ONE WOMAN'S QUEST TO STAY VALIANT IN HER TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL...

INTRODUCTION:  Not surprisingly with the new Fort Collins Temple in the forefront of our lives for the past six months, it seemed natural  for the bishopric of the Carlson Farm Ward in Johnstown to focus the topics for Sacrament Meeting talks around temples, temple work, temple experiences, being worthy for a recommend, etc.

The temple dedication had just taken place three days before I returned from a trip late one night and listened to my one voice message.  It was from the second counselor in the bishopric who asked me to give a talk on the following Sunday (October 23, 2016) addressing how I stay valiant in my testimony, with particular reference as to how that affects my temple worship.

It was an easy talk to prepare.  I have a whole "United Airlines lifetime" of material from which I could write a BOOK, let alone a talk for Sacrament Meeting.  I sat down at the desk in my Marriott Hotel room in Atlanta a couple of nights later after we were done flying for the day, and this is what I wrote and delivered to the congregation for my talk.

I thought maybe you might like to hear about some of my efforts to keep valiant in my testimony working in an industry that does little to harbor sacred feelings,  religious experiences, or support for the basic moral laws which have always been the foundation of marriage and family.  It has not always been simple or easy, but it is definitely doable!

THE TALK:

When the new Millennium dawned at the turn of the 21st century, it presented some options that had not been available before.  Consequently, I decided to leave the structured Monday through Friday work week in corporate America and join the service industry with its irregular schedules and iffy opportunities for a "normal" life. That meant Sundays would be in question, as well as regular time for a calling in the ward.

I struggled with the pros and cons of those questions but figured the dilemma would automatically be taken care of for me because United Airlines probably would NOT accept my application for employment as a flight attendant.  After all I was a 54 year old woman living a sheltered life, with a home, a family, and lots of tethers to those things.  I could get myself a piece of bread and to the bathroom in five languages but that hardly constituted being able to "speak" a foreign language.

At that time, United was looking for mature people from the business world who had sat in their planes' business seats.  That was ME during the years I had traveled for the corporations with whom I had worked.  After a long interview process the deal was clinched when, during a final interview at United's corporate headquarters in Chicago, I was asked if United hired me, what could I bring to United.

After I answered, "Thirty years ago when I graduated from college your recruiters were looking for beauty.  Now you are looking for experience, and I have a lifetime of it."  The interviewer looked at me and said, "I think we want you!"

And THAT'S when I had to decide whether or not I wanted to swing 180 degrees from everything I had been used to for so many years. 

I accepted United's offer and figured the Lord would get me through this new experience just as he had for every other endeavor and challenge in my life prior to that time.  But I was also aware that wouldn't happen without a lot of effort on my part, as well, starting with my personal desire which was to stay as close to the Church and the gospel of Jesus Christ as I could.

Truthfully, if I had not had that determination it would have been soooo easy to set my membership in the Kingdom aside and succumb to an easier way to deal with my inability to control my schedule.

My first five years with United was straight reserve:  that means they told me where, when and how long.  I did have the ability to submit a bid every month for what days I wanted to work, but my seniority was so low that during most of that time, including one stretch of 13 months where I had NO SCHEDULED Sunday off, my days off were middle of the week days--never a weekend.  I never got any of the choices I submitted that would allow me to attend meetings at home.  That was discouraging!

There are a fair number of flight attendants who belong to the Church that I have run into over the years who have told me they are no longer active because their schedule didn't allow it.  Or those who say they belong to the Church but now drink coffee or tea because they had to stay awake or wanted a hot drink, or everyone else is having Starbucks!  Or many even who have served missions but have turned to alternative life styles and a complete reversal toward the doctrine about marriage and the family. Their political choices are usually polar opposite of what mine are, as well. 

I can see where it would be easy to be nervous about the people in the large and spacious building mocking and pointing fingers.  The work force in the airline industry is full of them.  On occasion, I have had people tell me my church is intolerant, practices polygamy, and is biased.   And yet, wonder of wonders, I have flown with a couple of people who have actually defended my faith and the Church for me to others because they know members of the Church who DO live the principles and commandments of the gospel.

There was a choice from day one whether or not I was going to hold onto the iron rod.  I wanted to hold to the rod.  So, this is how I have tried to remain valiant in my testimony.

FIRST It seemed imperative that I keep my life away from home as regular as if I were home.  Each night when I get to my hotel room, one of the first things I do is take out a small picture of the temple.  That makes my hotel room a holy place for as long as I am there.  This last week I retired my little picture of the Denver Temple and replaced it with a picture of the Fort Collins Temple. 

Every day I have a morning devotional in my hotel room which I begin with my morning prayer, then I sing a hymn and study my scriptures before I get ready for my flights and leave for the airport.

No matter where I am on Monday nights, I have Family Home Evening for one in my hotel room.  It isn’t long or elaborate, but I study some gospel principle then give myself an assignment that relates specifically to what I studied.  And I usually end with a treat, just like at home.

SECOND I determined that I could have a Sabbath attitude even if I had to fly on Sunday. 

If my trip started later in the day, I tried to attend some part of my own ward either in Chicago or here in Colorado.  The same with coming in from a trip later in the day on  Sunday --I have stopped at chapels along the way home in order to attend Church and sometimes only got there in time for Relief Society.  That's when I loved the chapels that had wards meeting as late as two or two-thirty p.m. start time.  It meant I could have a Sabbath experience. 

Many, many times in those first years (and even some after that) I had layovers on Sunday that were long enough where I could either walk or rent a car or take a taxi or the train to the nearest chapel.  I started by looking in the phone book for the telephone number of the bishop’s office or the hall phone to see if there were any ward members who could swing by and pick me up for Church.  As time went on that became easier because I could just look on the Church’s website for the nearest location of a ward.   

I have been to Church in Chicago, Kansas City, Washington DC, Manchester New Hampshire, Philadelphia, St. Petersburg, Los Angeles, a Tongan ward in San Francisco, St. Louis, Atlanta, Sioux Falls, Portland, Seattle, Detroit, and Orlando among other cities. A couple of times Louis ended up in the same city as I was in while he was traveling for HIS work and I showed him where we could go to Church together. 

On one occasion, I called a bishop who told me there were no ward members near my hotel, but that I could take the train from the airport to the Oakland station where I would be able to see the chapel out the train window.  That would be my stop.  I did that and walked over to the church building where I met Bishop Jermaine Sullivan and many other members of the Atlanta Ward whom I recognized a couple of years later when I saw the movie MEET THE MORMONS!

Ward members in all of those places have been the kind of people you hear about in General Conference talks...the ones who come up to the stranger in their midst and welcome them.  Many have given me their phone numbers in case I ever had that same layover on a Sunday again.  I always assured them that my being with them that day was a once in a lifetime experience, yet on a few occasions I did have a layover on a Sunday again in the same city.  And I did indeed call those people who then went out of their way to pick me up so I could attend Church with them again. 

The Lord has provided so many tender mercies for me to be able to attend Church over the years!  There is no way I could even begin to count them.  I have been blessed by a myriad of lessons with thought provoking spiritual discussions.  I have been touched by uplifting talks, including one very memorable one on High Council Sunday in St. Petersburg by a high councilor originally from Colorado who invited the congregation to “EXECUTE WITH EXCELLENCE!”  That advice still rings in my ears….

When flight attendants used to be able to read while we were sitting on the jump seat, I always made sure I read the Ensign magazine on Sundays.  It was a surefire way to strike up a conversation about the gospel and my beliefs. Or share with the other person some wonderful nugget of gospel thought.

If it is Fast Day, I fast.  And I look for opportunities to share why I am and what Fast Day is for.  That in turn gives opportunities for my co-workers to share with me what they have heard about the Church's HELPING HANDS program and what kinds of things THEY do to alleviate the suffering of the poor and needy.

THIRD, I knew I could be valiant in my testimony by bearing it to others--coworkers and passengers, too, for all of a sudden I had a ready audience.  It was like being a Stake Missionary all over again.  I remembered what President Uchtdorf said in General Conference years ago--and repeated last Sunday at the temple dedication--share with others what happens in our Church meetings over the weekend.  A talk, a principle from a lesson, and things like that instead of talking about the weather or the big game over the weekend.  Mentioning that my sons served missions for our church—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—is a great segue to gospel discussions and opportunities to bear witness about some gospel principle.

So, without couching my testimony in the phrases we use here over the pulpit, I have shared my testimony with words like, "I know, I feel, I believe, I am sure, I have had a personal experience with that."  And statements about God and Jesus Christ such as “I believe God goes to a lot of trouble to orchestrate things behind the scenes for us...and it is up to us to be in tune so we know when we can help other people.”  Or something like “Christ's atonement gives us comfort during our times of sorrow and sadness.  It has been so for me.”

The most amazing thing for me in working with all these people at my employment, is that so many of them DO believe in a higher power.  They have also had spiritual experiences which they have shared with me.  It is a testimony to ME, that we are all children of God and he loves and watches over all of us. I don't know why I thought Mormons had a corner on the market of God's love and attention.  But I found out we don’t.

FOURTH I knew I needed a calling in order to keep me involved with my ward and not be isolated.  I didn't want to transfer my records from my ward in Arvada to my Chicago ward, but I still wanted to serve.  I approached the Relief Society president in Arvada and asked if I could write letters to the no-contact sisters, as I had done that years before in Berlin, Germany.  She spoke with the bishop about it, and he said he thought it would be a good idea.  That began a calling I have had now in all the wards I have been in for the last 16 years.  What a wonderful way to serve! 

I was also a Visiting Teacher in my Chicago Ward, and was invited to substitute for the Gospel Doctrine teacher now and then.  Same in Arvada.  I was a team teacher there with the Gospel Doctrine teacher during those early years when I was based in Chicago and commuted home every Sunday I had a chance. 

When Louis and I moved to Johnstown, it was during that horrible period when I did not have one single scheduled Sunday off.   And it took a long time to feel like I was a part of the Johnstown Ward because I hardly ever got to attend our meetings.  

Bishop Hull called me to be a Family History specialist, but my assignment was to spend a certain amount of time each week writing my OWN family history.  And thus began the Nichols Family Newsletter which I wrote for my children for 10 years.  The idea of sitting down and writing “I Georgia Carol Huggins Nichols Bateman was born  blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…” didn't appeal to me.  Instead I told the story of my life in little chapters like my school experiences and my relationship with my seven sisters, cars I had owned, moving to Denver after I graduated from BYU, and our experiences living in Europe, plus my testimony interspersed about any number of different gospel principles directly related to what had happened to me and with my children in the Nichols Family.

Then came callings to play the organ for Sacrament meeting and serve and teach in Relief Society and attend the temple with them.  All these interactions with ward members here at home helped me remain valiant in my testimony.

I also continued playing the organ at the Denver Temple, but instead of a regular slot like before, I was on the sub list and played for others when they needed to be absent and I was available.

Finally that brings me to a very important thing which has helped keep my testimony bright and strong.  And that is the temple.

During those years in Chicago when I never had a Sunday off for real, I would go to the Chicago Temple during the week so I could have a spiritual "church experience".  Now the Fort Collins Temple is close, but the Chicago Temple was only 10 minutes up the road from my apartment.  Plus, I would do the same thing in my layover cities during the week, as I did on Sunday.  But instead of finding a chapel, I would walk, take the bus, or rent a car so I could go to the temple. 

You cannot imagine how the Lord has blessed me when I have made the effort to do that.  I have had wonderful experiences in Boston, Orlando, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Reno, Salt Lake City, Omaha, Atlanta, and other temples.   Another plus has been the times Louis came with me on layovers to San Diego, Honolulu, Calgary, and Edmonton Alberta where we attended the temple together.

The temple has been a major subject on the minds of all of us for the last several months as we have geared up for the finale--the Cultural Celebration and the Dedication of the Fort Collins temple last week. 

We have anticipated a shorter drive with less hassle of traffic, that's for sure, but these months have also given us time to reflect on what the temple means to each of us individually. 

I have always loved the account of Hannah in the Old Testament 1st Samuel chapter one.  You know the story:  Hannah was one of Elkanah's two wives.  But not only was she not able to bear a child, the first wife gave her a hard time about it.  Year after year Hannah would faithfully go with the rest of the family to the temple to worship.  Her one prayer was that the Lord would give her a son whom she would consecrate BACK to the Lord.  Eli the priest saw her and, in the course of the narrative, tells Hannah to go in peace, that the God of Israel would grant her petition. 

Shortly thereafter, Hannah does have a baby boy whom she later brings to the temple to serve as consequence of her promise.

Here in Hannah's story is one temple lesson for me:  the temple is a place where we can go when our hearts are troubled and we need solace.  Our prayers and our deep petitions which we offer there will be answered.  That has been the case many times in my lifetime.  I have always found comfort and even solutions for some of the thorny problems in my life.  Direction given to us in the temple is pure and goes straight to a humble heart which is seeking divine guidance.

Two other lessons from the temple were called to mind again last Thursday when I went to the Fort Collins Temple for the first time since the dedication. 

Adam had a great determination to keep all of God's commandments.

But Eve could see the eternal view and knew that without the Fall, the Lord's plan of happiness would be frustrated.   The priority law to support that plan was that they multiply and replenish the earth. 

Brothers and Sisters, the temple is our focus.  It is the only place where our families can realize the potential we have been given to be a forever family.  We need to be steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments, but we must keep the commandments not just as requirements.  We need to see the commandments with the understanding that they are the means we have of achieving eternal life.

Let the temple be your beacon.  Go often to worship there because it is the receptacle of God's light and love for us here on earth.  Go when your heart is troubled.  Go when you need answers.  Go as you do your family history work.  Go, not only because it is a commandment, but because it provides a greater eternal view for our—sometimes—limited  earthly perspective.

That we do so is my prayer.