Heaven-Sent Hugs

This evening, the youth from our ward drove to Seattle to do baptisms for the dead. It wasn't initially our assigned month, but earlier this year as I was getting the lesson schedule planned, I noticed a lot of temple-related lessons occurring together. I thought of making May "Temple Month" and asked if our youth could do baptisms in May rather than November. Our High Priests Group Leader arranged so that we could combine with the other ward and go twice: once in May and once in November. Turns out, it was the perfect day to go.

Last summer, one of the Mia Maids in our Young Women passed away from complications from a heart defect. She had gone in for surgery, coded in the surgery room, and died a few days later. Today would have been her 16th birthday. Two Sundays ago at Fast and Testimony meeting, her mother stood up and bore her testimony. She said that whenever she attends the temple, she prays that the sister for whom she is acting as proxy might seek Hailey out in the spirit world and give her a hug from her mother.

One sweet sister in the ward had a brilliant and truly Christlike idea. She bought a "birthday" card and gave it to the Young Men and Women at the temple. She asked the youth, as they performed their temple work, to keep in mind Hailey's mom's desire for hugs for her daughter. They were to pray for peace and comfort to be poured out upon the family and to pray that the person for whom they were doing the work to search out Hailey and give her a hug from her mother.

After everyone was finished, each person wrote in the card something along the lines of "Did baptisms and confirmations for the dead--23 birthday hugs for Hailey." Of course, I didn't participate in any of the work since I was just there to supervise, but while I was in the temple I prayed for Grandpa Rowley, Grandma Stacey, and Mike's dad to give Hailey a hug. I'm sure that today people were lining up in heaven to embrace this choice young woman. The Relief Society sisters did initiatories earlier and signed their own card, so there were hundreds of hugs for Hailey. The ward is going to present the cards to Hailey's mom tomorrow.

It was such a testimony builder for me. What an example of a mother's eternal love and caring for her daughter! That the youth in our ward would be able to perform this simple act of service for a grieving family testifies of our Heavenly Father's love for each of us.