Marylyn Gosling

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“Marylyn Gosling”

Marylyn lives in Independence and attends the Blue Springs Congregation. She has been an active member in the RLDS Church and now the Remnant Church since her baptism fifty-two years ago. Marylyn has been on the Women’s Council since January 2003 and has served as its leader for a little more than two years.

Life began for Marylyn in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and at the age of four she moved with her family to Independence. When she was twenty-one she moved to Chicago and then spent another nineteen years in Denver, CO. In April of 1992 she returned to the Kansas City, Missouri area and has been here since that time.

Marylyn has made a lifelong career with the airlines as a flight attendant. She has flown the skies for 39 years and at this time she primarily does international flights to Asia, Europe, and South America. She is based out of Denver so she flies to Denver in order to go to work. That’s a bit of a commute but something she’s done for many years so it’s simply routine for her.

Marylyn has been a valuable asset to the Women’s Council since she began in 2003. She has served in many capacities during the years and feels like the annual fall Women’s Retreat has been the highlight of her work with the council. She said, “Although much preparation goes into this yearly event, the spiritual rewards make it well worth the effort.”

In addition to her work on the council, Marylyn is active in her home congregation at Blue Springs. Something she has faithfully done over the years is to maintain all the flowers, shrubs, and landscaping around the church building. It is a labor of love and one that is certainly appreciated by the church family. In the past Marylyn taught Sunday school, served as the congregation’s secretary, overseen the friendly visiting program, and held the position of women’s leader. Currently, she’s a substitute teacher for the Sunday school program.

Marylyn bears a strong testimony of her faith and of joining the Remnant Church. In the following paragraphs is her testimony of making the decision to become involved in the newly formed Remnant Church rather than continue with the independent Restoration branches.

“Marylyn’s Testimony”

Like many others, I was not at all sure at first if I wanted to support the “Proclamation to the Faithful,” and the High Priest Council. When I first received a copy of the “Proclamation” in the mail, my reaction was – “Oh dear, something else to divide us even more.” I set it aside and hoped it might just go away. Of course, it did not go away and the time came that I knew I needed to make a decision. I started reading everything I could, both for and against. This proved to be more confusing than anything, as both sides seemed to be presenting strong cases. I did not want to make a decision about this on my own without guidance from the Lord as this was much too important. It required serious prayer, fasting, and study.

The Council of High Priests had planned four Sunday afternoon prayer and testimony services at the Blue Springs Branch for the purpose of preparing for the upcoming General Conference in April. I was able to attend three of these services. There was a wonderful spirit present and I was glad I had attended. I also felt an uplifting spirit as I read the “Hastening Times.” (The publication of the Council of High Priests)

By this time, I was leaning strongly in favor of the “Proclamation” and the actions being taken by the Council of High Priests. Still, I was not one-hundred percent sure, and felt it was important to be one-hundred percent sure.

I decided to attend both the General Conference and some of the Elders’ Conference, (the leadership body of many the independent branches). Because of my work schedule, the first I was able to attend of the Elders’ conference was Thursday evening. Before the preaching service was the usual song service. Because it was April 6^th, we sang all the old favorites. These hymns never fail to flood me with emotion. We even sang “Battle Hymn of the Republic” which brings tears to my eyes every time. That evening I felt nothing; a strange numbness came over me, and even though we heard a very good sermon, I left feeling as if I didn’t belong there. I decided it was probably my fault; that perhaps I had come with the wrong spirit. I feared I would bring that same wrong spirit to the General Conference on Saturday and that I wouldn’t feel any differently there. But almost from the moment I walked in the door Saturday morning, I felt a wonderful, sweet spirit. As the conference progressed, that wonderful spirit just kept getting stronger. By noon on Sunday, when it was over, I didn’t want to leave. There was such a tremendous spirit of joy, love, and unity there that I felt we had been given just a little taste of what Zion would be. I had been crying tears of joy for most of the conference and was on a spiritual high that lasted for days. At home Sunday evening, it was impressed on me strongly that I needed to bear my testimony Wednesday night at prayer service. Getting up at prayer service is extremely difficult for me, so I wasn’t too disappointed when I realized I would be out of town Wednesday evening. I’m a flight attendant for a major airline and I was leaving the next morning and would not be home until around midnight on Wednesday. Almost immediately, it was impressed on me to pray about it. I’m embarrassed to say my prayer went something like this, “Okay Lord, if you want me to bear my testimony, I guess You are going to have to get me home early on Wednesday, and if You do, I promise I’ll give my testimony, no matter how hard it is for me.”

Monday morning, I flew back to Denver, which is where I’m domiciled. (I live in Independence.) I worked the first segment of my trip, which was Denver to Chicago. As the passengers were deplaning, a crew scheduler called me on the loading bridge. She said to me, “We don’t know how this happened, but all your flights for the remainder of your trip have been double covered. (Meaning there were too many flight attendants working.) Since you’re senior, we’re going to give you an entirely different trip and you’re going to get to go home early on Wednesday.” I wasn’t the least bit surprised. They didn’t know how this happened, but I did. When I had prayed Sunday evening, I was given the assurance immediately that I would be at prayer meeting Wednesday night.

The General Conference of April 8-9 of that year was testimony enough for me, but for whatever reason, I was given this added testimony. I bore my testimony Wednesday evening, and although I was a little nervous, I was filled with joy to be able to do so. I cannot deny this testimony, as I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord is moving to restore His church once again in these latter days.