Happy Birthday Anne & Cebu Temple Trip

Happy birthday dear Anne,

The stylin' traffic cop!

First off, get a load of this snazzy dame! There are traffic cops during certain times of day on the busy corners in Dumaguete.  Early on we would get a glimpse of this gal in her fashion statement boots, but our sightings were few and we could never get a picture of her. Her cohorts are mostly men and wear tennies or normal boots.  Just today we saw her and went around the block twice to get the photo. If Anne were reincarnated as a traffic cop in the Philippines, she would opt for the almost stiletto footwear and the skinny breeches.  Oh ya.

God is omniscient, and his plan for us is minutely detailed and arranged.  I will share some gentle reminders of that as this post unfolds today, but let me start with this one:  As we were thinking of what might interest you on your birthday blog, we of course thought of Kirtland, your beloved area in your mission, the cradle of your love of church history and of your understanding of the restoration of the gospel, especially the necessity of the Kirtland temple in the restoration of the sealing power of Elijah. So, I thought it a sweet tender mercy that while thinking of you and your birthday and Kirtland I began to prepare the follow-up lesson for our temple prep class—the lesson taught après our actual temple visit—and  it focused on Elijah—his life and keys, his translation rather than death so he could return before the resurrection, prophecies of him by Malachi 500 years after he lived telling of his coming to usher in the great day of the Lord, his visitation to Peter James and John, the Savior teaching of him to the Nephites, and finally his dramatic return to the lovely little temple in Kirtland which served for only a short time and yet had been planned for and awaited and prayed for by prophets and saints for almost 2000 years as the place where the sealing keys could be restored for the sealing of families allowing for linking of generations necessary for our exaltation. Because of my thoughts of you, the power of this story became so clear—God truly does take small things and make them into that which is great: a few impoverished saints in a tiny church in Ohio built from their scarcity a structure where in the Son of Man and three of his mighty prophets of old restored keys without which the earth would be utterly wasted.

I taught that timeline, picturing you in Kirtland teaching of the majesty of that event and the sacrifices of the saints to prepare a place for it. I was struck by God’s grace and the truth of His prophecy in D & C 110: 9 and 10 that “the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands.”

So there’s the link—teaching of Elijah and his keys, the Kirtland temple, and you.

Here’s the rest of the story:

As you know Anne, last week we said good bye to Elder Cropper’s dear mother, Melvina Leetham Cropper.  We returned to the US to do so, and were met there by all of our children save Dan who was unable to attend, their spouses, all our grandchildren, the dear Brian Green family, Dean’s siblings, their children and grandchildren, Dean’s Aunt Glenda and Uncle Jay, Dean’s cousins and their families, and numerous dear Oak Hills 2^nd Ward members who have loved, reactivated, taught and served the Cropper family through 4 generations.  We celebrated her life and rejoiced in our knowledge of sealing powers and eternal families.

On our return to Philippines, we stopped enroute in Cebu to meet members of our branch who were gathering to attend the temple, many of them for the first time. These first timers had all been estranged from the church and the gospel, but had returned due to circumstances revolving around being rescued from flood waters and their damage and also being rescued from spiritual numbness and its insipid destruction.  They had been reawakened to the glory of God’s plan, to the joy of participating fully in it, to the miracle of living commandments designed for safety, freedom, and as a source of greater blessings.

We watched as one family—a father, mother and three little girls— 

then another—a father, mother and two teenaged boys— 

then another—a mother to her deceased husband and to her three grown children— 

                                                                                                                                                                   and another—

 

a father and mother and their five children, were sealed together for eternity.

 

And if that was not enough, Heavenly Father gave us the added bonus of watching Brother Nunez, man Elder Cropper taught 40 years ago, who back then was a pool-playing punk, be the one who performed all the sealings.  Here this jazz-playing, song-crooning, laughter-loving man, called upon the very powers of Heaven, the sealing powers restored in that otherwise insignificant place called Kirtland, and performed an ordinance that will last through eternity for people who just a few months ago were not even aware of what they had laid aside.

Within a month’s time we have welcomed Isabelle into the world, eased Grandma out of it—thank you Ian for your part in that— taught of the grand plan of Elijah and the restoration of the sealing keys in Kirtland, and celebrated your birthday dear Annie—you who so love and understand that place.  We have watched the outcome of work done 40 years ago and how it can bless the lives of people for whom that work was much more recent.

The grandness of it all is over whelming Anne.  Is it not?  Aren’t we just so grateful that God gives us glimpses into the patterns and the plans? His timing is impeccable; His love is perfect.

Happy Birthday dear one,

Love MA & D