A few years back my mom finally came to a certain peace that it was time to do her father's temple work only to find out that someone else had already done it in 2003 and 2004 in the Ogden temple. Next came the sad passing of my mom's brother who we all called Uncle Jimbo. He was baptized in the 60s but then fell away from the church. He passed away in 2013 under a tree in San Diego California near a homeless shelter. How thankful I am that my family did his temple work shortly after.
That brings me to April 2019. I received a phone call from my mom and dad informing me that when we came for Spring Break they would like my mom's siblings to be sealed to their parents! I don't know why I had never thought of it. I immediately had old feelings of disappointment for the man James Abner Matthews had been to me and wondered if he even deserved such a blessing... to be sealed to such wonderful people. I was embarrassed by such un-Christlike thoughts so I prayed to have softened feelings towards him and as per always...my prayers were answered. I picked up my phone one day and my Family Search App said I needed to enter a death place for him. I dug through my treasure trove of family history records and retrieved his death certificate. He died of pneumonia but I found his contributing cause of death was hypothyroidism. That's what I have! Maybe I had something in common with him after all. I found the name of his second wife on the death certificate and wondered how she must have grieved his death there in Santa Ana Hospital. My mom's family didn't even know that he had remarried until he had passed away and litigation was started on the house my mom grew up in. But I digress.
Once in Utah, I continued to pray because Joe and I were asked to stand in proxy for Bertha and Jim respectively. My dad printed out a small picture of Bertha when she was younger as well as the wedding day photo of Bertha and Jim. My heart swelled as I held the photos of family I should have known but didn't. I felt the spirit of Elijah pour out on me as I realized the importance and sacredness of the work we were about to do at the temple. My mom talked about how much her mom loved her dad. I was surprised to hear that Jim never wanted to meet my dad and never had. Yet there my dad was standing up for my grandfather and with tears in his eyes testifying that he believes that Jim is accepting the gospel on the other side of the veil. My dad believes that Jim and his dad Herman Wesley Odom Sr. have actually become friends due to their shared military backgrounds and family connections. My dad also said that Jim is a different man now that he doesn't battle his earthly alcohol addiction. And you know what...I believe him.
The family sealing at Mount Timpanogos Temple was beautiful! Joe and I stood in as Jim and Bertha. My dad was proxy for Uncle Jimbo. My mom and her sisters Jeanne and Francie looked regal in their white temple dresses. They were so happy that they would finally be sealed to their parents! The only one missing was their older sister Wynter who I only knew as Aunt Dee Dee. She never did embrace the gospel message and since she is still living, we will wait to do her work too;) My mom and her aunts all look so very young that the temple worker was embarrassed that they hadn't given them a proper greeting at the temple doors because she "was looking for old ladies with grey hair"! Haha! My mom and her sisters still all have luxuriously died dark hair;) Even my cousin Laura got to come! As we got ready for the sealing, I reached for the two pictures in my pocket and knew I was right where I needed to be. My heart swelled with excitement that I would get to be part of sealing children to their parents!
Something else I've been praying about lately is how to recognize my spiritual gifts. On this beautiful day as I knelt across the altar from my handsome husband and circled around by my mom, dad, and aunts I felt something stronger than I have ever felt before! I realized at that moment my gift to feel a mother's love! As you know, I am a highly sensitive person. I feel things deeply and sometimes am overcome by the Spirit to the point of exhaustion. I have a hard time putting words to the feelings I experience but I'll give it my best shot. The following is very sacred and dear to my heart. As we knelt around the altar, I felt an overwhelming mother's love. I felt my grandma yearning to be with her children who for so long had not been sealed to her. I felt a sense of love, forgiveness and healing amongst the sisters who were finally realizing that the man their dad was here on earth so consumed by alcohol is not the man who he is now. A peace filled the room and for a moment I truly felt like my grandma was there. All the hurt and all the sorrow endured by this family seemed to dissipate and all that was left was love!
I felt her heartache as she went through her mental roll call and realized that she was missing one child there. The yearning for DeeDee was intense but was then replaced as an overwhelming feeling of peace filled me as a still small voice whispered almost audibly, "It's ok, she's not here today but she will be someday." And then I knew it was ok...everything was good and as it should be. I felt like that message calmed down my grandma's mama heart too. As the sealer pronounced the blessing that would bind this sweet family, an overwhelming feeling of joy and gratitude permeated the room. Tears poured down my cheeks as I took it all in. I knew Grandma's spirit was there in the room and I felt my grandfather's spirit there too...both so happy for this important work to finally be done! I thought of the relief they must feel to know that they get to have their children sealed to them for all eternity! I know I said it once but again I felt a mama's love like I've never felt and like I said...I feel a lot! I saw my mom and her sisters through different eyes, as if they were just little children longing for love and acceptance that only parents can give.
As we all walked down the hall and away from the sacred moment of the sealing I felt an overwhelming gratitude for the people whose pictures I still had in my temple dress pocket. I also felt a joy surge through me as I realized that my children and husband are already sealed to me too and since I was born in the covenant I am sealed to my parents as well! Oh how I had taken that for granted. Seeing the joy on my mom and aunt's faces as they hugged everyone in the room proved how important it is that families can be sealed together forever. Later when I asked Joe if he had felt like my grandparents were there he said no, he doesn't feel things like that. However, he stated that he felt an overwhelming feeling of love, forgiveness and healing. I liked that! A healing sealing! I am so thankful that the Lord allowed me to feel my grandma there and allowed me the privilege of feeling that mother's love. I can't wait to see both her and my grandfather when I get to the other side! We ended up staying for an endowment session but Aunt Jeanne and Laura had to leave so unfortunately ... as usual... my favorite moments in life didn't get a picture! Oh well, the next day we had a fancy brunch at Caitlin's house. Here are my mom and her sisters who radiate beauty, love, and joy! They are true disciples of Christ and definitely were also gifted with a mother's love!
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