrill for me.
If there had been a patent available for use of the heart, Patsy would have been at the front of that line. Her hearts were a symbol for the love she showered on all of us, and will be a forever reminder of her whenever we see one. Even heart-shaped rocks along the shoreline of a beach somewhere in the world are emblematic of her.
I am so grateful for the access we have to temples in these last days. President Russell M. Nelson is doing all he can to make access to temples available to the saints throughout the world. It is a glorious season of temple building, and I feel so blessed to be a witness to this expansion.
I have been studying D&C 109 recently, which is Joseph Smith's dedicatory prayer at the Kirtland Temple, and this morning these verses leaped off the page at me:
Remember all thy church, O Lord, with all their families, and all their immediate connections, with all their sick and afflicted ones, with all the poor and meek of the earth; that the kingdom, which thou hast set up without hands, may become a great mountain and fill the whole earth;
That thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;
And be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence, and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy glory may fill the earth;
That when the trump shall sound for the dead, we shall be caught up in the cloud to meet thee, that we may ever be with the Lord;
That our garments may be pure, that we may be clothed upon with robes of righteousness, with palms in our hands, and crowns of glory upon our heads, and reap eternal joy for all our sufferings. (D&C 109:72-76).
Truly, the temples that now dot the earth are an evidence of the fulfillment of this prophetic dedicatory prayer. The year was 1836, making the youthful prophet who uttered these inspired words only 31 years old at the time. Ask yourselves, "How could such a young and inexperienced man be so filled with certainty about what could only have seemed like a very tenuous future?"
The answer is simple for me. He did not stand alone. His calling was divine. He was on an errand from the Lord to lay the foundation of a great work of Restoration to make the fulness of the Father's blessings available to ALL his children.
We are truly living in that day when "thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness" and shine. We are witnesses, and we can stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters all around the world and rejoice over what we are seeing, feeling and living today.
I am thankful beyond expression for these realities. "How can you be so certain?" one may ask. I would respond with Alma's words as though they are my own:
For I am called to speak after this manner, according to the holy order of God, which is in Christ Jesus; yea, I am commanded to stand and testify unto this people the things which have been spoken by our fathers concerning the things which are to come.
And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?
Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me.
And moreover, I say unto you that it has thus been revealed unto me, that the words which have been spoken by our fathers are true, even so according to the spirit of prophecy which is in me, which is also by the manifestation of the Spirit of God. (Alma 5:44-47).
The more we invest our faith in God and Jesus Christ, the deeper our conviction goes, until it becomes within us as it were a burning fire in our bones. I have been consumed with it these past three days, and I am so thankful for a testimony like Alma describes.
I know this testimony is within the reach of all of us who are earnest seekers of truth.
