Lavenita and Seonne Kafoa

Lavenita reached out about a month ago to tell me that she and Seonne and their kids would be sealed in the SLC temple. As a ward mission leader in the 26th ward I visited them often with Mike Chambers. Seonne is a big Polynesian guy. He progressed quickly with the missionaries because of how diligent he was at reading the Book of Mormon. He started to dig into the Book of Mormon while in jail. When he got out he continued to feast on its words. Eventually he was baptized. I still have the baptismal program I created for it.

Kneeling across the alter from Lavenita, he had tears flowing down his cheeks. The same occurred when his children were brought in to be sealed. This really was a spiritual setting. The sealer shared some insight for them to understand how important this moment was. He explained how Adam and Eve built an alter after being removed from the garden. They didn't know why except that they were commanded to and they were obeying. Their faith and humility were strong enough that an angel visited them and taught them the purpose of the commandment they were given. He told them that the alter and sacrifices represented the Savior who would come and make it possible for them to return back into the presence of the father again. The sealer taught Seonne and Lavenita that as they joined hands across the alter they were now including the Savior in their marriage covenant. That making covenants with Christ brings power and blessings to our marriage and to our lives.