Tender Mercies!

Elder David A. Bednar gave a talk about tender mercies & we have had a few of them. They happen too often to just be coincidental. I am amazed at how simple they are but how close to the Spirit it keeps us. For example, on Saturday, Pres. Wood was talking to us & going through the Baptismal book at the same time. He said, "Here is a talk that was given on November 4th." Since that is Nathan's birthday it was just another sweet reminder of our dear son!

We decided to visit the Peterboro Branch yesterday in New Hampshire. When we got there a Sister was giving her farewell talk. We had helped her with her clothes at the Temple this week & had no idea where she was from. It was strange that we had just seen her & out of about 130 Wards we happened to go to her Branch. We found out that it is the oldest organized Branch in the church. It was organized in 1841. It was a beautiful day to go for a ride for about an hour & a half. When we were almost there I told Rod that there were actually some hills. It was a nice country ride.

Every week at our Preparation Meeting we are given a spiritual thought. This week it was so good that we would like to share it with you. Since we are doing basically the same things & there's not a lot of new things to tell you about our job (except that we love it!!!), we decided that we might share a spiritual thought with you each week if it's appropriate.

S. Michael Wilcox writes that, as his children entered their teenage years, he was concerned about the evil influences & dangers that might beset them. While in the temple, he told the Lord that he was prepared to sacrifice anything to protect his children from Satan's power. He said the Spirit whispered to him, "This is the sacrifice I ask of you. Be in this house frequently, constantly, & consistently, & the promised protection you seek, which this house has the power to bestow, will be extended to those you love."

Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone said, "that all who faithfully attend to temple work will have unseen angels watch over [their] loved ones when satanic forces tempt them."

The more we work in the Temple, the more we KNOW how important this work is!

We send our love.