The night before leaving for Jerusalem in fall 1992, my now-husband “officially” proposed. Anticipating our upcoming separation, he wanted to make sure everyone knew I was already taken at what he called the BYU Jerusalem Center “Love Boat.”
I’m sure his concern was overblown, but being engaged did help me focus more on certain aspects of study in Jerusalem – helping me deep-dive into topics like temples and eternal families.
Alden and Eleen Rigby, a missionary couple assigned to the Center at that time, became great friends and mentors, especially helping with my temple-related questions. Before their assignment in Jerusalem, Brother Rigby had served as a sealer in the Salt Lake Temple.
As the semester rolled on, I began to question my timing – was I really supposed to get married so soon? What exactly was the Lord’s plan for me? I had these questions in mind one day when our class went on a field trip to Mount Bethel (literally translated as “House of God”), only recently opened to tourists, as it was located in a disputed West Bank neighborhood. The Rigby’s came along, excited to be able to visit Mount Bethel – one of the earliest recorded temples.
We hiked to the top of the Mount, Professor Jeffery Chadwick taught us about the significance of the area, and then gave us some time to ponder and write in our journals. As I sat there, praying and pondering, I had an overwhelming prompting. “Go ask Brother Rigby to be the sealer at your wedding.” I fought it for a while, wanting to wait to ask my fiancé if that was ok with him, and not wanting to break the peace of the moment, but the thought persisted. So I got up, scrambled over the boulders to the Rigby’s, told them about my prompting, and asked if Brother Rigby would seal my husband and I in the temple.
Brother Rigby’s eyes filled with tears. “Do you realize,” he asked, “what a significant moment this is? We are at this ancient temple where Jacob had his vision of the purpose of temples. And now, of all the people in the history of the world, we have temples again on the earth. Your request for me to use the restored sealing power to seal you to your husband eternally is a fulfillment of Jacob’s vision of the sealing power binding in heaven what is bound on earth.”
Brother Rigby’s understanding, so much greater than mine, gave me a whole new understanding and appreciation. The experience on Bethel not only assured me that what I was doing was right, it strengthened my testimony of temples and the sacred ordinances performed there. In short, that moment on top of Mount Bethel changed my life.
The Rigby’s took me under their wings even more after that – they wrote to my fiancé and my parents, and when we got home, we remained dear friends, even after the wedding. Brother Rigby, a popular fireside speaker, often talked about our experience in Bethel, keeping the significance of that experience alive in me.
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Featured Photo is a painting by Jusepe de Ribera, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. It depicts Jacob’s Dream at Bethel