Paige's Story; The Path Towards Temple Endowment

Have you ever wished for something so deeply, only to face obstacles at every turn? Prepare to be inspired as we journey with Paige, a determined young woman from a small town in Utah, who found her path to receiving her temple endowment littered with challenges. Raised in the Church with a deep desire to go on a mission, her plans took a surprise turn when she found herself prioritizing her education instead. As she navigates her faith, her story serves as a beacon of perseverance in the face of adversity. 

When the path toward our goals becomes rocky, many of us falter. Not Paige. She shines a light on the complex relationship between church authorities and individual faith, sharing her experience of when her request to get her Temple recommend was denied. Yet, she managed to trust in God's plan and stay strong. We also explore the importance of standing in holy places and preparing for life's challenges, even within the confines of our own homes, embodying resilience and unwavering faith. 

In this episode, Paige's story encourages us to have difficult conversations, ask questions, and strive to bring God into our lives. She exemplifies the power of faith in the face of trials, reminding us that we all play a vital role within God's fold. Her journey from being a young woman in Utah to receiving her temple endowment teaches us about the importance of shepherding others along their spiritual journey. Join us as we are inspired by Paige's story of determination, faith, and resilience.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:23

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Remember podcast. We're going to be here. I am joined with Tresden, Tresden's back Tresden. How long has it been?

Speaker 2: 0:33

It's been months and months, dude. It's been a hot minute, but you know what we're back, we're ready to go and it's…. I couldn't be happier.

Speaker 1: 0:41

Yeah, we're here. We're ready to rock and roll. So I'm happy, super stoked, to have Tresden on here with us today. And he's not our guest today We've got an amazing guest with us. Her name is Paige, and Paige is really cool. She's here in Logan as well, going to school just like myself, but she we were just talking and she was telling me about how she's been listening to the podcast basically since day one. So we're happy to meet one of our longtime fans and we're I'm super stoked to hear her story. So I turn the time over to you, paige. Go ahead and introduce yourself further.

Speaker 3: 1:26

Yeah, well, hi everyone, my name's Paige. Yeah, I don't even really know what to say to introduce myself. I'm from Taylor's, utah, so little town by about 15 minutes outside of Salt Lake, and I was born and raised in Utah, grew up in this bubble, Born and raised in the church too, and then I graduated high school and I was like, hey, I'm going to go on my mission, I'm going to go to the community college, get a year done and go on my mission. And I didn't do it. I moved right up to Utah State to jump right into a bachelor's degree and I've been here ever since. So it's my third year. I just turned 20 in August. This is my third year up here at Utah State and I'm graduating a year early, so I'm a senior and I'm studying Spanish teaching. So I want to be a Spanish teacher for high schoolers, because I grew up in a dual immersion program and so I've learned Spanish since I was a kid. And, yeah, I love, I love the church. It's my life, my faith guides everything that I do, and I get really touchy about it, which is why I think I can't be a good missionary, because I would not be able to restrain myself from going off on people, but I'm here and I've got some, got some stories to share, if I, if I can I guess this story kind of takes place I have to give some back stories.

Speaker 3: 2:59

I am one of two kids, so I have an older brother. He's three years older than me and growing up he was my idol. I loved my big brother. I did karate and became a black belt because my brother did it first. I joined the tennis team because my brother loved tennis and I just fell right into everything that he loved. He was my idol. I wanted to be just like him. And then he left on his mission for Argentina and he started learning Spanish in Argentina and I was like ha, now you're like me. But he got back from his mission and about a year later he started dating a girl and he got really serious with her. And when we went on vacation his last family vacation that we went on before he got married and I saw the way he changed and grown up and kind of matured as he's getting ready to get married.

Speaker 3: 3:50

And about a week after we got home from that from that trip, they got engaged and my sister lost at me down and she was like Paige, have you, have you graduated? You're going up to college, have you thought about getting endowed? I know you haven't gone to it, like you haven't gone on a mission and you're still up in the air about that, but I know when I was in college, being endowed really helped me and I hadn't really thought about it before because I assumed I was just getting down when I went to get married or when on my mission that's kind of as I just assumed. And so I remember going to bed later that night and I sat and I was staring at my ceiling, praying to Heavenly Father and just thinking should I do this? Is this, can I do this? Is this something that's okay for me to want? Because I've always loved the temple and I've always been really eager to get into the temple and to get that next step of exaltation. And I just assumed that taking out my own endowments was like too grown up, it was too mature for me because I was only 17. My birthday's been the summer, so I was only 17 and praying about this and I got the warmest feeling of peace wash over me and I just remember Heavenly Father saying this will not be a bad thing, like do not be nervous, don't be scared, this is something that's good. And I remember I started crying because I was nervous about it and I was like, okay, well, god says so, god says so.

Speaker 3: 5:30

And so I went to my singles ward Bishop that that following Sunday. I was like, bishop, I know I'm only here for the summer, but I want to get down, I want to start that process. Tell me what I got to do. And he said All right, I'm not sure what we can do, since you're moving in like a month and a half, but start by going to temple prep classes. And so I went through the temple prep classes and I completed those and I learned a lot and I loved it. And by the end of that I went, by the end of those lessons, I went back to my Bishop and I asked him Okay, I did all those, what's the next step? And he looked at me and was like Well, you're moving in about three or four weeks. I just don't think now's like I don't think I'm the right Bishop to start this for you. I think you need to wait until you move and start that with your Bishop up there. And I was a little discouraged at that. But it made sense. I was like I don't know how long this process is. I get it makes sense. And I told my dad that and he was like, oh, we'll talk to the homeward Bishop because it's not super long of a process and maybe a homeward Bishop can speed it up for you.

Speaker 3: 6:50

So I went and talked to my homeward Bishop about getting endowed and I have trouble with this Bishop. I know he was called in as Bishop and I sustained him wholeheartedly, but I don't always understand why what he did as Bishop. I don't get the reasoning behind it, but I know God called him, so it's enough for me. But I went and I was nervous. I sat down and I asked him. I said, bishop, I want to get endowed. Walk me through this process. What do I need to know? What do I need to do? And he looked at me and he said I don't think the handbook will allow you to do that. And I was like I was shocked. And I looked to him and I said can you check Please? And he said well, I'll talk to the stake president and get back to you on that. And I remember I had gone to work.

Speaker 3: 7:49

It was a couple of days later I went to work. I had just gotten off I looked at my phone and it was a text from my Bishop, my homeward Bishop, and all it said was hey, paige, like I checked the handbook and I checked with the stake president and we're just not comfortable letting like giving you a recommend to go through the temple. We just don't think it's the right time. More than likely you're just going to break the covenants that you made and you need to be focusing on your education right now. And that just broke my poor little 17 year old heart. I had never been told that I wasn't worthy enough to receive anything in God's church. And I remember I had gotten off work and I just sat in my car sobbing because my Bishop told me I wasn't worthy enough to go through the temple. And I don't say that to bash on him, he was. He is a wonderful man. It was just nobody in my ward had done that before. Nobody in my ward had gone through the temple just to go through the temple. Even the boys. They had always gone through the temple because they were going on missions. I took that really hard. But I remember I moved up to Utah State.

Speaker 3: 9:08

It was my freshman year, that first week of church I met with my new student ward Singles Ward Bishop and I said, bishop, I know you don't know me. This is who I am. This is where I'm from. I want to get endowed. I am in it to win it, sir. He was taking it back. He was like okay, well, let's move your records over. It's going to take about a week and then we'll sit down and we'll go through that process again. So I moved my records over.

Speaker 3: 9:38

Two weeks go by, we schedule a meeting. I sit down in his office and he's like okay, why do you want to get endowed? I said well, I really want that next step in exaltation. I love the temple. I've been going every month since I turned 12. I'm just fascinated by it and I want to show God that I am a worthy daughter. I'm there and I'm choosing to stay on that covenant path and bind myself to Christ. He did something a little strange. He said okay, well, that's great, let me pray about this. I'll fast about it and we'll have another meeting and go through this again. Have you taken the temple prep classes? I said I have taken them, but I can take them again. I'm willing, I'll do it again. He said I recommend that. So I went through another five or six weeks of temple prep classes.

Speaker 3: 10:35

By the time that was over, I met with my bishop again and he said so I'm glad you took the temple prep classes, but I'm a little worried that you don't have the support, because this is a big undertaking, and I'm worried that you just don't have the support in your apartment. He was right, but that's not the point. He said can you mind if I call your parents? I said no, that's fine. I gave him my parents phone numbers and then a few days later my mom calls me and she's like hey, why is your bishop calling us? I said oh, what did you say? What do you ask? Because I'm trying to get in doubt and I've been interviewing with him and she looked to me, or she didn't look at me. She was calling me and she's like well, he was asking us if we thought you were worthy to go through the temple, if we thought you were ready. And your dad and I just said I don't know, it's your choice, we don't know your testimony, only you know your testimony. So shout out to my mom for that.

Speaker 3: 11:36

But a couple of weeks after that it was Thanksgiving break. It was Thanksgiving break I met with the bishop again this is about the third or fourth time I'd met with him about getting my endowment taken out and he said so. I called your parents and they let me know that you have a really strong testimony and I'm just not quite sure now is the right time for you to get your endowments right now and we're really working on getting the Melchizedek priesthood to some of the men in the ward. And I was shocked again and I was like, ok, whatever, I nearly give in up trying to go through the temple. I was like obviously someone doesn't want me to do this.

Speaker 3: 12:22

And I remember I went home, I went into my dorm room, I locked the door and I just laid on my bed and I sobbed. I just pleaded with God. I was like why? Why did you tell me to go through the temple? And I can't. I am facing obstacle after obstacle. I've done everything I've been asked. I have been looking up general conference talks about the temple. I have been reading and preaching gospel and when it says about the temple I had done so much and I just remember crying. I was like, haven't you, father? I'm nearly ready to give up. I know you told me to keep going and that the temple was what I needed to do, but it is too hard, I can't and I had basically given up trying.

Speaker 3: 13:14

In about three weeks after that I was sitting in church and the bishop comes up to me and he just hands me the recommend Already signed. He hands it to me and he said he needs to meet with the state president today and he'll finish signing it and just walked away, walked up to the stand to start sacrament meeting and it was the most random thing ever. I was like is he allowed to do this? Just hand out recommends right before church starts. And I nearly ran through the church as soon as the sacrament meeting was over. I was like where's the state president? I'm finding him. It's happening. God is real. This is it.

Speaker 3: 13:52

And I get into the state president's office. We have a very long conversation, we have a nice interview and he signs my recommend and I run home. I schedule my temple date. The day I schedule my appointment for the temple, I buy all my family and like this is where we're doing it. This is what we're doing after. This is who I want to buy. I had it all planned out within like a day and a half. I was so excited and I called the temple like three times to confirm.

Speaker 3: 14:22

I had my appointment set in January and the day before I got my endowments taken out, I moved out of my apartment. Because I long story with roommates I had to move apartments. It was no longer safe for me in my first one. So I was packing up everything the day before to move and I woke up seven in the morning that Saturday. I packed everything into my car, moved apartments, took everything out of my car again and I had about an hour left after doing that to make it to the temple, to be there on time.

Speaker 3: 14:59

And I am driving down there and I actually hit an animal. I don't know if I can't remember if it was like a badger or like a skunk or something. I ran over an animal on my way to the temple and I was like, oh my gosh, I've never had something so clear that says don't go, I just killed something. I was crying. I'm like I just killed an animal. I have to go. I didn't know what to do. I was panicked and so I just make it to the temple and I park and I look at my phone one last time before I turn it off and I had received a long text message from one of my old roommates just going off on me. It was not nice and I just looked at it and I was so angry I'm like this is the last thing I need. I do not need some girl yelling at me.

Speaker 3: 15:55

I parked in the parking lot of the temple. I'm about to go have a very spiritual moment. I ran over an animal. I worked so hard to get there and I just like threw my phone in the back seat. I was like I'm not even taking it in and I walk into the temple and I was like that's it, I'm done with that, I'm leaving it at the door. And I went and I was almost late. It was cutting it so close. I don't know how I made it on time. I really don't. And I get in, I do the story, I do the endowment session and it was wonderful and I loved it and it's been a huge blessing in my life ever since.

Speaker 3: 16:36

It took. But it took seven months for me, from the start, from the night that I prayed to Heavenly Father if I should go to the temple to the day I got endowed. It took seven months, which is a little unheard of because I had three people I had three bishops tell me no, or not yet, or you're not worthy, and it was heartbreaking. But because of that I was then able to see my two best friends getting endowed six months after I did, and they didn't have any problem. They just had to graduate high school and then they could get endowed and I was so happy for them.

Speaker 3: 17:17

And that lesson, or that story at least it taught me a few things. One of the big things that taught me was don't doubt God, because, looking back now, I needed to get endowed, I needed the strength and the protection that it has offered into my life, and I also needed to be able to let my friends and the people I love. I needed to show them, first off, that it's OK to endow, that it's not some scary, taboo, crazy thing only for adults. But I also needed to show them that like, hey, it's not that hard either. And so, yeah, the biggest thing I learned from that was just don't doubt God.

Speaker 3: 18:04

His plan is always perfect, his timing is impeccable. But I also learned to differentiate the gospel and doctrine and the church and its members, because I love the gospel and my faith is everything to me and Christ is everything in my life. But I don't agree with every bishop out there. I don't agree with every single fast and testimony meeting, when that one old lady gets up and just tells her how amazing life is. I don't agree with that sometimes Because people aren't perfect and I learned that the hard way. That I don't know why I had to wait so long. I don't know why seven months is insane. I don't know why it took that long. But I learned that God's timing is perfect. Don't doubt Him. But also, people aren't perfect and I shouldn't expect them to be either.

Speaker 1: 19:09

I don't even think I need to say anything. I think that was an amazing story and you know, oh, I kind of just want to go yell at all those bishops on your behalf, you know.

Speaker 3: 19:26

Oh, believe me, my mom was close to Mama. Bear was out.

Speaker 1: 19:32

Nothing. Nothing frustrates me more than when people overstep their like bound, overstep boundaries, overstep their, their realm of influence, and like calling your parents like hey, is she worthy? That's not a I don't know. I could go off about that.

Speaker 3: 19:54

Yeah, it's, it was wild. I I don't know why. I really don't get it. I don't understand it all. I've never heard of stuff happening like that before either. But you know what? I just think, heavenly Father, that it was me and not somebody else, because you know what I handled it I. It got done, it got dealt with. I think it was fine. But I don't know how somebody else would have handled that.

Speaker 1: 20:16

Yeah, a lot of people have left the church for that reason, because you know the bishop says something and it's like, oh well, guess he's, you know God's judge and I'm just a terrible person. Then they never come back to church and it's like, no, that's not what. No, stop some help. You know, like no, my, my experience getting into the temple is very, very different from yours. It's like my bishop was practically shoving me into into that beautiful building, but I'm glad he did. But I think it's different because for guys like we kind of need that much.

Speaker 1: 21:02

But my sister, I remember when I got home from my mission and I'm not going to go into too much detail about her story because I also don't know the whole story and it's hers to tell but when I got home from the mission I just felt like like Tammy that's my little sister's name, tammy like you you should go to the temple, like I was.

Speaker 1: 21:22

I was your sister-in-law. I was like Tammy, like you should go, you should go, and we, we worked it out and she worked it out and it took a long time and a lot of the issues that she was running into, or you know, issues that you ran into with our bishop back home. Just, you know it's. I think it's mostly just a tradition Men, the men of the church, get endowed when they're about to go on their mission, and you know, same with sisters, but you know they're later. But usually, typically, a sister in the church will receive their endowment before they get married and that's just the way it is. But that's, that's not the way it is, it's just the way we've been doing it.

Speaker 3: 22:19

I think so many people miss that.

Speaker 3: 22:22

I remember when I was talking with my homeward bishop about getting endowed, they had just that like general conference before, or maybe two general conferences before they had changed the standards to say, hey, if you're 18 and out of high school, you can get endowed if you are worthy. And I was right on the board that train. But it was just that. That was. What was different is I was the first kid in my ward who I was. I didn't want to go on a mission, or I wasn't going to and I wasn't getting married. I just wanted to be endowed.

Speaker 2: 22:58

And going off and I'll let you know that same kind of process and stuff. I think not only was it, you know, yeah, it's awesome that it happened to you, paige, as opposed to somebody else, because you were able to handle it but not only did you handle it, you handled it, I dare say, perfectly. You know, obviously there's that human component of the emotions are going to feel, that anger, that questioning, that doubting you're going to have for God. But it's, you know, I think somebody that's in such a faithful position like that, why would God not give, you know, a test of that caliber to somebody who's so faithful, so determined to that? Just to be like, hey, you know, you got all this stuff up. I just want you to know that I am here for you and I do have this timeline for you, and I think it's another testament from God to you, just before you take those covenants. I kind of built it up and it's, you know, kind of like that teetering. Everybody always talks about how God has a sense of humor, but it's, you know, it happened exactly the way it needed to and it builds that base so much. And it's, you know, I'm so glad that you had that experience with it, just for the sole fact that you had the faith to deal with that, because I personally wouldn't have. I even like getting ready for my mission.

Speaker 2: 24:11

I had my bishop when I was in high school was like my biggest cheerleader because I've been baptized when I was 11 and I went to church for like a year and then I hated the church like all throughout high school. I don't know if I've said this on the podcast Before, like, or if I've gotten into too much detail about it, but I, like I hated the church. I was, like you know, that super cool, edgy metalhead kid as a freshman, like I was, had no, you know, belief in any God or anything for that matter. You know that's all a story for a different time. The thing that ultimately brought me back was I was able to finally differentiate gospel from people. But you're doing that from the start and that's something that's lacking so much because that question, you know, if I was faced in that predicament absolutely would not have been able to do that, and so I named my same president, like I had a bishop cheered me on the entire way.

Speaker 2: 25:06

I was so ready for my mission. That was all I wanted to do my senior year, I prayed every single day to go on the mission, to go on the hardest mission I could, just because I wanted to learn and I wanted to give that to other people. And I met with my state president and he just flat out, he was like you're not ready, it's like you're not worthy. He told me that, like I didn't have the discipline that a missionary needed, he went off on me pretty hard and I don't remember I think my parents were there as well, which was like I thought was kind of normal with it, maybe like just because I hadn't known, you know, and so it was weird because he wasn't to have them in there just to understand what was going on with you know, what was going on with my home life, why I was, you know, making the mistakes I was making, because, like, on paper, I was worthy.

Speaker 2: 25:56

But that alone, you know, it was such a trial of faith for me that that was this just pretty much the ceiling on the cement, from where I was like, okay, you know what, whether this is a people issue or this is a gospel issue, I can't let this affect my faith in God.

Speaker 2: 26:17

And I've been able to take that and roll with it going into the future to where you know any problems that I might have with you know the church, people in the church I could distinguish that from those things that Christ would do and I think, because you had that experience, you're not able to, you know, learn that for yourself, but you're able to share that with others and I think that that's such a powerful thing and I'm so glad that that's, you know, a story that you brought in with us, because that's not really something we you know that gets covered too much is like, oh, you know, I was told no so many times when I was trying to do everything.

Speaker 2: 26:51

Like there's a lot of those rough conversations and you know we have really awesome, really cool, in depth spiritual conversations, but you know these hard ones are so important too. So I'm so grateful that you chose to share that with us and you know as much as it was emotional turmoil, I imagine I'm really glad that you got that experience just because of what I can tell your faith is to be able to handle that and share that with everyone else.

Speaker 3: 27:17

Yeah, absolutely. I mean thank you, by the way, thank you very much. But I definitely agree because I needed that trial and I needed God to test me because I was the kid who, eight years old, I was baptized. 14 years old, I had my patriarchal blessing. I'm 12 years old. I was in the temple doing baptism for the dead.

Speaker 3: 27:38

Every opportunity I had I was there hitting those markers and I needed somebody to tell me no. I needed God to say you're gonna have to work for it, you're gonna have to really dig deep and trust me. And I needed that because I needed somebody to say hey, if this is really what you believe, fight for it and stay on it and go for it. And it turned out good. But I definitely needed to be told no. And I needed that trial because before then I had never had anything to really question my faith on and question my standing in the church, because nothing will make me doubt that there's a God. That is irrefutable for me. But I needed somebody to say but do you really sustain the bishop if he's telling you no all the time? And I needed to learn the difference between God and God's church.

Speaker 1: 28:44

I think, oh, there's, I got a lot of thoughts, Okay, so you ready? Bear with me, hey, a couple of things. What Tresden said is completely true and and he said that very well and you were an amazing person, for you're a very strong individual for being able to go through being told no from a bishop when you're it's, it's the dumbest thing. You're literally like hey, like I want to be more like God, and your bishop was like no, no, you can't.

Speaker 3: 29:24

Yeah, it's weird because if you think about it like what 18 year old wants to go through the temple?

Speaker 1: 29:30

Right and the most. The thing that bugs me the most about your story is when your bishop from I think it was your home ward he said, like him and the stake president, they were like no, like you'll probably, you're probably going to break these covenants, and so that's like them telling you like hey, no, you're going to be a terrible person. I'm like that is awful of a bishop to say, let alone a stake president, and like we throw these names around. You know, bishop and stake president, like they, they're these people on a pedestal, but they're, they're not there. They're people just like you and me and and I think that's kind of the the theme that we're talking about is they're just people, people that God is giving them a little bit more stewardship, but they're people. And so they like, just like when your friend says something stupid and you cut them some slack you know a lot of people cut me slack and I really appreciate it. But when, when your friend does that, like you, you're like, yeah, like that's just who he is. You know, like like we live and we learn and we move on to another, brighter day, and I feel like we need to cut our, our leadership, some slack here and there, but also like stand firm with our beliefs and our desires.

Speaker 1: 30:58

And if your desire is to I'm not speaking this directly to you, because obviously it's very apparent that your desires to, to be with your heavenly father, but to those that are listening, if you're unsure, especially if you're a young female in the church and you want to go and receive your endowments and you're kind of, you know, getting pushed back from the church or from the bishop and the stake president, like that is a good desire to go into the temple, to be more like your heavenly father, and so go. If one bishops telling you no, like, respect him, love him, move to a different ward, make your back or something. And I'm not I, I have to say that with a grain of salt because you know, like I said, these are the bishops, these are the stake presidents. They have been put into the callings that they are in for a reason, and so you can't just I'm not saying you can just go find somebody that preaches the words that you like to hear, because that's not good either. But at the least, the least thing you could do is ask questions, ask why, and if they tell you something, then it's like and that doesn't sound right, then call them out on it, be like hey, like listen, that doesn't sound right, tell me, like, keep asking questions, keep bugging them until they finally get so sick of you that they just let you do it anyways. But I don't know, I'm kind of going off on a tangent there.

Speaker 1: 32:32

But going back to kind of a more spiritual thing of what we were talking about, I think the church, the church, has changed so much recently and that it's been because of President Nelson and what the endowment is. For those that aren't familiar with what an endowment is, when you go through the temple you receive an endowment of power and you basically learn about the creation, you learn about God's love for each and every one of us, and they just redid the endowment session so that it involves Jesus Christ even more than it did, which is huge and I loved that change. But the endowment is God giving more of his power to overcome evil to his children and that if that is something that someone desires, then they should be able to have it. It's not about being perfect to be perfected. If God wanted us to be perfect, then like we wouldn't have agency, like we would be like who was it? If you really think about it? Who was the person that said like I will bring all of your children back, they will all be perfect? Who said that it was Satan? Like in the battle in the pre-earth life? Like that was Satan. We're here to make mistakes, to make decisions, to learn from the mistakes that we make and also to learn to become more like our heavenly father. And you do that through the temple.

Speaker 1: 34:28

I love the temple, but I'm not perfect. I know that bishop's not perfect. I know my bishop isn't perfect and every single bishop I've ever had in my entire life has never been perfect. State president no, my state president back home. Oh, my gosh, that guy was amazing, but I know he's not perfect. God doesn't want us to be perfect now and we don't have to be perfect to go to the temple, but I love the changes that the Church is making because it's like I can just sense that President Russell Nielsen is telling everybody hey, like it's okay, think celestial and you'll be fine. You don't have to meet this bar or this, whatever. You know like, wherever you're at, god is with you. Think celestial and he'll make something of you.

Speaker 3: 35:29

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. And it was actually one of President Nielsen's general conference talks that October. Oh, is it like 2021? He mentioned. He spoke directly to the youth. He said go to the temple. And I remember I was watching it at my desk and I was like, all right, president Nielsen said it Bishop, where are you at? Come on. This Prophet said so. But I also.

Speaker 3: 35:59

I really learned through that that that covenant path is not an easy road, because Satan knows you are on that covenant path and he will try every single thing to get you off. He's going to pull you by the arm, dragging you off that path if he can, but you don't have to let him touch you. You have control to stay on that path. And that's something I really learned, because God's light and God's mercy will always, always overpower Satan's best attempts. And that's something I really learned after going to the temple as well, because that timing was perfect.

Speaker 3: 36:41

I needed the protection that I had made. I needed the protection I got from the covenants I had made, especially going in to a new apartment where none of the girls were members of the church and it's a college town, so you know what they're doing every weekend partying up, there'd be random dudes not dressed just in the living room and there were drugs everywhere. There's always alcohol in the apartment somewhere and I needed that protection, and I needed that very personal protection of every day I wake up and I put on God's armor nearly literally, and I needed his love and I needed that reminder that hey, paige, even though the world is hard, I am here and I am here for you and I'm here to help you.

Speaker 1: 37:36

I love that I have a scripture to share. It's in Joseph Smith Matthew, and so, for those that are unfamiliar with what that is, it's in the Proletary of Christ and it's, let's see, joseph Smith Matthew is when the prophet Joseph Smith was translating the Bible. He was going through and, like fixing mistakes through the power of God, that mistakes that have just come up through time, as the Bible has been translated over and over and over and over and over again. You know just, there's a lot of things that were missing. And he found that when he got to Matthew in the New Testament, that there was a whole chapter missing. And so this is what that is and it's in. So Joseph Smith Matthew in the Proletary of Christ chapter. Well, it's only one chapter, verse 12. And it says when you, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation spoken up by Daniel, the prophet, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, then you shall stand in the holy place. Whosoever who so readeth, let him understand.

Speaker 1: 39:00

And I think that relates to exactly what we're talking about and what you just said just barely. The world around us is crazy, absolutely crazy. There's so much going on and, like I just saw in the news I don't know if either of you have seen it, but like there was a whole festival going on in Israel and Hamas terrorist organization just went and you know attacked, and like people died and people got kidnapped and they're probably being trafficked and all the things you know, and still people are dying and it's terrible. It's terrible Like what's going on in this world right now, and there's been a lot of talk about the sex trafficking here in America and Mexico and basically just all over the world. Things are coming to light. All of the evilness is kind of, you know, coming to light and there's still so much that's being done behind closed doors in the darkness that we just don't know about and we probably won't ever know about until you know the second coming, looking forward to that.

Speaker 1: 40:18

You know, whenever you're planning on it, god, but uh, like we need to be prepared for these things and we need the strength that comes from standing in a holy place, just like the temple, or in groups like this. You know, when two or three are gathered in my name there, will I be also, like God's saying it. He's like telling us. He's like, hey, I'm getting all fired up, but he's like dude, like come on now, like I'm here with you and he is here with us and he loves each and every one of his children. He wants us to be like him. He wants us to shoot to be like him. That's what we're shooting for. He says be there for perfect. But it's like you know, be perfect Eventually like I got you, but Christ has paid that debt in full and he just wants us to come back to him. So we're getting a little bit long, so I'll finish up and I'll I'll let everybody say their final thoughts, but thank you, paige, for being the wonderful example that you are.

Speaker 3: 41:33

Yeah thank you, thank you, let me share.

Speaker 1: 41:36

Of course, I've really, really enjoyed your story and, uh, and hearing your testimony. Yes, you're a strong individual and it's going to do wonders for you, so thank you so much for coming on.

Speaker 3: 41:57

Yeah, thank you. You're going to make me cry. That's so sweet. Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 3: 42:04

I love sharing my story. I love sharing it because it's not to bash on people, it's not to make fun of people or to call people out, it's just to say life is hard. But I have a quote on my mind that says in the darkening days, the light of Christ will shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day, or something similar to that. And it's true. The light of Christ is easier to spot than ever before, and the best place you can find it isn't going to be in the temple. That's as close physically as we can get to Heavenly Father here on this earth. And so anybody listening, if you've been debating, if the temple feels scary or it seems like you're not ready for it, I really urge you to just ask Heavenly Father and say, hey, is this what I need to be doing? Because Heavenly Father wants you home and he wants to be able to welcome you home, and the temple is where you're going to be able to do that.

Speaker 2: 43:12

Now the last thought that I had. That's been on my mind since this previous conference is something I'd never thought about before just because it hadn't been spoken, but it makes the absolute most sense in the world. There's a lot of like Dalai Lama saying there's a lot of crazy evil stuff going. So it's a good thing I've got a handy side shake in the passenger seat that's ready to hand it back to me. But yeah, so there's a lot of stuff going on that we don't know about, that we do know about, and there's a lot that we need to be prepared for and there's a lot that we were obligated to be prepared for and to do our very best as members of the Church of Jesus Christ around the day, saints, as Christians, as faithful people in general. There are things that we need to do. We need to love like Jesus, but we also need to condemn evil. But one of the best ways to do that is by standing in holy places, and this past conference I don't remember his name, I believe it was the British guy that said it there were two things I picked up. The first one was what he said and the second one was wow, I'm way too American to understand what British people are saying a lot of the time. So it was really cool to have that humbling experience Like, oh, you know what they're people too, but you know just all jokes love it's.

Speaker 2: 44:36

The great thing about a worldwide church is we have so many different cultures and so many different things in past, but we're all brought together by Christ. But the point that I'm getting to is the holiest place on earth. The closest we can stand to God is in the temple. The second holiest place on earth is your home. If you have roommates that aren't doing the things that you'd like to have in your environment, do what you need to do to change that environment.

Speaker 2: 45:05

If you, as a young family, are trying to figure out what you need to do to make your own more Christ-like, do exactly that. Do what you need to do to bring God into your home, even if it's just you as a single person in your own room. Make sure that your home has the spirit as true as you can feel it when you're on those temple grounds, because that's going to be the best thing that we can do to prepare ourselves for the evil that is coming, and that is the best thing that we can do to make sure that we bring not only ourselves back to Heavenly Father, but those around us, and do our duty to gather scattered Israel. So that was just the last thought that I had, and I think conversations like these are quite an essential part of that. So have these conversations. If you're listening, if you're confused about what's going on, have those conversations, ask those questions and stand in holy places.

Speaker 1: 46:05

Definitely. Thank you, tresden. That's a gosh. Now I want to go off on another tangent. I'll finish with this I'm a lazy individual.

Speaker 1: 46:19

I have a habit of being lazy, but if you want something, if you want the spirit, you can get it. All it does, all it takes is a little bit of work, a little bit of elbow grease. If you want to change your environment, takes a little bit of elbow grease. You know, maybe researching a new apartment, maybe moving out of your dad's place because he's raging alcoholic, I don't know like. Whatever your situation is a little bit of elbow grease, a little bit of work doesn't hurt anybody and you can completely change the way that your life is with one or two decisions backed by action, and I stand by that very firmly.

Speaker 1: 47:04

But I have a saying that I've said, I think, a couple of times on this podcast page. You can tell me if you have heard it before, but this saying it, I don't know it really has stuck with me since my mission. But God's got enough sheep. Everyone on this earth, everyone on this planet that has ever lived, is living now and whoever will live, they are part of his fold. But he needs more shepherds to gather them. So be a shepherd. And with that, thank you so much, paige, for coming on, and thank you so much to our amazing listeners for sticking with us. And, paige, you know one of those listeners. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that people actually like this.

Speaker 3: 47:56

Yeah, no, people listen. I've shown you to my friends. They are pretty popular. Don't pay yourself further.

Speaker 1: 48:02

Well, we appreciate every single one of our listeners and we make sure to follow our Instagram remember dot podcast. Also, we just opened the store. Well, it's been open for a little while, but it's actually kind of nice now. I did some work on it and we we did a little photo shoot with all of our clothes and all of our shirts and stuff and it looks nice. So I feel proud enough of this store that I can talk about it on the episodes now. But it's on Etsy and it's the remember him company, so there's a link on our bio and our Instagram. Go buy a t-shirt. Yeah, that would really help support us. We're a bunch of broke college students doing this podcast, so come show your support by buying a shirt and we thank you so much for listening to the end of this episode and remember him.