We have spent the last two Sundays in Palmyra because of the snow. Unbeknownst to us, Palmyra Ward was having Ward Conference on Sunday. As I looked around at the people who were attending as well as the Stake leaders, Erik and I realized that we know many of these people. It was beautiful to meet together for the purpose of renewing our baptismal covenants.
I was overcome by the strength of the congregation renewing our baptismal covenant through partaking of the sacrament. We were one in Christ. Then I thought about all the saints world wide doing the same thing and was reminded of the great strength there is in doing so. What do we covenant at baptism?
We renew these covenants each week as we partake of the sacrament.
- Come unto the fold of God (become a member of the church of Jesus Christ).
- Be called His son or daughter (take upon me the name of Christ).
- Bear others’ burdens, that they may be light; mourn with those that mourn; and comfort those in need of comfort (help others).
- Stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things and in all places (testify of Christ and set a good example at all times).
- Serve God and keep his commandments.
When I keep my baptismal covenants the Lord covenants to:
- Forgive my sins.
- Pour his spirit more abundantly upon me (give me the companionship of the Holy Ghost).
- Redeem me that I might be numbered with those of the first resurrection and have eternal life (permit me to enter the celestial kingdom to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ).
Can you imagine the power that is available on earth when we collectively renew our covenants? I loved thinking about this while sacrament was being passed to the congregation.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are a covenant making and keeping people. In both our Relief Society and Priesthood meetings, we had discussions about the covenants that we make in our lives with God. The feeling of unity was beautiful and it made me think of the life that we have developed and lived the past year. We have made so many new relationships with hundreds of people. The first month of our mission brought a feeling of being overwhelmed for me because I love to meet people and learn all about them. I was thrust into a new situation and was trying to process how I was going to accomplish the integration of all these people into my brain.
Last week, I looked back at the year and am thrilled with all my new friends and love to greet them by name as they come to the temple. One sister arrived on a Thursday for an initiatory session. Then I saw her again with youth from her ward to do a baptistry session. She was surprised to see me and said, “Are you always here?” I told her that, “Yes, we are here at the temple nearly everyday”.
I always think that we work with the best people at the temple. Temple workers are trying so diligently to live up to their covenants and thus we feel so blessed to be together. They truly are kind, sweet people who love to serve and be in the Lord’s house.
I had the opportunity to visit with a young lad (approximately 14 years old). He is one of a set of quadruplets. His other siblings had come the previous day but he had the opportunity to come by himself with other ward members. We had a great discussion about the Savior and I shared some experiences that are sacred to me with him. The following day, a sister that I was working with filled me in on some background of that young man and it quickly became apparent that God had put him and I together the day before. There are no coincidences in this life. Our experiences have a purpose and we need to pay attention to understand what the Lord has for us.
So, it seems that winter has followed us to New York. While our western friends are living life in the balmy breezes well above freezing, we have actually reached minus 20 Celsius. Whenever the groundhog predicts six more weeks of winter, I usually think that, of course we do, it’s Canada! Hopefully in a month, it will look a little different here in New York. Erik has been plotting out our route for going home. We are heading south to avoid the blizzards that will be streaking across the continent. The first thing that Erik found to do, is bass fishing in Guntersville, Alabama. We do have other things lined up first on the recommendation of our friends. Stay tuned for those adventures!
This week I managed to get all the quilt blocks done for a quilt. I can hardly wait to see this quilted. Then I am on to table runners. My sewing machine still has two more weeks at the “spa”. I’m very grateful for my loaner machine!
This past week, I was prompted to do an endowment session in another language. I ended up doing a French session and it was delightful. I have never done a French session before and I was surprised because we have been attending a Spanish branch and my Spanish has greatly improved by doing so. I have been working on my French for a few months and it went very well. I am also working on my ASL skills and I’m so tickled to be able to keep learning new languages.
I am selecting recipes to try for my sweetheart. We enjoy our chocolate so I will try this one.
https://bakeitpaleo.com/paleo-chocolate-torte
I can testify of this! We are absolutely walking different paths. Working together makes this life easier.
I was thinking about the city of Enoch. They were all taken up. No one on the earth has been perfect save the Lord, Jesus Christ. I think of this city and in years past, I thought that they were taken up to the Lord because they were near perfect. Now, I think the important thing is that they were all facing the same direction. Having our hearts knit in unity with Christ is important. We are all so diverse and facing different challenges, yet, we can be unified by facing towards Christ.
So, let us walk upright before God and with one another. We will receive help from the other side to give us succor on our journey. As we continue in our imperfections and foibles may we be ever blessed with help from each other and from our savior, Jesus Christ.
cherylnaglis 