I love productive days, because you get a ton done. It's just that I wish there wasn't so much to do sometimes. Five hours of work, no big. Recitation, no big. Sign up for hearing test, ehhh. Bus stops. Outfit change, it's simple. Trip to the temple. Then back to study for CILs. Then take a CIL. Go grab dindin in the library. Go to a two hour and forty-five minute night class. Run through the rain. Start your eel electricity essay. Gym work-out. Outfit consulting with Chaunce. And songs of the hour. They all seem like simple tasks on their own, or even in clusters of five. But all jammed into one day is exhausting...
Say these words as fast as you can in your head.
faster.
faster.
faster.
AHHH. cram as many words as you can into a second as possible.
Speak these words over and over again in your mind.
Cram, cram, cram then in, super FAST,
Smacking them into your brain.
Say these words so fast that you feel them
bouncing off the walls inside your head.
Now start hitting your head on the wall in your mind,
while jumping on one foot...
Jump up and down, up and down, up and down,
pat your head and rub your tummy.
AHHHHHH.
Go, go, go.
skasdfjlkjas;ldf
ksjaf;ldjksf
NOW....................
STOP.
Breathe in slowly and exhale.
That is what the gospel of Jesus Christ does for me in my life. It gives me time to catch my breath. It gives me time to remember why I'm here. It gives me time to serve. And always let's me love, pray, hope and feel. I love this gospel and the spirit of the Holy Ghost because no matter what, I can have it in my day. No matter what I'm doing, I can find that comfort and guidance. But then when I take the time to really seek it and devote my time to Him, He will pour peace straight into my heart.
This semester is a killer.
Work in the morning.
Class in the afternoon.
Meetings & classes at night.
Time... where did you go???
So when I have this opportunity in the middle of my craziness to walk into the House of the Lord... to perform baptisms for the dead** with Kylee Geisler... it's amazing.
It humbles me to think that while I'm worrying about emails revealing test scores, powerpoint due dates, trips away for the weekend, homework and classes... that someone who has been waiting hundreds of years can be baptized through little ol' me. That can receive this essential ordinance and receive the Holy Ghost.
Today one of the names that I was baptized for said she was born in 1746. If she accepted the gospel in heaven when she got there, then she has been waiting her turn for hundreds of years... and if she accepted the gospel... then this was one HAPPY day!!! Can you imagine?? I can't even imagine waiting eighteen years... I need the ordinance completed and I need the Holy Ghost with me always...
It's just a regular busy old Wednesday for me... yet I have the power to stop, serve for just a little time in my day and basically complete a handful of women's lives.
The temple didn't only bring joy to those baptized and confirmed, but to me. For filling my soul with peace. For just knowing that I could stand and sit in a place that was safe from the world and it's temptations. That I couldn't be any closer to my Savior then within that pure building. Everyone is dressed in white, no one is superior, no one is better... it's such a pure, humbling and peaceful experience.
I love the temple.
I sometimes feel that each time I get baptized or confirmed for a sister in heaven who accepts the gospel, that I have another guardian angel looking out. And I feel that I have more purpose to do what is right when I am living for myself AND completing ordinances for righteous women in my name.
I don't have the temple every week or every day.
And I know not all of you have this wonderful blessing of the Logan, Utah temple in your lives. But we all have those "temples" ... whether it be reading, playing music, scriptures, prayers, writing.
My escape is prayers, writing blogs, playing the piano and the temple.
We need that time to relax and think about what's important.
So find it.
**(mormon.org) As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), we believe that baptism is an essential ordinance (spiritual ceremony) for salvation. Evidence for this can be found in several scriptures such as the following: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16) "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5) Given the scriptural assertion that baptism is essential, it is natural to wonder about those who have previously lived and died without the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ and his gospel and be given the chance to be baptized. Thus, we do research to find out the identity of our ancestors and perform the baptism by proxy for them in the temple. This then presents the deceased person with the option to accept this ordinance (if they choose), and obtain salvation. Baptism in behalf of the dead is referred to by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:29: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?"
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