Special Edition-Ebeye Temple Trip Feb 2011

The Ebeye members from the Kwajalein District were very excited to fly to Laie Hawaii to attend the temple. (Heading to the dock to catch the ferry to go to Kwajalein to board the airplane)One group went on January 31, to February 4, 2011 with 26 people. The second group went on February 7, to February 11th with 23 people so that is a total of 49 people who attended for the first time. It was a life changing experience for them. You could see it in their eyes the happiness and love the temple brought into their lives. One gentleman said to me, “We used to go to sleep but now we get to sleep with a smile on our face.” One Sister said, “I am so happy I just can’t keep my hands off my husband”. Another Brother said, “I never saw my wife cry but she was crying before we went inside the temple.” That is profound because this culture doesn’t show affection or emotion especially in public.

As I drove up to the house they were staying, I wanted to have prayer with them before they entered the temple for the first time; so I said to them, “Let’s gather together to have prayer”. They said we have already had a devotional, with prayer, song and a short talk. These people were ready for the temple; they have such faith and love for the Savior.

The last day was a very spiritual day for us all but for the Ninjini family it was a miracle. We were sitting in the sealing room doing deceased couples sealing when a thought came into my mind, that the sealer doesn’t have the name of the living couple in that room to be sealed to their deceased parents. I went downstairs to the office and Sister Renee Uperesa gave me a sheet that I needed to write down the living person that needed to be sealed to the name of the deceased parents, which I did and then hurried back to give it to the Sealer. With a sigh of relief I was enjoying the sealing’s when a feeling came over me again that something was wrong. It wouldn’t leave so I took out the member’s family group sheets and went over them again with their pedigree charts looking for something that I missed. I couldn’t see anything but the feeling was getting stronger and the time for the session was almost over. This will be the last time that these members will ever make it to this temple and I needed to be sure that all the work was completed that needed to be done. I still couldn’t see the problem so I decided to ask each family member if everyone in their family was sealed to them. I went to the Ninjini family first and asked if everyone had been sealed to them when Sister Ninjini with tears in her eyes said to me, “when will my son, be sealed to me”. So I asked Brother Ninjini to come with me out in the hall so we could talk. I asked him about the son, he said that he needed to adopt him. On his family group sheet the boy had a different name. (Ninjini Family)So I told him he couldn’t be sealed. So we went back in and that feeling wouldn’t leave me but a thought came into my mind that he was deceased so maybe it was different. So I left the sealing room and went down to the office again and talked with the recorder and he told me that to be sealed the boy had to have at least one natural parent. So back to the sealing room again I went but the feeling would not leave me. So I motioned for both Brother and Sister Ninjini to come out into the hallway again. That was when, I discovered that Sister Ninjini was the natural parent and her boy had a different father, he was 25 years old when he died and left a son, which they had adopted and was sealed to him on Tuesday. Sister Ninjini told me with tears running down her face that on the first day at the veil she saw a boy standing at the veil and it looked like Anthony.
The amazing thing was that President Gollaher personally took care of Brother Ninjini and guided them through the baptism, the confirmation, the initiatory room and within 45 minutes, we were all in the 6:00 p.m. endowment session. What an emotional session it was, Sister Ninjini was in tears the whole session and so was I. During the session several times she would look at me and squeeze my hand and say “Thank you, Sister Mills”. The spirit was so strong and I knew that Anthony was there with his mother in spirit. Then President and Sister Gollaher took us into a sealing room so they could be sealed together forever, again the spirit was so strong in that room, there was not a dry eye and you knew Anthony and others were there.

On this temple trip with the dear saints of Ebeye I learned that God is aware of all of his children. This is His work and He is in control and He is with us to make sure that the work is done. I am very humbled to have been the Lord’s instrument to helping the families to the temple so they are now Eternal Families. With God’s help anything is possible and I am very grateful that I was a part of a miracle in the Ninjini family.

The experience related above is only one of the many small miracles that took place in getting these sweet saints prepared to go and also while they were in the temple. What a wonderful blessing these saints were able to enjoy because of the obedience of the members all over the world in paying their tithes and offerings. I am so thrilled to be able to see the church funds go to help these members on Ebeye; for if it wasn’t for these funds these saints and others could never afford to go. At church many of them are saying to me, “Sister Mills, we want to go back, so we are saving our money.” What faithful saints they are and they will never forget the feeling of love they felt at the temple. Besides receiving their living ordinances both groups were able to complete 256 ordinances for their deceased relatives. To me, this is a miracle; the miracle of Elijah linking families together for forever.