Several years ago, I learned from a good friend, Theo, that a common, dear friend had passed away. He came from good stock, with great parents who were very active in the Church. Lynn had been active, and had been ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. As so many in their late teen years, he had become disenchanted with church activity, and had entered into the world he thought would benefit him and the desires that accompany that lifestyle. He was a very talented artist, and an extremely talented race car driver. That activity was what enabled us to develop and share a great friendship. As long as there was activity surrounding the world of automobile racing, we shared many grand experiences.

The other worldly activities that Lynn embraced allowed me to step aside and pursue the types of activities that were more in-line with my lifestyle, and choices.  Many years later I found out that he was a seasoned alcoholic, and a very heavy user of drugs. His parents were very kind to me and a couple of other people involved with the racing experience. His father had been very frugal, having several apartments to supplement his profession as a Hydraulic Engineer. To say the least about Lynn’s parents, they had amassed a considerable nest egg. As life always deals the “end of life” card to unsuspecting family members, Lynn’s father suddenly passed away, which was a severe, emotionally charged event that was unexpected. Lynn allowed this event to bring into an already terribly negative lifestyle, a deep spiral. After a few years, his mother followed her husband across the veil, but left Lynn to continue his spiral to the bottom. At that point, the few friends he had managed to hold onto thought that he might be able to begin a recovery process. However it wasn’t to be. Ironically, after going through several million dollars, we discovered he had spent the last five to six years living on the street, and eventually dying on the street! He had alienated every single soul that he had befriended throughout his life.

When these types of activities happen, it’s very easy to drop to your knees, humbly, and sincerely thank our Lord and Savior for allowing us to follow in His footsteps and remain faithful, thus avoiding the outcome described above. As teenage young men, we were afforded the same lifestyle and yet, as so many choose, we went different ways.

A year passed by, and I received a call from Theo, asking what I thought about doing the sacred temple ordinances for Lynn. We contacted Lynn’s only living relative, an adopted sister, to get permission for us to do his temple work. We discussed this process, and immediately decided to proceed. I served as proxy, performing the initiatory. I then mailed the ordinance card to California, where Theo and his wife performed the endowment process. About two weeks later, Theo and his wife, along with my sweet, eternal companion, performed the sealing to Lynn’s parents. My wife had been doing all the family tree work in FamilySearch in preparation for this ordinance work.

It is so obvious that our Precious, and Perfect Lord and Savior knows exactly what and when these very sacred ordinances are to be done because as we entered into the sealing room, a very dear friend just happened to be the sealer that day. It was an incredibly spiritual session and I had an overwhelming impression of how pleased his parents were. That impression was so strong, and partly because of how good his parents had been to me over the years, it allowed us all to enjoy that day with so much more realization of our Savior’s love for each of us!

At some appointed time, Lynn will have another choice to make. The fact that he was born in the Covenant, plus his Temple work had been performed, he will have to make that one last choice – to accept or reject the Sacred Ordinances that had been performed by proxy.

– Paul Maxwell