Destination: Falls Church, VA
Sites Visited: Susquehanna River, Arlington Cemetary
Today was one of my top 3 favorite days of the trip. We visited the Susquehanna River, where the priesthood was restored. I've always heard that phrase, over and over throughout my life, "the priesthood was restored to the earth." But i've never really taken in what it means. I didn't stop to realize, there was actually a time where the priesthood was not on the earth... Can you imagine?? That must be why they called it the Dark Ages. No priesthood on the earth... Wow. That just blows my mind. What a privilege we have to have the priesthood in our lives today. It's incredible to have men in our lives who have part of God's power in themselves. I just think it's incredible that we are so lucky to have been born in this generation.
We got out of the bus, and we walked a few minutes down a trail to the river. I walked by myself, because I didn't want to be distracted. I wanted to feel the spirit. Plus I couldn't find my friends haha.. But we all gathered in a group there by the river, and Brother E. talked to us for a while, and then had a few other people talk. He then gave time for about 10 testimonies. I spoke, 2 of my roommates spoke, and another friend of mine spoke. Those were the ones I remember the most.
Here's some of what I wrote in my journal, not word for word.
I didn't start crying until after I and 3 of my friends got up and bore their testimonies on the power of the priesthood. I talked about how thankful the girls are for the guys' worthiness to hold the priesthood. I know us girls don't always mention it or thank the guys for that, and for being worthy and good and stuff, but we are thinking it. We are so grateful to have that blessing, especially when it can be in our homes. We cannot hold the priesthood, but if we can receive blessings from it, it's just as meaningful.
I know we had all known someone who has lost the priesthood, due to various reasons. I could see the pain in peoples eyes when I said that. But because we have experienced loss, we appreciate what we have even more. I know I do for sure. I am SO grateful that my dad has stayed worthy to hold the priesthood. It has blessed my life in ways I cannot describe. I felt so blessed to be standing among 50 or so men that were all worthy to hold the priesthood. What a privilege.. and to hear their testimonies and see what they were feeling as well... It was incredible. I felt so blessed to be friends with these men. They are so strong and valiant and smart and know what's right and what's wrong. I pictured them all becoming husbands and fathers and blessing the lives of their future families. It made me cry. I may only know a few men who have lost the priesthood, and that has definitely left a hole in my heart, but the hole is slowly being filled, especially while at that site, because of all the strong young men I DID know who held it. I love every one of the boys I went on that trip with. I am so lucky to have been around so many priesthood holders. I felt safe with them. I felt happy.
It's incredible to hear all the stories people have about how the priesthood has blessed their life. Think of all the miracles... All the blessings people have received from it. It's literally endless. It happens every day...
We talked about how the priesthood will never leave the earth again. I LOVE that. It's so incredibly comforting... It's so reassuring. The priesthood is the strongest, most incredible power on the earth.
One of my friends I met got up and bore his testimony. His especially touched my heart... It was exactly what I was needing to hear that day. For a few days I had been feeling very... inadequate, very small, very... how do I put this... I don't know, unimportant is a little too strong a word. But you get the idea. But then this friend of mine got up and said something like, "Us guys, we look up to YOU girls. You help us stay worthy to hold the priesthood by being modest and virtuous. We are able to hold it because of you." He said more but I can't remember exactly what. All I remember is at that moment, I felt like I had a purpose. I felt important. I felt like I was needed. I felt like I had responsibility, because I do. Sometimes, the guys can't be strong on their own. They need virtuous, modest, clean women of this church to help them along, and help them to be worthy to hold the priesthood. It's the girls that do half the work. We are part of the priesthood. We may not hold it, but we help those who do. We strengthen the men, and that is a VERY important job.
The testimony he bore touched me so personally. I felt like it was meant just for me, and i'm sure many other girls felt that way. I think he made every girl cry at that moment, haha.. It was a very sweet moment. We all looked up to each other, and we all strengthened each other so much by that river. The spirit was indescribable.
I thought of this quote, as he talked about the importance of women. I think 'women' can be replaced with 'people' because it applies to anyone:
"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; We need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity." ~Margaret D. Nadauld
When my friend was bearing his testimony, I totally lost it. I was crying so hard. Because I felt like I was finally getting a 'thank you' for all my hard work. All the times i've been laughed at or mocked or questioned for doing the right thing... it was finally paying off. Someone was thanking me. A GUY was thanking me, for being modest and true. And i'm sure many other girls were just as grateful for his words.
All in all, his words meant more to me than he'll ever know. He made me feel special and important, and after a few days of not feeling that way, it meant a lot.
Two of my roommates shared their testimonies as well, and they touched my heart. It's amazing when you realized how much people truly appreciate and love the priesthood. It truly has touched SO many peoples lives. You can't even count all the stories, like I mentioned earlier. I loved their testimonies. I don't remember all of what they said, but I will never forget the spirit they brought and the love they clearly have for the priesthood.
After the testimonies, they had us all gather closely, facing the river, and sing the Medley. As you can probably imagine, we all cried our eyes out. I have never been in a setting where the spirit was so strong. We sang, "We are as the army of Helaman, we have been taught in our youth, and we will be the Lord's missionaries to bring the world His truth. As sisters in Zion, a marked generation, as Children of God."
I cried so hard... We all made a promise, every time we sang it, that we'd do what we said we would. We'd bring the world his truth.
If you looked out at the river, you saw a mountain behind it just FULL of trees. We sang to the trees and the river... I picture Brother Joseph there. I sang to him. Brother E. told us that the men in our group alone will bring as many to the church as there are trees on this hill. He said the people would fill the river, that's how many there would be. I looked at those boys and saw angels for a moment. I saw them in their strongest, most valiant state of mind. They were angels.
I especially love listening to the boys as they sing their part of the song. It brings me an overwhelming sense of comfit, peace, and safety... I love those boys. I thanked my friend for what he said, but nothing I could have said would have shown him how I really felt.
When you step back and realize that these men are worthy to hold the priesthood, they immediately go from looking like crazy high-school graduates to mature young men.
It is incredible what the power of God can do to a person, inside and out.
Overall, I just wish I could explain to anyone reading this just how it felt, because words are inadequate. I wish you could feel what I felt that day... That feeling, the spirit there could convert anybody, I believe... It was absolutely incredible, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything in the world.
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| We talked about how the trees were bowing to the river... It's such a sacred place. |
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| I wish I could give the full affect of how wide the river was and how many trees there were. |
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| Again, it's hard to get the whole vision of how big it was, and how many trees there were... I wish I could show all of you. |
