Week 44: Walking on (frozen) water!
We've had a sick kiddo around here, so putting Becca's email on the blog just got pushed down the priority list. I'm happy to report, however, that Marissa's bout with influenza has ended, and she is back to her happy self, except for a bit of a lingering cough.
In my email from Sister Fairbanks, she told me about a unique experience. They were teaching a man who works in a morgue, which made him aware that members of our church who have been to the temple are dressed in their ceremonial temple clothing before burial. He asked about why that clothing is important to us, and Becca felt very guided in being able to teach him a little about that without violating her promises to keep the things of the temple sacred.
We don't discuss everything from the temple, which many find odd, and understandably so. I know it seems as thought we might be harboring some dirty little secret, but please believe me when I tell you that there is nothing inappropriate or wrong in these ceremonies. We are just obeying a command from the Lord to not speak of them casually and to let people learn about those things in the way He prescribes and according to His timing. I'll include a couple of links for those that might want to learn more about it:
What is a Temple Endowment?
What are Baptisms for the Dead?
Can I Go Inside a Latter-Day Saint Temple?
What is a Temple Wedding Like?
What are Temple Garments?
Anyway, it turns out that Becca's companion didn't even know that deceased members are dressed in temple clothing before burial, and she hadn't ever thought about how to appropriately explain temple clothes, so she was grateful that Becca was able to do it. It drove home the importance of relying on the Spirit when teaching, because you never know what people will ask!
Here's the group email:
Good Morning!
This week has been so long and flown by so fast, you know what I mean? It's been crazy!
Last Monday we bought some Yaktrax, boot spikes, for our shoes. We walk around a lot and right now there is a good inch of solid ice under a few inches of snow on the sidewalks. Now we can walk around without a fear of dying on the ice! I'm surprisingly excited about them.
On Tuesday there was a baptism is Potsdam. Two kids that are being fostered by a family here were baptized. One of the people we are teaching, Madison, came and I finally got to meet her in person! She is a college student and was home during the holidays. We have been doing video call lessons with her, so I got to know her that way. But know I've been with her in person! She's great! She wants to get baptized as well. When we asked her what she thought of the baptisms she watched, she said, "It was cool. I could just feel it... ya know?" Yes, yes we do. I love Madison!
On Wednesday, we had a decent snow storm. We couldn't see across the river to Canada when we were in Ogdensburg. Then the crazy weather caused a pipe to burst in the high rise apartments in Canton. We were trying to go see a friend of ours but the fire department showed up. They ended up evacuating the entire building for two days! That was exciting. But they fixed it all and let people come home. Then we got to go see our friends again. We know about half the residents in that building, haha.
On Thursday we had a bunch of lessons throughout the day. It was great and I was exhausted! We met one man, Chris, on SUNY Canton campus in his department. The mortuary department... that, my friends, is a creepy hall to walk down. We found the room he was meeting us in and sat down around a table. I was looking around the room a little and suddenly noticed a coffin through the window. That was a little unnerving for a second. Anyway, we had a really good lesson with him. He's going to school to be a funeral director and so he had a lot of questions about our beliefs on life and death and funeral procedures. It was a good discussion.
There was another baptism on Saturday morning that we had the opportunity to go to. That was a lot of fun. On Sunday, Sister Hamblin and I had the chance to speak in sacrament meeting. I was really stressed out about it, but I think it went pretty well. That evening we taught the quit smoking program to one of our friends who is so ready to quit. It went great! She committed to follow the 15 steps for the next week and then she will be a non-smoker! It's a great program that has a huge success rate. I've seen it work miracles. So, if you could keep Amy in your prayers this week, I know she would appreciate it! Also, if you have a friend or family member that wants to quit smoking, ask the missionaries, they can help you! ;)
Have a great week!
Sister Fairbanks
In my email from Sister Fairbanks, she told me about a unique experience. They were teaching a man who works in a morgue, which made him aware that members of our church who have been to the temple are dressed in their ceremonial temple clothing before burial. He asked about why that clothing is important to us, and Becca felt very guided in being able to teach him a little about that without violating her promises to keep the things of the temple sacred.
We don't discuss everything from the temple, which many find odd, and understandably so. I know it seems as thought we might be harboring some dirty little secret, but please believe me when I tell you that there is nothing inappropriate or wrong in these ceremonies. We are just obeying a command from the Lord to not speak of them casually and to let people learn about those things in the way He prescribes and according to His timing. I'll include a couple of links for those that might want to learn more about it:
What is a Temple Endowment?
What are Baptisms for the Dead?
Can I Go Inside a Latter-Day Saint Temple?
What is a Temple Wedding Like?
What are Temple Garments?
Anyway, it turns out that Becca's companion didn't even know that deceased members are dressed in temple clothing before burial, and she hadn't ever thought about how to appropriately explain temple clothes, so she was grateful that Becca was able to do it. It drove home the importance of relying on the Spirit when teaching, because you never know what people will ask!
Here's the group email:
Good Morning!
This week has been so long and flown by so fast, you know what I mean? It's been crazy!
Last Monday we bought some Yaktrax, boot spikes, for our shoes. We walk around a lot and right now there is a good inch of solid ice under a few inches of snow on the sidewalks. Now we can walk around without a fear of dying on the ice! I'm surprisingly excited about them.
On Tuesday there was a baptism is Potsdam. Two kids that are being fostered by a family here were baptized. One of the people we are teaching, Madison, came and I finally got to meet her in person! She is a college student and was home during the holidays. We have been doing video call lessons with her, so I got to know her that way. But know I've been with her in person! She's great! She wants to get baptized as well. When we asked her what she thought of the baptisms she watched, she said, "It was cool. I could just feel it... ya know?" Yes, yes we do. I love Madison!
On Wednesday, we had a decent snow storm. We couldn't see across the river to Canada when we were in Ogdensburg. Then the crazy weather caused a pipe to burst in the high rise apartments in Canton. We were trying to go see a friend of ours but the fire department showed up. They ended up evacuating the entire building for two days! That was exciting. But they fixed it all and let people come home. Then we got to go see our friends again. We know about half the residents in that building, haha.
On Thursday we had a bunch of lessons throughout the day. It was great and I was exhausted! We met one man, Chris, on SUNY Canton campus in his department. The mortuary department... that, my friends, is a creepy hall to walk down. We found the room he was meeting us in and sat down around a table. I was looking around the room a little and suddenly noticed a coffin through the window. That was a little unnerving for a second. Anyway, we had a really good lesson with him. He's going to school to be a funeral director and so he had a lot of questions about our beliefs on life and death and funeral procedures. It was a good discussion.
There was another baptism on Saturday morning that we had the opportunity to go to. That was a lot of fun. On Sunday, Sister Hamblin and I had the chance to speak in sacrament meeting. I was really stressed out about it, but I think it went pretty well. That evening we taught the quit smoking program to one of our friends who is so ready to quit. It went great! She committed to follow the 15 steps for the next week and then she will be a non-smoker! It's a great program that has a huge success rate. I've seen it work miracles. So, if you could keep Amy in your prayers this week, I know she would appreciate it! Also, if you have a friend or family member that wants to quit smoking, ask the missionaries, they can help you! ;)
Have a great week!
Sister Fairbanks
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