A special "thank you" to all the sisters who participated in our baptisms for the dead on September 15. We had a great turn out and we were able to complete 250 baptisms and confirmations that day! Here are a few thoughts that sisters in our Relief Society shared about their experience...
"It has been a while since I had done baptisms for the dead, but this recent trip was a special one. My father and mother had been searching for my mother's mother for almost 30 years. I have been searching for her for almost 20+ years. The sunday before our temple visit, I found my long lost grandmother's birth records along with her mother and her grandmother. So through the week I hurried to get their names temple ready for our temple visit. It was a special experience to be able to have my grandmother her mother and her grandmother baptized." (Loly Patino)
"What a joy to be in the temple with several of my sisters. The spirit was strong as sisters and priesthood from our ward shared a special opportunity to serve 200 ladies by being baptized and confirmed for them. It is good to remember that the 'names' we take through ordinances in the temple are real people who may have been waiting years to progress. Until their work is done, they are bound in paradise unable to enjoy the blessings of the gospel. As we willingly give our time to help them, we have a chance to review anew the covenants we have made. Double blessings are gained ---for them and for us. How much greater is the blessing if we are serving our own family!" (Theo Potter)
"The season of opportunity that awaits us today, in temple service, is different from that of the past. We are not expected to pound nails, carve stone, mill lumber, pour concrete, or physically participate in the construction of temples. We are, however, extended a marvelous opportunity to faithfully pay our tithes so temple construction and the work of the Lord may go forward. We are also challenged to be worthy to offer ourselves in the service of providing sacred saving ordinances for those who have preceded us. Very simply stated, the great opportunity of Latter-day Saint families is to see that the lights of our temples burn early and late in the day. Perhaps we could create the need for them to burn all night as they do presently on weekends in several temples." (Bishop H. David Burton, A Season of Opportunity, Ensign, Nov. 1998)
