The last two weeks have been bittersweet. We loved our mission and were not particularly excited to leave and the trip home was not easy. We drove over 2,700 miles to arrive home from Palmyra, New York to South Jordan, Utah. It took us six days, including stops to visit our granddaughter and her family in Chicago, Illinois and our daughter and her family in Fargo, North Dakota. We stopped at every temple on our path home until we got to Utah. Then we saw a few more temples after arriving.
We left our mission in Palmyra, New York on Monday morning, October 7, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. Our destination for the first day was Chicago, Illinois. We wanted to arrive in time to have dinner with our granddaughter, Sabrina and her family. We chose to drive through Canada, from Niagara Falls to Detroit. I'm not sure that we accomplished anything too unique, but it seemed like a chance to see places we had not seen before. We did see mileage markers in kilometers and found many French signs. Many of the roads had construction and our speed limits were lower. We can say that we spent three or four hours in Canada, including one stop at a service area.
Once we came back into the U.S., we stayed along the northern part until our last day when we came straight down I-15 from Helena, Montana to South Jordan, Utah. All along the way we stopped at several temples. It provided a chance to get out and walk around and enjoy the variety of temples and temple settings. More on that later.
The reason we stayed on the northern end was because we were taking the time to visit some family members. Our first stop that night was at the house of Noah and Sabrina Gordon and their little daughter, Ofelia. Ofelia is our 2 year old great granddaughter that we had never met in person. We last saw Noah and Sabrina in Kansas City three years ago. Since then they moved to Fort Meyers, Florida to finish Noah's medical schooling. They moved to Chicago for his residency just a few months ago. Sabrina met Noah at the University of Oklahoma. They both graduated there. Sabrina has been working as a supply chain specialist since before COVID and has been fortunate to work from home as they have moved around.
Because it took us 12 hours of traveling, we did not arrive at their home until a little after 7:00 pm. We did gain one hour since we moved to the Central time zone. Since it was getting late for Ofelia, we visited a little bit with her and then ordered food to eat in their home. We loved Ofelia, who was very receptive even though she had never met us in person before. Before she went to bed we took a picture with their family. Then we enjoyed a few hours of getting to know each other better. This was only the second time that we had met Noah and the second time seeing Sabina since she was a teenager. This visit exceeded our expectations. We learned much about their past, their meeting and dating and their current goals and challenges. We also were able to share a few stories of when Nilza (Sabrina's mother) joined our family as a 15 year old in Brazil. Conversation was easy and enjoyable, but time went too fast. Noah had to get back to the hospital the next morning and we needed to get to our hotel and get some rest before our next day of travel. It was worth the extra effort to stop by their home. We are proud of all that they are accomplishing as a young couple.
When we drove into the parking lot of the Pocatello Temple, we saw a very large temple with a large parking lot full of cars and many people everywhere. In fairness, this was on a Saturday afternoon. Welcome back to the Wasatch Front!
We arrived home on Saturday night before 6:00 pm, after having dinner at our local Olive Garden.
Our son Jacob and his wife, "Deborah Rueckert", have done a wonderful job caring for our home and attending our ward while we have been on our mission. It has been mutually beneficial. Our ward has loved having these two fine young people in our "older" ward. They are buying their first home and will be moving out in the coming days. This has been one of the many miracles of our mission!
Sunday morning we went to the stake and visited with our stake president and were officially released from our mission. This was even before we attended meetings with our ward members. We really weren't excited about leaving our mission, but we can't think of a better place to return to. These are amazing individuals who have consecrated their lives to our Savior and His Church.
One week later, on October 20, 2024 we were able to speak in our sacrament meeting and share some of the spiritual experiences from our mission. As we learned in Come Follow Me this week, we were not able to share even a hundredth part of what we experienced. However, we are including copies of our planned talks at the end of this blog. When that meeting was over, I guess we were officially through with our mission.
I spent a little time attending to some needs at our mobile home where three of our sons were living. The washing machine went out in August, so I bought a used washing machine, delivered it to the mobile home in our Prius and with help from the sons, it was installed, all in just a few hours.
One By One
The first word spoken by God the Eternal Father in the first vision was Joseph. The Father his Son knew Joseph Smith as a “one”.
From Elder Bednar’s book One By One
“The life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ are the greatest examples of the principle of one by one. I believe the scriptural phrase one by one (1) reveals essential aspects of what we need to know about and emulate in the Savior’s nature, attributes, and character and (2) teaches us in powerful ways how we are to minister to and serve God’s children.”
In 2008 Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin taught this truth: “True disciples of Jesus Christ have always been concerned for the one. Jesus Christ is our greatest example. He was surrounded by multitudes and spoke to thousands, yet always had concern for the one.”
Every ordinance that is performed in the temple happens one by one.
Every spiritual experience we had while serving on our mission in Palmyra happened to the one.
I will share with you some experiences I had on my mission in Palmyra that illustrate the principle of one by one. There were so many that I can share only a hundredth part.
In May when I was serving as the greeter, I met a young man named Brian who had come into the temple to receive his own endowment. He was smiling from ear to ear and was so excited that he could hardly sit still. Brian had great support from his ward. Several people joined him on this special occasion. A few weeks later Brian was able to share his conversion story with us. He said he hadn’t gone to church for over seven years. He had been to various churches off and on during his youth. Brian works at a gas station convenience store. One day, a little over a year ago, two young ladies came into the store to use the restroom. One of them struck up a conversation with Brian. She asked him if he would like to take a tour of a church. He had never been asked that before. He was intrigued, so he said yes. He felt that what he heard from these two missionaries was true. He began having the lessons and felt that the Book of Mormon was a “companion” to the Bible. He was baptized a few months later. I believe this is evidence that the Lord is a one-by-one God.
We met a man who had come to the temple to be sealed to his deceased wife. His deceased parents would also be sealed and he would be sealed to them. His grand parents were also going to be sealed. He had been inactive for a long time. His wife died years ago and he was very depressed. In fact, he was ready to end his life with an overdose of pills when there was a knock at his door. He got up but then decided he was not going to answer it. However, something came over him and he could not sit down. When he answered the door, it was two sister
missionaries! Needless to say, they saved his life.” Or should I say they were instruments in the Lord’s hand.
“One day while I was in the foyer of the temple, I were privileged to hear an amazing conversion story that illustrates one by one. This brother had lost his wife 10 years ago. Sometime before COVID hit he had surgery that took him out of circulation. He had been isolated for a long time and decided that he needed to find a way to socialize more. The thought came to him that church would be a good place to find people to socialize with. A few days later when two young ladies knocked on his door and asked him if he would like to attend church, he was all in. He started taking the missionary lessons. He wanted to find out if the Book of Mormon was true or not. He put the Bible and the Book of Mormon side by side to compare them. When he discovered that they both agreed on the doctrine of Jesus Christ, he knew that the Book of Mormon was truly the word of God. He was baptized a few years ago and is very active in his ward. He holds four different callings and attends the Palmyra temple frequently. He is not afraid to share the gospel with those he meets and has given out 15 Books of Mormon in the last month.”
“This next story begins when I was a patron doing an endowment session for an ancestor. The lady sitting next to me began a conversation. She shared with me that she had just arrived home from serving a mission in Salt Lake City. She had to come home early because her mother had become very ill. At that time, she didn’t know if she would be going back to finish her mission or not.”
(Over the next month or so I saw this sister in the temple many times as I served as an ordinance worker.
If you can believe it, I found myself once again sitting by this sister getting ready to participate in another endowment session. She was so excited. She told me she was doing her mother’s temple work. Her mother had passed away 31 days before. She said she had performed her mother’s baptism, confirmation, and initiatory work earlier in the day. She was now looking forward to completing her mother’s endowment. Later, after the session she was going to have her mother sealed to her father and then be sealed to her parents. She invited me to attend these sealings. I was a little hesitant because I didn’t feel like I belonged. When
Tom and I were sitting in the celestial room after the session, I told Tom about the invitation. We decided that we would attend the sealings as there were other friends attending. It was a joyful experience. She was so happy to have her family sealed together forever.”
A few weeks before we came home from our mission, I had the opportunity to serve at the veil for a endowment session with 39 women and four men. The women were from all over the country but belonged to one group. When I entered the room, I was blown away with the exquisite light that was in the room. I believe the light coming from each one of these sisters had combined together to make this light. I could feel their joy and happiness. It was amazing.
When I was set apart to be a missionary, I was told that I would make lasting friendships on my mission. I certainly made those lasting friendship with the four other temple missionary couples that we served with. However, there were a few other sisters that I became very close to. One in particular fits into the category of one-by-one. She is the cutest lady. She is very short and is always joking about that. She is absolutely delightful. One day she was sitting waiting to get her card back after a session. I had an impression that I needed to stop and talk to her. We began a conversation and she opened up and told me her story. Years ago, she had been a shift coordinator in the Palmyra temple. She has had some real health challenges since then and hadn’t been able to attend the temple until just recently. She was pretty down because of her health issues. I felt impressed to give her some words of encouragement and tell her that she is doing the most important work on the earth. She is performing saving ordinances for those who can’t do it for themselves. All of a sudden, she brightened up, smiled and gave me a great big hug. At that moment we became fast friends. I believe this is a perfect example of the Lord working through me to minister one by one to one of his precious daughters.
The last experience I want to share with you is about a woman named Peggy. At the time she was the girlfriend of William Sheepsma, who preparing for baptism. They are now married. She had expressed some interest in what William was learning so Tom and I decided to talk to her by herself. She was very angry with God because for some terrible things that happened to her and her children in the past. After that Tom had the prompting to invite Peggy to go with us to the Smith farm and Sacred Grove. She accepted our invitation. We knew we were going to have about an hour in the car before we got to the Smith farm. I was worried about what to say to her for that hour. Tom felt prompted that I should sit in the back seat with Peggy. As we arrived to pick Peggy up, I still had no idea what I was going to say. After we began our journey, I felt prompted to tell her about some very difficult times in my life and how life isn’t fair. Sometimes people use their agency to hurt others and God can’t do anything about it. All will be made right in the end. After I was finished, I asked Peggy if she would share her story. She was willing to open up and be very vulnerable. I think it is exactly what was supposed to happen. God cares about the one. She is now interested in getting baptized.
Many of you have asked about my health during my mission April 1st I was set apart as an ordinance worker by President Pitts, the temple president. From my journal: “The blessing I received was miraculous! Among other things he blessed me with gentleness and kindness toward those who come to the temple. He specifically blessed me that my internal organs would work properly throughout my service in the temple. I assumed that he was aware of my heart failure, kidney disease, and neurogenic bladder. Afterwards Tom asked President Pitts if he had prior knowledge of my problems with several “internal organs”. He said he was not aware of my health challenges but he knew the Lord did. Tears came to my eyes as I realized what had just happened… Right off the bat, even before I have begun my work in the temple, I received a direct message from the Lord that all would be well with my internal organs.” That’s what I call “one-by-one.
From my journal on July 3rd: “Today was another opportunity to serve in the temple. I was assigned to work in initiatory for 45 solid minutes. Fortunately, I was given added strength. At one point I thought we were finished. I was pleased at how much strength I had. When I discovered we weren’t done, I said a silent prayer for added strength to serve for 15 more minutes. My humble prayer was answered.” I didn’t have any health issues during my mission.
I would like to conclude with my testimony by quoting Elder Bednar. His experience has been my experience.
“Since my call as a member of the twelve, a consistent pattern of simple and profound experiences has enriched my understanding of this principle and enables me to bear solemn and sure witness that the Lord knows us one by one. He knows our names. He knows our concerns. He knows our apprehensions. He knows our potential and possibilities.”
I testify that this is true. Heavenly Father lives and His Son Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.
In the name of Jesus Christ
Amen.
Tom's Talk:
Homecoming Talk – Palmyra New York Temple Mission – October 20, 2024
Bishop Smith asked us several months ago to talk today about our spiritual experiences on our mission. There have been many. We have seen the hand of the Lord in our lives each and every day. During our last week in Palmyra, I went one last time to the Sacred Grove to ponder and pray. This is part of the answer that I received:
Make sure that the light that we share with the world is the light of the Savior. Spiritual experiences that we have experienced are the result of following His direction and by His grace.
3 Nephi 18:24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do.
With that in mind, please know that all the many blessings and experiences that we have received are manifestations of the love of Jesus Christ and His gospel plan. As missionaries, we have been willing and grateful participants, but the miracles that we have witnessed or participated in are His!
Let me share some examples of our spiritual experiences as time will permit:
1- Debbie – My Eternal and Missionary Companion
One of my great joys of serving missions is serving hand in hand with my sweetheart. Our primary focus of this mission has been the temple and also our service in the Penn Yan Branch, located about 50 minutes from our missionary apartment. We also had the privilege of being in the land of the restoration and had many opportunities to be at the different historical sites on our own and with visitors to the area that we knew. This included being with ten of our teenage grandchildren who came to visit for a 4 day retreat. In each of these activities, Debbie and I were able to act as a team. With Debbie’s health limitations, her full participation in all of this was one of the greatest miracles of all. We are so grateful for our temple leadership and the four other missionary couples that served with us. They were a large part of making this miracle happen.
2- A “Patron Friendly” Temple
is a term that was created by our friend, Elder Lamoreaux. It describes some of the greatest spiritual experiences that we enjoyed. - Describe Patron Friendly
Accordingly, we learned many of their stories and learned to recognize those who came regularly to the temple. Due to this closer relationship with the patrons, we could see their light and joy as they received ordinances for themselves or for others, often close relatives. We saw a high number of individuals receiving their own endowments or coming to the baptistry for the first time. We were especially impressed with so many individuals who served in the temple, either as ordinance workers and/or as patrons. They became true friends and examples to us. Sister Rueckert has shared just a few of their stories.
We enjoyed many spiritual experiences in the temple, simply by being there and serving four or five days each week. The temple brings the spiritual experiences, we were mostly observers and at times participants. President Nelson told us two weeks ago, “Here is my promise to you: Every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the temple.” This was true for so many of the patrons and certainly for us. Let me share just a few examples:
o Baptistry – We had many groups coming from youth conferences or tour groups during the summer from all over the U.S. and from the temple district. Often these were scheduled outside of normal temple hours and were served by temple missionaries.
We had a Chinese ward from Brooklyn, New York who came with their stake youth conference. They performed baptisms for their grandparents who had been born in China. This work of exaltation is going forth even in China. Chinese names routinely appeared on the list of temple names.
o The mission president emphasized “Twice in White”.While serving in confirmations, I noticed a birth date on one of the confirmations of 1989 and I asked if this was someone close to the individual being confirmed who was an adult lady. She pointed to a man sitting and observing and said that it was his wife who had passed away 3 months ago. She then added that the man that was there had just been baptized into the Church 9 days ago. These types of experiences touch me so deeply.
· Sealings – We were often assigned to assist with sealing groups if more patrons were needed.
o From my journal “Today Debbie and I were both assigned to help in a sealing session. I was asked to be the husband in a couple sealing with a sweet lady. The sealing was for her grandparents. The spirit was so strong, many in the room became emotional, including her and myself. As I looked at her across from the altar, her eyes were so full of joy to be participating in this ordinance and love for these grandparents. After the sealing she took time to tell everybody about her memories of these grandparents, spaghetti dinners, cookies in the drawers, etc. Afterwards, Debbie told me that she felt the spirit so strong. Although we didn’t see anything, we felt that her grandparents were present. Later on, we did a sealing of five daughters to their parents, all at the same time. I was the father, and Debbie was the youngest daughter. Once again, I felt a strong spirit. The idea of sealing families together is just one of the best feelings in the world.”
· Initiatory
o Live Initiatory experiences – overwhelming spirit present on last Saturday
· Endowments – We must have served as officiators together about 50 times during our mission. This was one of our personal highlights. We loved sitting across from each other. A few more stories from a few of these sessions.
o Syracuse Missionary sessions – Prayer circles covering every spot in the endowment room
o Prayer circle with the blind and the lame praying for those whose names lie upon the alter
o American Sign Language session on our last session of our mission, which we officiated. – Watching them at the veil. Still have new and unique experiences on our last session.
3- Story of William and Peggy – Divine Promptings reflecting God’s Love for Them
Sometimes we are able to experience spiritual experiences because the Lord has allowed us to be a “pencil in his hand” as described by Mother Teresa: "I am a little pencil in God's hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more."
I want to finish my talk by sharing the story of two of our most treasured friends from our mission, William and Peggy. They are connected to this meeting today by Zoom.
On the first day of our mission we heard a story from Elder Harker, who was going home. He told about meeting a new investigator on his first day in his assigned branch, eventual seeing him go to the temple. My heart was touched and I had a case of holy envy. I wanted a similar experience. On our first fast day in our assigned branch in Penn Yan, we were fasting and praying for a missionary opportunity. On that day, when we arrived at Church, we met William who was attending Church for the first time.
William’s Story: He said that at 52 years old it wasn’t too late to change, that his way of living had not worked for him over the past and he wanted to try something new. We became instant friends and began communicating electronically with him. I couldn’t believe the quick answer to our prayers, even before we had completed our fast.
We later learned that he had tried to come to Church the previous week but left after seeing some members go into the Church in our typical Sunday dress. He didn’t feel that he was dressed well enough to go in. He had got interested in the Church by seeing a Facebook post by a sister missionary. Some of the comments were negative and he tried to defend her on-line. After leaving his first attempt at attending church, he started interacting on-line with the missionaries and had his first meetings with them during the week before we met him at Church. He was already desirous to change his life.
When we asked for the opportunity to be involved in missionary work, the Lord answered our prayer. He knew William and his potential and He wanted us to be able to be pencils in His hand. With that answer, he kept prompting us in different ways to help William progress. We found that these promptings ended up including ways to help his 3-year-old daughter, Tori, and his girlfriend, Peggy. Many of the promptings came as we studied Come Follow Me. Others came as answers to our prayers when specific concerns surfaced in our minds. For the rest of our mission, we were prompted over and over again to be more involved in their lives. As we responded to those promptings, they came more frequently. I want to share a few of these promptings and their results as they progressed, mostly from my journal entries:
· We decided to invite William and the sister missionaries lunch after stake conference and before a visit to the Smith Farm and the Sacred Grove – In total we ended up with six guests, including Brian that Debbie talked about. The next day William called me and asked if I would perform his baptism on June 16, which I enthusiastically accepted.
· “We specifically were praying for William and his daughter Astoria (Tori). Tori had not been able to come to Church and stay the whole time. She is new to the Church, 3 years old, and has a short attention span. We visited with William in his home with the missionaries last Thursday and gotten to know Tori better and William’s girlfriend, Peggy, who we also invited to come to Church. Debbie had spent some time with some puzzles and fidget toys with Tori to prepare for Sunday. - Result - We did our best with Tori during sacrament meeting. Later in the sacrament meeting, Peggy, who had come to Church, came out to help Tori who was wanting her daddy. Peggy sat with her and remained with her as Primary started. With about 15 or 20 minutes left in Sunday School Peggy was able to join and participate. With William able to fully participate, he gained even more from the meetings. At the end of an excellent discussion by the members about prayer in Sunday School, William raised his hand and said “I have learned more about prayer in the past 20 minutes than any time in my life”. Later he texted me the following: “This service really struck me today. It has taught me that I need to pray for what’s best for me not what I want”. We prayed for miracles and God sent Peggy to give the best help for Tori and allow William to learn from the lessons. We think that Peggy felt the spirit also and learned.” Tori never left church early again.
· The following month “we went to visit Peggy, William’s girlfriend, soon to be wife. She had not been to church since her first visit and I had felt prompted to schedule a visit. On Monday, when I studied Alma 32, I felt strong impressions about sharing that with Peggy. When we got there, we asked her how she was doing and she opened up about her life challenges that had resulted in her losing faith or belief in God. As we talked about it, she expressed a desire to believe in God. As we shared the words in Alma 32 about giving place for the seed of the word of God, she agreed to do so. She got very emotional about all this, especially thinking about her past, but felt a strong spirit present. Hopefully, this can be a positive step for her. We feel that we were guided by the Lord, without knowing what to say beforehand.”
· “The last few days I have been texting back and forth with Peggy, William’s girlfriend. She has been open about her doubts and concerns but seems very willing to continue the dialogue with us. I have prayed mightily and felt inspired in a few things that I shared with her, including the talk from Elder Renlund “Infuriating Unfairness”. William told me today, that they listened to this talk yesterday while driving in their car. In Church the next day, William suggested that we take Peggy to the Sacred Grove this week, which she accepted. We are looking forward to going with her on Friday, when we have a day off at the temple. It will also give us some uninterrupted time with her while we drive together. I’m not sure where this will go, but we are trying to follow the promptings from the Lord. I feel that she is feeling more secure in our relationship with her and look forward to Friday. We are feeling like real proselyting missionaries. Perhaps this is the way that we have been looking for, to make a difference and be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. William told me that they have submitted all papers to the court for her divorce to be finalized. Then they will get married and William will be able to be baptized. We hope that Peggy will follow soon after.”
· “I have been trying to counsel with the Lord while planning our interactions with Peggy this week. As I prayed and shared thoughts with God, I have struggled with specific approaches to take. I have received some specific promptings. One was to have her and Debbie sit together in the back seat while driving one hour to the Sacred Grove. The other was our desired outcome of having her feel understood and to have thoughts of Christ’s power welcoming her before she went into the grove. We picked Peggy up, she had already watched a video that I had sent her about the First Vision. I invited her to sit in back with Debbie to get to know each other better. As we started driving, Debbie was magnificent. She shared a little of “our story” which opened the door for more communication. That followed with Peggy sharing many difficult details of her very difficult life. As I observed and pondered from the front seat, I was overcome with gratitude for my missionary companion who was able to accomplish all that we desired with Peggy. I realized that I didn’t need to know exactly what to do. I just needed to follow the prompting that I received and let Debbie be the voice and the ears in this interaction.
We decided to take the full tour at the Smith Farm. After the tour we went to the Sacred Grove. Peggy went deep into the Grove and spent almost 45 minutes alone. I returned and found her and we left the grove together. She said that she felt peace there but we didn’t press for more details.
· Two weeks later I felt prompted to schedule a visit with just Peggy and the missionaries. “We had a great visit with Peggy and the missionaries. “She really wants to get baptized and get her deceased brother baptized. There was a great spirit and authoritative teaching from Elders Pierce and Archibald. They made tentative plans for mid-September to get baptized if they can get married. The ball is now rolling. Peggy is committed to come to Church in Sunday. Debbie shared her thoughts and testimony beautifully and effectively in the missionary lesson.” After this, Peggy attended Church for the next several weeks.
· Then Peggy missed a few weeks of Church. She still did not receive any additional missionary lessons in the home. The missionaries and William thought that she wasn’t that interested. They were still waiting on the divorce papers. Our dreams of seeing them baptized before the end of our mission were being shattered, even though William never missed going to Church since that first week of May.
· As we prepared to go home from our mission, I wanted to make one last visit to William and Peggy to say good-bye. I had been prompted for some time to purchase a framed photo of the Palmyra Temple for them. On Sunday, September 22, I arranged with William for us to make a visit the next day. He agreed. We wrapped the Temple Picture up and drove to their home, one hour away.
· When we arrived, we were warmly received. We told them that this present was their wedding present since it didn’t appear that we would be present when they were finally married. William was visibly touched by this gift. He immediately mounted it on the wall. Peggy said that she wanted to go to the temple also. We mentioned that she would need to keep preparing for baptism if she wanted to go to the temple. She said, I am ready to keep preparing.
· The next obstacle was missionary transfers, where the existing missionaries were transferred and not replaced. We were able to contact the new missionaries for the Bath branch who will also be covering the Penn Yan Branch. They learned about William and Peggy from the previous missionaries. Prompting- I felt a need to give them my perspective on where Peggy was and her need to receive the lessons. I was going to call them on Friday, but did not. I felt an urgency to call them on Saturday. When I talked to Elder Sommer, he said that they knew a bit of the story of William and Peggy but didn’t know how to contact them. I immediately texted it to them. I shared our experiences with Peggy and my feelings that Peggy needed to be given emphasis in their visits. They said they had time that day and in fact made a visit on Saturday and were well received.
· September 30, 2024 - This was our last Sunday at the Penn Yan Branch. Sunday morning, William, Peggy, Tori, Peggy’s niece, and another friend were all in Church. Peggy was wearing a beautiful new dress. Again, she was well received by the other members. We had a fifth Sunday lesson and they were asking for volunteers to read scripture verses. Peggy was the first with her hand up and read the first scripture. Her attitude was amazing. She has come alive with enthusiasm for the Church. Peggy told us that her divorce was finally finalized. We thought it a bit late to push a wedding before we leave. However, William asked us if we could have a farewell dinner with him and Peggy. We scheduled it for Tuesday night.
· When we arrived at the restaurant, William and Peggy showed up dressed beautifully. William had a white shirt and tie, which I had never seen him wear before. Peggy also had a very nice dress. We felt underdressed. William said that he had dressed up out of respect for us. We had a nice dinner. Before we started, William suggested that we should be saying prayer. I appreciated his desire and offered to say the prayer. Instead, Peggy said that she wanted to pray. She offered a beautiful prayer that touched our hearts. I mentioned that I had never heard her pray before. William said that also had not heard her pray before. We were so happy to see how she has progressed in the last week. We had a wonderful time remembering the time that we had spent together. I asked Peggy how she currently felt about her anger with God. She said it still is in her mind at times but her heart is happy. The dinner was wonderful, the company was even better. We talked about their future plans for baptism and they asked if we would stand with them for their marriage.
· William looked at his watch and said we needed to get going to the Church because he still needed to pick up Tori, so we left the restaurant and each of us went to the Church, which was nearby. When we got there, I noticed William and Peggy in the Branch President’s office with the branch president and his wife and mother. I thought it nice that they were there to participate in the church tour. When they came out of the office, William said, “You said that you would stand with us in our wedding. It is now!” I couldn’t believe it. They planned this wedding as a surprise to Debbie and I. We were so surprised and happy.
· President Perry proceeded to perform the marriage with Debbie and I standing in as witnesses to the wedding. William had the previous missionaries all in attendance by Zoom, Sisters Prahl and Smith, Elder James, Wallace, and Pierce. I couldn’t hold back the tears. What a wonderful way to finish our mission, witnessing one of the major milestones of their lives and their progress towards baptism. William said that he was almost more excited to see our faces than he was for the marriage.
· They had decided this the day before when getting their marriage certificate. They called the branch president and the full-time missionaries and started making the plans. Each had been a little deceitful with us, but we forgave them. They weren’t just dressed up for us, but for the wedding. Debbie and I were overwhelmed. We felt bad that we were in more casual clothes, but at least the photos will reflect our surprise and lack of preparation. We have grown to love William and Peggy so much, but our love increased even more as we saw them doing this in a way that we could be part of. As I type this, tears are returning to my eyes. They are new people. The light of Christ is flowing out of them. They are radiant and we are grateful that the Lord has allowed us to be part of their story.
· Elder and Sister Rentmeister are new, serving at the Distribution Center and are recently assigned to the Penn Yan branch. They had helped us procure the Temple Picture that we had given. They want to visit William and Peggy and get to know them. Elder Sommer seems perfect to help them progress further. Our hearts have gone out to William and Peggy. They still have a way to go, but they are in the right direction and are very committed to moving forward and to making covenants in the temple. We feel that the Lord is putting pieces in place to help them in their journey. We are grateful that we could be two of those pieces, His pencils, in their lives over the past six months.
