Hastening the Work Part 2

As I mentioned in part 2, I just devoted an entire Saturday to completing most of the work for a pile of my ancestor's names. It was a wonderful feeling of service for people who I hadn't met in this life but who I knew loved me and knew me. I felt that good things were on the horizon because of the large sacrifice I had made.

The next day was Sunday. I had told myself that I needed to find out when the next ward temple night would be so that I could pass out my names to members in my ward and they could help me complete the endowments. The endowment ordinance takes about 2 hours to complete and you only do one name per person. I had male names that I could not do and I needed the help of many people. I still felt that urgency to get all the ordinances completed as soon as possible.

That day in sacrament meeting, the bishop mentioned in one of his first announcements that ward temple night would be this upcoming Friday evening at 7:00 pm. I was so excited! The timing was impeccable.

The very next day I received a random phone call from a stranger inquiring about something that I had been praying about for quite some time. I had been praying about this for a year and a half and even more specifically for the past few weeks. He offered a proposition that I just couldn't believe. I truly felt that this blessing was the Lord's and my ancestor's way of letting me know they were pleased and grateful for the sacrifices I had made on their behalf.  

Friday came pretty quickly, and I knew that U would need to arrive to the temple early to find members of my ward at the temple entrance so I could distribute my names. I was a little worried because I had reached out all week to my ward to see if anyone was going so I could pass out names ahead of time. I couldn't find one person who was going. I thought to myself, "What if no one comes? How will I find enough people to help me?" I wondered if it was a bad idea to even be going on a Friday night with the busy traffic. Then I realized that was Satan trying to talk me out of it and that the Lord would find a way for me to get these names done quickly. He always has a plan and is always in control.

With that in mind, I finished dinner with my family and then said goodbye and headed out the door. About fifteen minutes into my drive my heart sank as traffic came to a complete stop on the freeway and I could see the cars backed up for a few miles. It was about 6:15 pm and would take me another fifteen to twenty minutes to get to the temple if traffic were normal.

I knew in that moment I was going to miss the7:00 session with my ward. At first I thought that it was Satan trying to prevent me from doing this work. But then I reminded myself that even if it was true, God was still in control and he had a plan. It was either God's plan to delay me getting there at 7:00 or He was devising a plan to work around this delay. It didn't matter. What mattered was that I make it there, and God would take care of the rest.

After sitting in traffic several minutes it finally began to move slowly. While traveling at a snail's pace for a few miles I finally drove past the rolled over SUV and trailer. It had been cleared off to the side and the tow truck was there. I got the feeling that the passengers in the SUV would be okay. Onward I drove until arriving at the temple at 7:00 pm.

I parked underground and as I walked towards the basement entrance something told me that I would find someone to ask, who would help me do my names. As I looked around I saw a group of young men there to do baptisms and an older gentleman walking too quickly for me to catch up to him. I continued on all the way up to the clothing desk. There in front of me at the register stood a young couple. I thought to myself, "Well, this must be it. At least they can each help with a name - and that's better than nothing."

Just then they turned around and looked at me and I went for it. I asked them if they wouldn't mine helping me with some names. The wife smiled and said, "Yes, we'd be happy to. In fact, my entire family is here tonight and I will pass out all your names to them and get them done for you." My heart jumped for joy! I watched as she walked over to her Dad and siblings in the lobby and began passing out the names.

The Lord set this up so beautifully.I was so touched and humbled. I don't think very many people from my ward if any at all made it to the 7:00 session as I assumed they would have been caught in the same traffic jam as I and I would have seen them at the next session. There was no one there from my ward. The Lord set this up just right. What were the odds that I happen to ask a a couple who was here with just enough people to perform my stack of names? The Lord knew, and the Spirit ptompted me to ask.

It was a beautiful session and I felt at peace getting the work done. I could feel the love of my ancestors beyond the veil and I was so happy. The blessing I received that day was the huge increase in my testimony of this important work and that the Lord in always in control. I knew that the names I held were of real people who were waiting for their work to be done. They were the one's who had prompted me to get it done so quickly. They had accepted the gospel on the other side and had been waiting a long time for their ordinances to be done so they could further progress. They were anxious and relying on me to do their work.

I know this gospel is true and I know that the Lord is hastening the work in our day like we have never seen before. This gospel will go forth on the Earth and beyond the veil - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man...and all the blessings that go with it. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.