The Rest of the Story

More than a month ago, President Lawyer asked me to speak at the Saturday evening session of stake conference about the love that grows between us and our ancestors as we find them and do their temple work as well as New FamilySearch. Quite daunted by the assignment, I came home and emailed Jacque Martin, the gal who introduced me to the Church, and asked her to pray for me that my preparation and delivery would go well. She was happy to do that for me.

After President Lawyer talked to me about my talk, I hadn’t planned to begin preparing right away — I had a month to prepare. The next morning I read my scriptures. I’ve been trying to journal after I read even if I don’t see anything profound as I read. Sometimes connections and ‘likening’ happen as I journal. That particular Monday morning I was tempted to skip journaling. But I decided that I would because it was the right thing to do.

As I began journaling, two thoughts came to mind: the title of a book I had recently been given Look What Love Has Done! and the story about finding my Thomas Alvin family. I opened a new Word document to jot down the thoughts. More thoughts began coming, so I put aside plans for the day and just worked on my talk. I finished, felt good about it, and set it aside.

Yesterday began as usual — a quick breakfast, then scriptures. It isn’t often that I feel the spirit as soon as I sit down to read, but there it was. It didn’t end when I finished my scriptures. As I went about my routine tasks, there it was. Even when I was cleaning my bathrooms, there it was! A couple hours before I needed to leave, I sat down to refresh my memory of what I had written, there it was still. As I went through a practice run, there it was, even stronger. I’d given talks before in sacrament meeting and never had these kinds of feelings. I wondered if it was just because it was the whole stake gathering and the Lord was more mindful of a stake gathering than a ward gathering.

After I came home and found email from Jacque saying that she had been praying for me all day Saturday, and I understood what had happened. No wonder I had felt the spirit so strongly!

It reminds me of the year Bethany went to Pioneer Trek. Because she often experienced so much pain, I prayed for her often through the first two days because I knew the kinds of hardships that they would encounter. The Sunday schedule for Trek was not strenuous, so when Sunday came, I returned to praying for her as I always did. When I picked her up on Monday she was elated. She told me that she had been able to participate fully in the tough experiences without pain, and for that she was grateful, but by Sunday the pain returned. What a powerful lesson we both learned as I shared my part of the story.

I am so grateful for Jacque and for her continuous, frequent, and fervent prayers. It has strengthened my testimony of prayer. As always, she is a blessing in my life.