Following Promptings

A few weeks ago, Kirby and I were talking about future vacation possibilities. Kirby likes to plan vacations because it gives him something to look forward to. He mentioned that he had been looking at some large rental properties at Bear Lake, and I remarked that it would be fun to have a family reunion with my family at a place like that--so an idea was born.

I went to an endowment session for one of my nieces a few weeks later and talked to my brother, Gary, and my sister, Lori, about the family vacation idea. They both thought it was a great idea, so Kirby and I started looking for an appropriate place, and a reunion was planned, and a place booked. I mention this, because during this process, I had a lot of spiritual confirmations which included the nagging impression that I should proceed with urgency despite a lukewarm reception from some people. The promptings included which place to reserve, and they helped me to not back down on the idea, despite some rather vehement objections from a particular party.

Since the vacation place has been reserved for July of 2017, many members of the family are coming on board with excited anticipation and I know this will be a great thing.

Because of the reunion planning, I had been calling and messaging family members more often than usual. We then had a sealing at the Payson Temple for my niece, Kyndra. (Lori's daughter) just a week after the reunion thing had settled down. My brother, Terry, and his wife, Lori, were there from Texas, and my father performed the sealing. It was another great family time, so you might understand my surprise when a few days later I started getting a prompting to call my mom.

It came as this thought, "You should call your mother." Well, I had just seen my mother, and I had been calling my parents multiple times during the past weeks, so I was a little surprised. I expect to see them again soon for another wedding and we don't usually talk every week.

I got the prompting for several consecutive days, before I finally wrote it on my "To Do List" and thought, okay, okay, I'll call my mother.

When I called her, I told her I'd been getting a prompting to call her. She said that everything was fine, and we commenced talking about the day to day stuff that family members talk about, but just as we were about to close up the conversation, she told me about something that had happened to Lori a few days before.

Lori had called, she said, early in the morning. She had been emotional and had had a hard time talking. Lori had told my mother that she had had a dream that morning. In her dream, she had been in the sealing room in the temple. It was Kyndra's sealing that she was viewing. In the sealing room, seated next to me was my Grandma VanBuren, (my great grandma that passed away last year). Lori said that she was wearing white, and that she glowed. Lori said that she looked good, and was younger than she was when she died. Mom concluded her narrative by saying "Grandma was sitting next to you at the wedding, did you sense anything?" I didn't have much of a response to that question, cause I didn't remember.

After the phone call, I tried to remember the sealing. It had been so beautiful. When we walked into the sealing room, the stained glass windows on the west side of the room were sparkling from the sunset. The rays of sparkling multicolored light seemed to reflect off of the mirrors and the chandeliers so that the first impression I had upon walking into the room was that it sparkled with refracted light. It was stunning. I did think, after I sat down and was waiting for things to begin, that Grandma and Grandpa would want to be there, and perhaps they were there. I guess I kind of expected that Grandma would come if she could. There was an empty chair by me, and the thought did pass through my mind that she might sit there, just as I often think that the spirit that I am doing work for might be with me during an ordinance, but I hadn't focused much on the idea since leaving the temple, and of course I didn't see anything, though the sealing was very spiritual and uplifting.

I think that Grandma wanted me to know that she was there. She let Lori know that she was there. Lori told Mom, but Grandma wanted me to also know that she had come, that is why I kept getting the prompting to "Call your mother."

Since I called, the prompting has gone, just like the urgency to plan for and reserve the location for the family reunion has gone--and I am sleeping better through the night again.

That's my angel story. Not as dramatic as some, perhaps, but evidence enough to add credence to my conviction that angels are among us.

I did watch "The Cokeville Miracle" with Bethany and Meagan last night. It was very good. I would recommend it.

Though we may not see them, our deceased family members continue to be invested in and involved in our lives. Promptings need to be followed--I have come to understand this.  Recognizing promptings when they come is a skill I am striving to develop.  I am trying to maintain a sufficient worthiness to receive promptings, to have my guardian angels remain near me always, and to always be worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.