President and Sister Butters, former Mission President Tempe mission.
Rosalez Family with President and Sister Butters, and "Elder" Brown. No one knows his real name?
Alyssa, Fabyan, and Christyan. We almost had a picture of Christyan in the pool!! So funny!
The sweet couple!
Saturday, Rusty and I had the opportunity to watch one of the most sacred things I have ever seen. Other than Rusty and I's sealing, I have only been to one other couples, Brian and Lori Munoz. I have never been present at the sealing of a "family". What an amazing experience it was to see the family in white, sealed together forever! Rusty and I have known the Rosalez family for almost three years now. She and Rusty worked together, and one day while he was training her, she asked about the church and why Rusty and the other LDS guys in the office were so happy. Rusty had the chance to give her a Book of Mormon a few days later. A week went by, and we hadn't heard anything from them regarding the BOM. It was a Saturday night, Rusty and I are on the couch talking, and he looks at me and says "I feel like I need to call and invite them to church, what do you think?" Right at that moment, his cell phone rings and it's Melisa. She talks for a minute and then says, "We haven't had time to read a lot of that book, but we would really like to come to church with you guys tomorrow, is that ok?" Seriously, how does that happen? The next morning we called and gave them directions. Unfortunatley, she heard Rusty say Val Vista, instead of Bella Vista. They ended up at THREE different buildings before calling us. They made it to the last 5 min of sacrament and then stayed for the rest of the block. They loved the feeling of our ward (cuz our ward rocks!). We had them over for dinner after, and they stayed until 11:00 pm. They asked so many questions, Rusty pretty much taught the first discussion. We invited them to listen to the missionaries, and they accepted. Our friends Thomas and Kim Blackwell offered to do the discussions in their home since it was closer in town, but the Mission President wanted to conduct the lessons in the mission home. That is how we came to know President and Sister Butters and the missionaries. Well, fast forward a few weeks, Ulysses (the husband) has recieved a firm witness that this is the right choice for him, but Melisa is struggling. After a lot of prayer and fasting on her part, she recieved her witness as well. A year ago, we were able to watch as Thomas and Rusty baptised Ulysses and Melisa. A month later, Ulysses baptised Fabyan, thier oldest son. It was amazing! With how golden they were, we knew it would be a year, and we would be with them watching as they are Sealed, and that's exactly what happened. Knowing the concerns Ulysses had with death and not wanting to be without his family, I know how much peace it brought to him to be Sealed to his sweet wife and kids. The spirit was so stong as we watched the children come in the room. Not a dry eye in the house! President and Sister Butters, along with Elder Brown came back from Utah to be there. As Rusty and I walked away from the temple Saturday, Rusty looked at me and said "Why are we so faithless when sharing the gospel? Why do we automatically assume that someone will not be interested?" So, I have decided to be less "faithless" and more trusting of the Lord in His promise of "open your mouths, and they shall be filled." D&C 33:8. Thank you Rosalez family for your example and for allowing us to be with you guys on your special day! We love you!
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