Everday we would wake up, pack six girls to a bathroom to get ready, eat breakfast, and head out the door. Then it was 13 hours of teaching. I tried keeping count of how many questions I got on the first day and I lost track after an hour. It was unlike any experience I've had in my mission. There were people coming up to me and asking me things! They wanted to know about the church, and they wanted to know why they felt the way they did inside the temple. After we did all we could to answer questions and invite people to meet with us again, we'd pack up, eat a late dinner, go to bed, rinse and repeat.
The number of miracles I saw while being in the visitor's center are countless, so rather than bore you with all of them, I'll share my favorite three:
Cristina and Livia: I had just finished explaining to a man why we do baptisms for the dead, and as he walked away a cute mom and her 15 year old daughter walked right up to me and say "Hi". I couldn't tell if I'd already met them or not, so I just said "Hi". Cue the awkward silence. I understood that I'd never seen them before and maybe I looked lonely or something so they decided to just make some friendly conversation. (I'm really not used to people randomly trying to start a conversation with me. Typically, I'm on the other end of things.) But I asked them how they were doing and how the visit went, and five minutes later, I'd taught them the restoration, exchanged numbers, and they asked if they could take me and my companion out to lunch some time this next week. The whole encounter lasted maybe eight minutes, and I just stood there afterward trying to figure out what had just happened.
Four moms for Four daughters: A typical encounter in the visitors center usually one missionary talking with one or two people, and that's what I thought I was getting into when I asked a middle aged woman how her visit in the temple had gone. As she started asking me a couple questions, she somehow telepathically summoned all of her friends in the visitors center. Her daughter showed up, then another mom, another daughter, until I was literally surrounded by four moms and four daughters. They were asking me questions at a machine gun rate. "Why do you do baptisms for dead people?" "Do you have four moms?" "So, are you a nun?" It was like playing whack-a-mole. Then finally, one daughter asked me where our church came from, and I was able to teach and bear testimony of the restoration. With the calming spirit there, they starting asking more profound questions about Christ and our church, until at the end one daughter asked me how she could become a member of our church. I showed them all how to fill out a comment card requesting more information. I gained a greater testimony of what a huge impact the spirit can have on situations. Their hearts became more open to understanding more, rather than just knowing more.
Finnish Faith: Our last day working at the temple, and we were wrapping things up in the visitors center and starting to send sisters back to the villa. At 9.00, a woman and her daughters walk into the center in tears. They asked us if we spoke english and then told us that they were from Finland and had been walking for two and half hours trying to find the temple and it was their only day in Rome to take a tour. So Sorella Decker and I told them to stay put while we found someone. We were running around the whole site like crazy people until we ran into President. He made a few calls, and even though the temple doors were already locked, we found someone who would be able to get them in. When we went back to tell them, the mom started crying even harder. As I helped her with her shoe covers, I asked her how they felt when they saw the temple finally. She said, "We felt like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness and finally getting to the promised land. But I knew we had to make it to the temple. When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I heard the announcement for the Rome temple, and I promised that I would take my children there when it was finished so they could have the temple as their goal. Since then, life has been up and down. My husband has left the church, and it's pretty much just me and my daughters. But through everything, I never lost sight of the promise I made to take my daughters here. Our life has been very far from perfect. But I hope that I have at least taught my girls the importance of the temple."
I could go on for 15 more paragraphs about more miracles and more lessons that I've learned, but I just want to conclude with my testimony: The temple is literally the house of the Lord. The blessings that we recieve inside temples gives us unimaginable happiness and eternal joy. Families can be eternal and they are intended to be eternal. Through obedience to the commandments and by making all the necessary sacrifices to follow Christ, we can be sealed for time and all eternity. And the one who makes it all possible is our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He lived, suffered, and died for us. And I know that He lives still. I'm beyond grateful for the time I've had to work in the temple and the countless opportunities I've had to share my testimony of Him and point people to His path. I want to invite each of you to do the same this week.
I love you all!!
Sorella Maxfield
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