Strong spiritual promptings began for us in 1973, when Rudá, Marcus, and I received extraordinary patriarchal blessings—extraordinary because they promised blessings that, at the time, seemed impossible for our family to fulfill. The patriarch informed me that I would be privileged to live on the earth in the joy of an eternal covenant. Rudá received the same assurance. But how? How could we enjoy an eternal covenant when, as blacks, we could not go through the temple to be sealed?

Just as unusual was Marcus's blessing. In it, he was promised that he would preach the gospel to righteous families. Other parts of the blessing led us to believe he would serve a full-time mission. Again, how could this happen without the priesthood? We left the home of the patriarch confused, later deciding not to dwell too much on what had been said. We carefully tried not to let the promises in our blessings upset the tranquillity of our lives. Nevertheless, we couldn't ignore personal prophecy from God: we opened a mission savings account for Marcus Helvécio. Today, when I read my blessing, I shed tears at the significance and inspiration of the patriarch's words to my family that day.

Then, in 1975, spiritual experiences foreshadowing the priesthood revelation began occurring to us in earnest when President Spencer W. Kimball announced the construction of the São Paulo Temple. I was called to be a member of the public relations communications committee for the temple dedication and often attended meetings in São Paulo. One day, after one of these meetings, Rudá and I toured the construction site of the much anticipated temple, which we never expected to enter. As we walked on the uncompleted main floor, we both stopped at a certain place—a place which, we learned only later, was the very spot of the future celestial room. A powerful spirit touched our hearts as we stood there. We hugged each other and cried, not really understanding why.