Testimony of the Worn Shoe

Preston and I have made a goal to get to the temple together each month and it has really been great for us.  This past year I have felt the need to make it to the temple without Preston a few times, and it has been a really cool experience to have that time just for myself.  One of the days in particular was on September 23, I had decided to go to the temple early that morning it works out if I go early because I can slip out of the house before anyone is awake and get back before Preston leaves for work.  So this particular morning I had woken up and couldn't get my body to rush.  I had gotten ready slower than I had planned and got in the car not feeling rushed but totally content with when I would arrive at the temple.  It was a noticeable calm while I was driving, that I was where I should be at the time.  I arrived at the temple a few minutes before 6 am I walked into the dressing room and the lady looked at me and then looked at her watch and then kind of gave me a funny look.  It was now 6 and the next session didn’t start until 7 and initiatories didn’t open until 7 as well.  The woman didn’t look very hopeful for me but I still had a calm.  Then she said, “You may check with the sealing office and see if they need any help.”  So before getting dressed I started down the hall toward the sealing office as I walked up I saw a man who was almost frantic, he turned to another worker in the hall.  I overheard him say, “If there is anyone shows up please send them to the sealing office.”  Right as I came to meet them in the hall I asked if I could help.  He seemed to give a sigh of relief and told me to get dressed as fast as I could to be able to help.

Once I was dressed, I stepped into the sealing office and I immediately saw the patriarch from my Harmony Ward, when we lived by Mesa High, Brother Ashcroft.  He was the first one I served in that ward, and then after that I probably feed him and his daughter about every month.  I grew to really love and care about Brother Ashcroft and it was so wonderful to see him there at the temple.  As I sat down I saw a group that seemed to know each other all waiting together in the office.  I learned that they were there at 6 am every Thursday morning to do sealing together.  I also found out that one of the wives was missing and it would have made it very difficult to get through all of the sealings without another woman which I was able to fill in for.  The sealer that was in charge of the group kept turning to me and saying that I was an answer to prayers, and that they were so lucky to have me with them.  Though I felt it was the other way around.  Just to see this group so faithfully serving in the temple was so wonderful and I was really blessed to be in their company.  I was amazed that this group of elderly people chose to do sealings in the early morning each week.  When it was completely noticeable that they couldn’t get up and down easily, and that kneeling might have even been hard for them, one of them couldn’t even kneel and was given a chair, but they were there by choice serving the Lord.  To see their willingness to serve made me love them and strengthened by them. 

As we continued with the sealings I looked down toward the floor my eyes stopped on the feet the sweet lady who was kneeling at the alter and I noticed a small hole in one of her slippers.  I could tell by the style of the slipper that it was a newer pair; they looked just the same as mine in fact.  Except there was a hole.  I sat and studied the hole; it had to have come from lots and lot of use.  I remember thinking that I want a hole in my slipper just like her.  It was a symbol of her service and it was a silent testimony to me.