Alma 17

Thursday I was able to babysit Ender again, he is such a joy to have (even when he is sick!) It's not so lonely when you've got a friend who is learning to walk around instead of away. He is beginning to be such a cuddle-bug and babbles about everything. We watched winnie the pooh and took turns taking naps and also ripping apart the diper bag while I was napping.

Early Friday morning I printed five names from newfamilysearch.org in our ancestral tree to do baptisms for the dead. Unfortunately idaho and utah don't have the program yet (the mission president snuck me upstairs to see the office ladies and they said they hoped to have the program "in their lifetimes"). I directed to the family history center in rexburg to have them print off the cards for me. That day though, we were driving down to salt lake city to see a friend who had just come off his mission for medical reasons- I turned to my friends and said, would you guys mind helping me do these names on saturday in the salt lake temple? We ran into the family history center saturday afternoon and it was a piece of cake for two incredible old ladies behind the desk. I hugged them both and felt so excited to finally do the work for people in my own family. I hadn't looked carefully at the dates some of the ordinances had been done on the five cards- but all of them needed only their baptisms and confirmations. In the car on the way to the temple, I realized that my hand held three female names, and two male names- in our car we had exactly three women, and two men. It was an uncanny coincidence. As we slide in between two very very large groups of youth doing baptisms, I handed Krista Neeley a card with the name Karna Jensen on it. Krista's family is from Denmark and still practices a lot of those traditions.

I looked at the card and realized Karna was from Denmark and had been waiting for 440 years to date exactly for yesterday to happen. It was remarkable.
Before we could do the work, we watched many many youth be baptized and during the wait I flipped through the Book of Mormon.

I came upon Alma 17 and read it with great thought, the verses were very applicable. (if you get a chance you might read them yourself in the temple.)

I had my friend John Beck baptize Krista for Karna, and then my friend Troy was baptized for a man named Silvanus, then Troy baptized John for Margareth Jorgenstatter, and then Troy baptized me for Harriet Fuller (from Norwich England) and a woman named Hannah. The spirit in the room was unbelievable, and the usually restless youth were completely still. They knew and felt that this was an important moment for me and for specific lives that had been waiting for an unknown amount of time. I was able to watch five of my ancestors through the tearing eyes of my close friends go under together. The confirmation was equally powerful.

I wanted to thank you grandma, for always instilling the reality and importance of family and the gospel and the work for people who cannot do their own.

Service has always been a central theme in the church and has acted as a stabilizing agent for my spiritual life, I know that this gospel is solidified in my heart through the love I have for others.
And what I DO with that love.


I love you, and I am so grateful to have you in my life now and forever later too.

See you sugar-britches.

PS The highlight of the day was second or none when Troy walked into spoon me with kay to get some frozen yogHURT and he gave this kid a big hug. John leaned over to me and said, man, he knows everybody and I don't know if I want to go out tonight because I'm getting cranky. The kid that troy had hugged came outside and announced to his date- to his group- and to John and I in the car
"I have no idea, who that person was. He is a complete stranger to me."
I think John and I probably laughed about that for two hours straight.


PPS you can thank Walter for this fantastic shot of the most ridiculous pants in all Christendom. (If you are wondering what it was like to wear a rumpled up leather trash bag- then I have no need to tell you- you already know.)



You can thank me for the equally awesome picture of Walter too.


We traveled home to eat a delicious papaya chicken rice coconut milk rolls dinner, which is still sitting happily in my stomach.

Readers, you have my blessing-may you live a day as wonderfully brilliant, fantastically excellent, awe-inspiringly sensational, and magnificently glorious as yesterday. May you experience paradise:

Par-a-dise: (n.)
1. A place of ideal beauty or loveliness
2. A state of delight.


Love always,
Mercedes
I mean
Jacqueline Junelle