I Still Believe in Miracles

By Stacy Johnson

(I hate to disappoint anyone who was dying for the makeover of my office...I have again had too many other things take top priority the last week. I assure you I'm working on it slowly.)

After enjoying my weekend at the ANWA conference, I was ready to come home and take a break for at least a few days. That was not to be - I was still on the committee for my ward's part in the Gilbert Temple Cultural Celebration which was to be held that week. It wasn't that I had that much to do (my part was paperwork and we got that done weeks ago) but with three kids in it and my husband as YM President, the anticipation was taking all my emotional and spiritual strength.

We noticed the weather forecast called for rain on Saturday and while there was some concern that it could be a bad thing, we decided to plan forward with faith. Because of limited space, I wasn't even sure if I would get to go watch the show firsthand. In the end, I got a ticket. Originally I thought I was sitting in outer darkness because I was so far away from the stage and performance, but I will now be referring to it as the Telestial Kingdom because I was still there and "soaking" in the spirit of that celebration. (You can see by my pic how far away I was.)

The end of the celebration, you can see the standing water.

I wasn't able to arrive till six pm that evening. The sun was shining as I got into my pickup truck and headed west. The drive there went from one extreme to another. By the time I got to the temple and parked, the winds had picked up significantly and dark clouds were closing in. I went with the faith that Heavenly Father wouldn't let too much rain ruin the event and that we would be provided a miracle to carry on yet in my bag I carried a garbage sack and wool blanket to sit on or wear to keep me warm and dry. If you watched the celebration you will know that by the end we were wet to the core and I sat shivering throughout the entire production. At the end, I was asked what happened to my miracle that I had been promising everyone I spoke to...I thought long and hard about it but didn't have the confidence in my answer when I said, "the show went on didn't it?"

It wasn't until I got home and saw online that there was a good 3-4" of water in the very field that the kids had performed on that I realized we DID see a miracle, actually several. 1 -The Lord blessed us with cooler weather, 2 - the fields had been dampened through the night with no standing water thus preventing the asthma and respiratory problems that we had experienced the week prior, and 3 -the rain had stopped most of the day and the fields did not have a chance to puddle up so the show was able to proceed!

My faith that the Lord keeps his promises has been strengthened by this experience. I'll also add that I had one child that had not wanted to participate in this event from day one and I struggled with our decision to require him to participate. That night, I think he felt the spirit of what will be "his" temple. My prayers were answered again and I'll consider that a miracle too.