Saving our Loved Ones

Each of us can see the hand of the Lord in our lives, even though we are ordinary people. All our experiences are meant to help us come to a belief in the existence of a loving Father in heaven. We can come to know that He exists, that He is close to us, is aware of us, and is active in our lives as long as we allow Him to be so.

I was born in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, and named after my father’s brother. I was born with a twin sister, Adele who arrived several hours after I did. She didn’t cry or move, so the nurses concluded that she was dead and took her away. My aunt, who was a nurse, used resuscitation techniques and revived her. I see the hand of the Lord, His mercy, and His tender care in this incident. My twin sister was not dead and she has been a blessing in my life, and my best friend.

When I was 9 years old my cousin, who was LDS and had joined the Church in France, referred our family to the Mormon missionaries. We were taught the lessons and learnt many important truths, such as eternal families and baptism for the dead.

One night both my father and my older sister dreamt that my late uncle, after whom I was named, asked them to perform the temple ordinances for them. The dream was very vivid to them, and the request very clear. It confirmed to them the truth of the eternal principles we were being taught by the missionaries.

We were baptised. My mother was more reluctant, but eventually she did join the LDS Church. Years later she asked us how she could get a temple recommend. We were surprised at her question because of her attitude towards some of the church teachings and because the closest temple was in South Africa and it was so far from us. It didn’t seem possible that she would be able to get there, but she said she had a feeling that she would go to the temple. To our surprise my mother told us that when she was reading the scriptures she had an impression to prepare to go to the temple. She had also had a dream about attending the temple.

Sometime later my mother was assigned by her work to go to the United Kingdom. This provided her with the opportunity to go to the London temple. She wasn’t able to express herself very well in English, but she asked random people on the train stations if there was a Mormon temple anywhere nearby. Eventually she found someone who was able to direct her to it. Then her worry was that she wouldn’t understand anything in the temple because she spoke French, but to her great joy, on the day that she arrived at the temple, there was a French session being held for a group of members from France.

My uncle Noel was able to receive his ordinances as he had requested in the dream, and many other deceased family members also had their ordinances performed. This experience of guidance from the Lord strengthened my testimony as a young man. The Lord will open doors for us which may seem closed. If we act on His promptings we will receive the blessings. His hand is over us.