The Windows Are Open

Alright, so it's been awhile. I have a big "catch up" post to write and I don't feel like it, so it has made me postpone this one. I decided that life events will just have to be out of order so that I can put first things first. I am a sewing fiend right now and can think of nothing else. But, I have to document miracles and testify that the windows of heaven are wide open.

I've mentioned, probably a million times, flecks of gold. We have quite a nice collection going in seminary and my husband has even been talking about them at work and his staff tell him when they have one. He just found out about 1 a couple of days ago that involved letting go and prayer and something amazing coming into this persons life. Super cool. Nate also talks a lot about Moses at work and having faith to part the Red Sea. He has an office full of all types of religious/ non religious people, but they are uniting in their faith in miracles and the source of those miracles - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Now, onto my biggest most recent. I've had several small, but we'll stick with the big ones. They both involve the temple. I love temple miracles. Well, I love all miracles, but especially temple ones. I was serving as a volunteer a week ago last Thursday. It was the end of my shift and I was doing sealings. I had collected some names out of our ward file to do. This time I looked through each and every name. Usually I look to see who submitted the work, but I don't always look through the names on the cards before I enter the room. This time, I looked through and read the names. One of the names was Gilcher. This name stood out to me. Not sure how to explain what that means, but it stood out. I enter the room, turn over the cards to the sealer, and we begin. I get to be proxy for some of the names I brought in. Gilcher was one of them.

Now if you've never been and done sealings for the dead, you will have no idea what I'm talking about. If no one has brought in their own family names, then the sealer has sheets of names that can be done. At this point the sealer started working on a sheet of couples that needed to be sealed to each other. After the second couple was in the process of being sealed, my brain finally registered what was happening. We were sealing Gilchers. What was even more cool, is that at the exact moment I figured it out, the sealer did too because while he kept going with the ordinance, he went and picked up one of the cards I had brought in and placed it next to his sheet but continued on. After the ordinance was complete and we did a couple more, I was able to ask him about the name Gilcher. I have been attending very regular for about 6 years, so I've been there a lot and doing sealings a lot. This has never happened to me before. The statistical odds have to be astronomical. How could we end up with a temple sheet of names with the same family I had brought in. There were 2 from Germany and the other was from NY from what I brought in and those on the sheet were from NY. I asked the sealer if I could write down all the names we did and ask the sister in my ward if she knew about these other Gilchers and tell her that they were having a heavenly party that day.

The fun in that session didn't stop there. About half way through a mother daughter came in with some family names. It's also not very typical, but it does happen, where people come in late. Anyway the sealer asked their last names and the mother said Ek. I said, hey, my great grandmother is an Eck. She said "how do you spell it? Is it EK or Eck?" I told her mine was Eck and she said "oh that's the German form and mine is the Swedish." Wow, how cool. If that wasn't strange enough, after that we did one of the family names she brought in. It was on her mother-in-law side of the family and the name was Butz. Another couple came in just after we finished the ordinance for Butz and so the sealer asked their names, and do you know what it was? Butts! I looked at sister Ek and said, "did you hear that? Didn't we just do that name?" She asked the brother how he spelled his name. He told her it was Butts and she told her spelling and he said "my grandfather changed it from Butz to Butts."

Ok, now what has all this coincidence in names being in the same place at the same time got to do with anything? Well, I'll tell you. It is a testimony of gathering. The Lord gathers his people. Not only are we responsible to help with the gathering of the living, but also help with the gathering of our dead. Do you know who else participates in gathering, the dead (for they are not dead, but live)! I can't explain what I know because of this experience, only that it happened and I know for sure that the Lord is gathering His people. Did those specific names need to be in a room together? Like did they know each other, or was it simply to testify to everyone in that room of gathering? Don't know, and I'm not sure that it matters if I know that the Butz and the Ecks wanted to be there at the same time as the Gilchers. I do know that the Gilchers wanted to be together and orchestrated that to happen.

The story doesn't end even there. I wrote down all the Gilcher information and I took it to my friend at church. I walked up to her and said "I had an experience with some of your ancestors at the temple on thursday." Do you know what she said? She said "was it the Gilchers?" Get out, how did you know?! She told me that she had the exact same experience the week before. She was working at the temple, but didn't take in any of her names, but some other lady who is not in our ward decided to get names out of our ward file and take them into the sealing where this sister was. The statistical anomaly not only happened once, but twice!  They must be an awesome family that has been dying to get their work done so that they can step into their roles on the other side. Just amazing!

I continue to have experiences that let me know that our ancestors want this work performed and they are orchestrating things from their side of the veil. Just think what I would be missing out on knowing if I weren't attending the temple.

So, I worked on Thursday when these experiences happened, and then I had a Saturday shift as well. The shift coordinator didn't know I was still coming to my shift because Nate was out of town and usually when 1 of us doesn't come the other doesn't either. I always make sure I speak for myself and hadn't told her that I wasn't coming so I showed up. Long story short, there wasn't much for me to do aside from helping in the laundry. No one would have ever even know I was at the temple, because I was in the laundry room folding towels and clothing for the baptistry - which they were in desperate need of so I was glad to be of service. Anyway I had 1 shift out where someone could see me and that was as a greeter at the front entrance. I was there from 6-6:30 pm. Well at 6:20 this boy in shorts starts walking up to the temple. Now on a saturday, it's not unusual to see families roam around the grounds and so I thought this was what this boy was doing until he walked all the way in. When he got close to the door and I saw that he was going to come in dressed that way I recognized him. I said hi to him and asked what I could do for him. He was sheepish about his clothing and the fact that he didn't have his recommend with him. He then asked for a blessing. Well, you don't go to the temple to get a blessing - special circumstances permitting. I knew this kid and knew he had a home teacher and knew there were lots of options for a blessing in his ward. I tried peeling back the layers of what was going on while we were waiting for a member of the temple presidency to come help.

Turns out he had gotten in a fight with his mother at 2 that afternoon and had been wandering around since then. I asked if we could call a friend to come pick him up and he said no. Well, I finally realized that he didn't have a cell phone so he didn't know the phone numbers of any of his friends. I told him that I was either done at 6:30 or at 7:30, but that if he wanted to wait I would take him home. He decided that was what he wanted to do. Divinely enough the next thing I was supposed to do didn't need me and with an apology my shift coordinator asked if I would like to just go home. It was perfect because I had a ym waiting for me in the waiting room. I had a nice talk with this ym on the way home and got to know more about him and his circumstances. However much of his circumstances are created by him or others around him didn't matter. On this day the Lord was reaching out and letting him know that he is very aware of him and will bless him if he will listen. I was able to testify to him of that. Sometimes we get prompted to do something and we don't know why. He knew he wouldn't get a blessing in the temple, but just knew that he needed to go inside for some reason and that he would be helped, and there was someone standing there that he knew that could help him. He had a small window in which when he walked into the temple I would be standing there, and that's exactly when he got the courage up to walk in and ask for help. I was able to tell him about the flecks of gold and that he just received one. He was given a miracle and now it was up to him to figure out what he was going to do about that knowledge. Knowledge that the Lord loves him and is looking out for him and will help him if he's willing. I knew his home teacher so I was able to follow up with him and inform him of what had happened.

Miracles are all around us. Evidence of God and His love and tender mercies are in everything and everyone. Sometimes I feel as if I can see heaven, not with my natural eyes, but with spiritual eyes. Heaven feels very close. Our ancestors are very close. Our Father in Heaven is very close. Do you know that? If not, it's time to find out, because they are.