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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Baptism for the Dead

I've been really emotional lately.  To the point where I'm wondering if I'm pregnant.  I know I'm not so I'm not sure what's going on.  I'm here at work reading our lesson for our primary class about baptism for the dead and I can't help but feel the Spirit so strongly.  Anything that is temple related always makes me emotional because I understand the sacred responsibility we have while we're on this Earth to help those who have passed on.

Back to the lesson.  In the lesson it tells us to remind the kids (we teach ages 10 and 11) that if they stay worthy they can perform these ordinances for those who have passed by being proxies for them once they are twelve.  A few kids in our class have already turned twelve this year so this hits home even more.  The part that got me all teary eyed was a story about patriarch who went to watch baptisms for the dead one night and saw the spirits who had passed on, awaiting their turn to be baptized.  It talks about how happy those spirits were that their turn had come to be baptized and they were right there watching it all happen.  I get emotional because I think of myself in their shoes and how grateful I would be to the 12 year old who stayed worthy and was able to help me.

Not sure why but for some reason knowing that the spirits who have passed are present in the temple while we perform their ordinances for them makes things so much more real for me.  So much more personal.  I remember in a stake conference earlier this year the Provo temple president spoke and said something similar about all the ordinances performed in the temple whether it was baptisms, sealings, endowments, etc.  He also said that the veil in the temple is so thin and that the temple is the bridge that connects the living and the dead.

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