Hank Smith:                      00:03                   Hey welcome to followHIM Favorites. This is where John and I share a single story to go with each week’s Come, Follow Me lesson. John we are in sections 125 through 128. Pretty much all on baptisms for the dead. You have a story for me.

John Bytheway:               00:17                   You know what I love about this story is almost everybody has a story like this. It’s a wonderful place where the spirit world touches our world, and it happens to a lot of people. But this one, I just loved it. This was written by Sister Vicki Taylor, who was a Caribbean area communications senior missionary. There are so many names in here and country names that I’m gonna mispronounce.

Hank Smith:                      00:38                   We apologize in advance.

John Bytheway:               00:40                   Yeah. Here we go. Augustina Constantie Doorson was born July 1st, 1863 on the Sarah Plantation in the district of Coronie, west of Paramaribo, in the country currently known as Suriname. She was born the day slavery was officially abolished in the country that was then known as Dutch Guiana located in the northeast part of South America. Augustina’s mother, Molly Doorson and Molly’s sister, Eva Doorson were slaves on that plantation. Life for the slaves was hard and did not change for 10 years after slavery was abolished because the government had to repay each plantation owner for each person freed. The family eventually moved to Paramaribo, a larger town in Dutch Guiana to find work. Fast forward, Hank these wonderful brothers and sisters start doing family history. You heard the name Eva Doorson was one of the slaves. Early in the morning, September 13th, 2024, sister Lusanne Libretto attended the temple to do baptisms for their ancestors. Lusanne was given five names to be baptized for. She sat quietly in the chapel waiting for her husband to change clothes while the rest of the group entered the baptistry. But as she waited, she felt strangely restless. She was being urged to go inside and start the baptisms. Immediately she said, I literally felt I was being pushed forward. I passed the entire group, and to the surprise of my fellow brothers and sisters, I was helped first. They wondered why I was in such a rush to pass them to the first row.

                                           02:16                   Once I started the baptism, the first name I was given was that of Eva Doorson. Later that evening, when Lusanne returned for another ordinance session, she received Eva Doorson’s name again. She was amazed and felt a strong bond with the deceased woman, as if Eva had chosen Lusanne to help her. At the end of another ordinance session, Lusanne said I was tired, but a temple worker handed me one more name to complete, in addition to the five I had already done. To my surprise, it was Eva Doorson again, with tears in my eyes. I knew with certainty she wanted and had chosen me to do all her work at the temple. I never asked for her name, but I kept getting it pressed into my hands. Even though I was exhausted, I felt grateful that I had listened to the gentle promptings of the Spirit.

                                           03:11                   On September 21st, 2024, Imro, her husband, Lusanne, I think, or her relative, and others from the Paramaribo Suriname district, returned home with gratitude for the opportunity to attend the temple and for their shared memories. Imro witnessed ordinances completed for over 90 family members, including his great-grandmother Augustina, his grandmother Molly, his mother, Sieglien, and his great-aunt Eva, as well as his father, brother, and son. It was a deeply emotional experience that strengthened his bond with his family, both past and present. In his testimony, Imro said, the best time we can spend here on Earth is in the temple with our Heavenly Father.

Hank Smith:                      03:56                   Wow. That is amazing. She gets pushed forward. You, you, you move. Move. I want her. I want her.

John Bytheway:               04:05                   I want her.

Hank Smith:                      04:07                   I would love to find out if she in her life was this way. If we find out she was. She was a, hey, we’re doing this right now.

John Bytheway:               04:14                   She was waiting for her husband to get dressed, but it’s like, no, no, no, no. Go now.

Hank Smith:                      04:18                   No, go now.

John Bytheway:               04:19                   And she gets that name. This Eva Doorson. Cool. Huh?

Hank Smith:                      04:22                   Over and over again. Well, we hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. Now, John, I don’t know what word you would use to describe it, but what Dr. Jordan Watkins does in these sections, talking about Joseph Smith and his legal problems with baptisms for the dead. It really will expand your mind in ways that you just, I don’t know how to describe it. Come join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get your podcast. Come back here next week, we’ll do another followHIM Favorite.