Anderson Amish Temple Experience

Hey guys! SO this is so awesome that we are starting up the blog again! I know we will all be blessed as we strive to focus on the Lord and strengthening our testimonies! I know our posts will help us stay connected, though we are all spread out, as we share our testimonies and experiences and goals! I just have to say it...... Together we can grow yo!!! :) It's so true!!! And I love you all very much! :)

Cody and I went to the temple here in Columbus, OH, at the end of July. Here is the whole story...which I think is important. We had planned to go on a Friday. We got up, everyone fed, everyone dressed, lunches and snacks packed, activities for the kids, started to head out the door......but could not find Cody's wallet!!! We tore the house apart looking for that thing! After a few prayers and   20 minutes of searching, we found it! We jumped in the car, but the GPS had us getting there now 20 minutes late for Cody's session.... and the temple is 2 hours and 15 mins away, with limited time slots for sessions.... so we took the kids to the park and decided we'd just go on Saturday. But I kept thinking, man, we found the wallet (which I was soooo grateful for!!), but why didn't we make it to the temple.... I wondered if we were supposed to cross someones path Saturday instead of Friday or if something would have happened to us or the car on the way... I just was having all of these thoughts Friday. So, the next day we went to the temple, and it was a terrible rainy day! Ha! Not the kind of driving weather or weather to play with the kids outside that we hoped for, but luckily the church was opened and I went in with the kids to wait for Cody. There was music and activity coming from the primary room, and I saw a few children running around. But the kids I saw were dressed in bonnets and long dresses and pants......but still, I thought it was Pioneer day or something in their ward. Cody came out way later than usual and he said that they were running short on staff today, but also there were 2 Amish couples at the temple today being sealed!! WOW! So I went in for my sealing session and a temple worker was telling us a little bit about the Amish people, but said the Sealer would tell us a more detailed story when he came in for our session. Anyway, the Sealer said that an LDS man frequently visited an Amish furniture store and ended up giving the Amish man a copy of Stephen Covey, "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". The Amish man read the book and loved it! He told his LDS friend he really loved and respected the principles talked about in the book. Next the LDS man said that he had another book that he thought he'd love to read, The Book of Mormon. :) The Amish man read it all the way through and had a powerful witness that it was true! He then got baptized, along with his wife and kids. He told another Amish family in the community and another entire Amish family joined the church! This Amish man frequently visited the temple the entire year and then just recently was sealed to his family. WOW! I saw the women in the dressing room when I was leaving and they were wearing all white with white bonnets. They were out front taking a picture wearing their white, and then left dressed in their traditional Amish clothes. The sealer said he likes to share their story because it shows how the gospel is moving forward throughout the whole earth. These families have been completely shunned from the their families and community, and their business is struggling. They said they will sell their homemade candy throughout the winter and will do their best to make it. They hold their Sunday meetings in their home and a member of the Branch Presidency comes and presides every week.  Currently, a 3rd Amish family is investigating the church! I just wanted to share this with you guys. I thought this was an amazing story and example of people who followed the spirit and the Lord, no matter what the world thought. Sorry this was so long, my other posts won't be this long! I love you guys!! :) HOLLER