Miracles in the Winter Quarters Temple

In the 2014 Mission President Seminar, Elder Russell M. Nelson taught that Missionary Work should begin and end with our minds focused on the blessings of the holy temple.  He said, "Missionary work is about gathering people out of the world, ennobling them, and enabling them eventually to dwell with God... God, our loving Heavenly Father, wants His children to return home to him."

As we have begun our Mission in the Nebraska Omaha Mission, we have taken his prophetic council to heart and we have seen incredible miracles.  We have invited our missionaries to assist their new converts or returning members, to enter the temple within 30 days of their baptism.  Our missionaries have been overjoyed to be able to attend the temple with their new converts that they love so dearly.  In fact, our missionaries are now setting both a baptism date and a date to enter the temple at the same time.

Here are just a few of the many miracles that we have seen as we have helped our missionaries focus on the temple:

On July 11, 2015 an 85 year old sister and her 68 year old daughter were baptized in Grand Island, Nebraska.  On July 25, 2015, only two weeks later, both of these dear sisters entered the Winter Quarter temple with members from their ward and our two full-time missionaries.  Each of them were baptized for relatives for which they had completed the work on FamilySearch.  Even more sweet, one of the members was baptized for the deceased husbands of these two sisters.

Last week, two of our missionaries and their ward members, accompanied a couple that they had baptized on July 11, 2015 to the Winter Quarters Temple to perform baptisms for the dead.  The dear sister was baptized for several of her ancestors.  Perhaps the baptism that that was most touching however, was for her sister who had unexpectedly passed away exactly one year ago.

A few days ago, two of our missionaries were escorts for a 24 year old, that they had baptized one year ago.  He received his endowments last week and was sealed to his spouse this week. She at the time, was just a friend that introduced him to the missionaries.  They are now sealed for the eternities.

When Moroni visited Joseph Smith on September 21, 1823, he quoted Malachi 4:5 which reads, " I will reveal unto the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers."  Moroni taught Joseph about the importance of temples and sealing families for the eternities.

We have witnessed the fulfilling of this prophesy in the Nebraska Omaha Mission and are grateful for the prophetic counsel to begin and end missionary work focused on the blessings of the temple.