A Birthday Gift Never To Be Forgotten

When Reyda Remasch Nacionales from Palau was ten years old, missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to her home. Her mother was the first one converted to the gospel.  Reyda joined the Church three years later at the age of thirteen along with her siblings.  She said that she didn’t think she really understood the gospel at that time.  She remained active in the Church for two years and then stopped going to Church.  For about five years, she remained inactive in the Church.  At this time, she was working for a tour and diving company in Palau.  It was there that she felt like she had found her true identity and returned to full activity in the Church. 

She said: “It was because of the beauty of my island. One day I took a customer out in the kayaks to what we call the ‘Kingfisher Cave’.  I used to tell my customers that this was a place that they could relax and meditate because you can hear all different kinds of birds singing. As they paddled around, the water was clear, and they could see the colorful coral below.  As I was sitting there, I started to cry and felt happy and real joy. I jumped up and thanked Heavenly Father for giving me a beautiful place to live. I thanked him for the blessing of being able to bring people to see my beautiful island and be able to share with them all this beauty.  My mind started to think about the gospel again.”  She said as she was basking in these feelings, she felt like Heavenly Father was communicating with her and saying: “Reyda, you’ve been away from the gospel for so long.  This is the time for you to come back.”  This feeling of joy was so powerful and wonderful that she didn’t want it to end.  She sat there and cried for another thirty minutes allowing her customers more time to enjoy the beauty and explore. 

When she returned home, she began reading the scriptures again.  She said she had a conversation with Heavenly Father and prayed: “Father, if this is something that you really want me to do, just show me and I will do what you want me to do. I had never experienced this kind of feeling before.” At this time, Reyda had a part time job working at the Japan Embassy on Palau with security.  Brother John Ngiraked was her ‘home teacher’. He worked for the government and came in to get something done with his Visa. He saw her and they both said ‘hi’ to each other and talked about what was going on her life.  There wasn’t anything said about church.  She remembers that he said one thing that stuck with her: “Hey, we’ve missed you at  ‘the place’.  You can come and visit us at ‘the place’.”  Reyda said: “Those words ‘the place’ really stuck with me.  I knew when he kept saying ‘the place’ what he meant.  I had a feeling that I needed to go back to Church again. The following Sunday I went to church and John was there to greet me. He was so happy to see me back in church.  After this, I returned to the Church every Sunday and became active again.”

 Several Sundays later, Brother Ngiraked told her that she ought to think about serving a mission.  She didn’t think that a mission was for her.  But once again, his words kept coming back to her and she couldn’t get the thought of a mission out of her mind.  She challenged herself to get up at 5:00 o’clock in the morning to read the Book of Mormon before she went to work at 7:00 am.  She was told that it would help her, so she said: “I will take a chance on it.”  At first, she didn’t understand a word of it and couldn’t see how it would help her in the long run. She kept trying and everyday she would put the Book of Mormon under her pillow so she wouldn’t forget to read.  Reyda started reading wherever the book opened up to and would read one verse a day.   The thought of serving a mission kept coming back to her mind.  She wanted to understand more about the gospel and kept reading and studying about the restoration of the gospel. She learned more about Joseph Smith and his role in the restoration. She thought that if she was going to go a mission, she had to be able to bear her testimony of the gospel.  So, at the age of eighteen years old, Reyda was finally converted to the gospel.  She knew that Heavenly Father knew of her desire to have a strong testimony.  She said: “I knew that He had a plan for me.  I am the type of person that when I know it is the right thing, I must do it. I know that if it’s something that the Lord wants me to do, I will do it. I learned for myself that this Church is true, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet.  I asked the Lord if He wanted me to go on a mission.  I had this overwhelming feeling that I had to go and serve.”  Reyda put her mission papers in and was called to the Micronesia Guam Mission.”

Reyda was able to come to the Yigo Guam Temple in May 2024 and escort her parents to the temple as first-time patrons. After her parents received their own endowments, they were able to be sealed together for eternity.  Reyda was also given the gift of being able to be sealed to her parents.  The day she was sealed was her birthday!  It was the best birthday gift she could ever receive and a day that she’ll never forget.

Reyda’s husband, Joel, was happy to be in the temple with his wife and her parents on this special occasion.  He and Reyda were ordained as temple ordinance workers.  He said: “It has been an honor to serve the Lord.  I look forward to returning to the temple again.” 

 Reyda’s mother, Hana Rengiil, shared her experience of their special sealing day by saying: “I found out about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through the missionaries.  They came and taught me about the gospel.  They invited me to come to Church.  The missionaries showed me the Book of Mormon and we read it together.  They told me to ask God if this Book is true.  They said that I would get an answer from the Holy Ghost. I came to know that the Book of Mormon was true and started to go to Church every Sunday. I investigated the Church for several years before I was baptized in 1982.” Hana said it took her awhile before she really felt like she received an answer that this Church is true.  She said that when her answer finally came, she was baptized right away!  Describing her feelings after getting baptized, she said: “When I got baptized, I felt the power of the Holy Ghost.  I feel closer to our Heavenly Father and felt loved by Him. I also love Him.  I believe that the Book of Mormon is very true and the word of God.”  Her children were baptized later and eventually, her husband was also baptized.  Her husband was baptized while their daughter, Reyda, was on her mission in Guam.  She says that she stays in the Church because she knows it is the true Church.  She said: “I like being a member of this Church.  I want my other family members to follow me in this Church.  Today we went to the temple for the first time.  I was so excited to be in the temple.  It was wonderful and made me feel so happy.  I feel blessed to be able to come to the temple.  It means a lot to be able to be sealed to our daughter and do it her birthday!”  She considers their temple sealing to be a blessing for their family.”