she&him

I've discovered a new band: She & Him. You should check them out. I'm quite a fan of their soundings.

For some reason I feel like writing about an experience that happened to me earlier in the year, oh dear, I mean last year, in September. I had just gotten back from Bolivia, I was having troubles adjusting in that mostly I just missed it so badly and didn't like anything about here. So I was at the temple, in Provo, and realized while waiting, that the last time I went to the temple was in Cochabamba, Bolivia, that everything was in Spanish, that I was still there, still doing my internship. And I just got so sad. I missed everything about it more. Man.

So while I was in the confirmation room, a temple worker popped in and asked if any of them knew Spanish. None of them did (the temple workers were the only others in, I went on like a Tuesday early afternoon so nobody was there) which I thought was surprising because so many guys serve Spanish-speaking missions, you know? Well I said that I spoke Spanish but he said that didn't help and left. I figured he needed a priesthood holder for something. So we continued on.

When I left the confirmation room, the guy stopped me and said I would be translating for this guy who wanted to do baptisms for his family and they wanted to make sure they were doing exactly what he wanted. So I got pretty excited and nervous and went up to help out. At first it was pretty lame, the guy wouldn't listen to me, which made me feel crappy about my Spanish and stuff, maybe it was so bad he didn't believe I really spoke it or something. So I wasn't really doing much. But then he started the baptisms and as I sat waiting for my turn, I realized-- I was hearing the prayers in Spanish. It was exactly how it was back in Cocha. And I just felt so grateful for this blessing, this tender mercy, that God could give me a little piece of what I missed so much.

Not only that, but I got to be the proxy for the girls in his family that he was doing the work for. So that was amazing too. Then we started the confirmations. Once again, I was so grateful to be hearing the prayers in Spanish. But then the man started to cry. And I realized how amazing this must be for him, to be doing the work for his family, giving them the opportunity to live with God, and making it so he could be with his family after our lives here too. I am so grateful I got to be a part of that, a part of this huge monumental moment in this man's life. I started crying of course, ha, and it was just the most amazing experience. I felt a little lonely for him too, though, because he was alone. But I'm glad he got to do that for his family.

Afterwards, the atmosphere had totally changed. Whereas before, it was a little tense because of the lack of translating and all the misunderstandings and mishaps occurring with reading the prayers correctly, etc, it was suddenly just flooded with peace and love and gratitude and awe and the spirit. It was so incredible. We all just knew that we had participated in something so beautiful and sacred. I thanked the man for the opportunity and he finally listened to me. He thanked me for helping as well. And then I was finally able to help by telling him how he had to go up to the front to pick up his names and such, and he listened. Everything was just so different. We were all so much more... filled with the spirit. Quieter, reverent, grateful.

This is just one of those experiences that tells you that God loves you, that He will bless you when you need it. He knew I was lonely, sad, missing people and places, and He blessed me with this. It showed me that He really cares about me and knows what will help me. And that if I do what I should, if I follow His commandments, if I go to the temple and all the things I'm supposed to, then He'll bless me. It showed me that I'm not alone, that He hasn't abandoned me at all.

I was just thinking about it today, and sad that I had forgotten it. Because I've been feeling so lost. But these things, we should write them down and share them so we can remember. Satan tries so hard to make us forget these things. And it worked, I had forgotten. I'm glad I can remember it now and hopefully keep remembering it when things get rough this year, as I'm sure they will. But it'll be okay, because I'm not alone, and even if the whole world decides to abandon me, I'll still have someone who's the most important, who will always understand and listen and give advice and help me along, who loves me unconditionally. And that is a pretty serious and amazing blessing.