Happy birthday dear Anne,
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| 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 2nd 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
