Free For Time and Eternity by Allison Pittman Page B

felt the ground beneath me disappear as he picked me up, and it swirled beneath me as he danced us around.
    “I’ll never forget this day,” I said when the earth was once again firm beneath me.
    “You don’t have to. Come with me, Camilla, and every day can be just like this.”
    The very thought of it was dizzying, and I could hardly believe he was serious. I laughed and told him so. “I’m only fifteen years old. My parents would never allow—”
    “Fifteen? Only fifteen? How old was David when he slew Goliath? How old was Jesus when he instructed the rabbis in the Temple?” Nathan had dropped his grip on my arms and now strode about the forest floor, his tone an unsettling mixture of imploring and force. “Who’s to say you can’t begin your life the moment it changes? Do you know how old Joseph Smith was when he had his first visit from Heavenly Father?”
    I shook my head, backing away.
    “Fourteen. All alone in the woods, asking God, ‘Which church should I join?’ And God could have said, ‘You’re fourteen years old. Go to the church of your parents.’ But no. He told Joseph to begin his own church. He put new prophecy into the mouth of a fourteen-year-old boy. Do you know why?”
    I didn’t, of course, but suddenly I longed to. I’d been sitting on one wooden bench every Sunday of my life, had read the entire Bible through, and had never until this moment felt such a stirring at the mention of the voice of God. Nathan must have sensed my need because he drew near to me again, his face mere inches away.
    “God understands the power of youth. He didn’t allow his own Son to grow old. And the church? Look at it—nothing but dry, dusty old men who have forgotten the passion of doing the Lord’s work. Come to think of it, I was just fourteen myself . . .” Nathan’s voice trailed off for a moment and he stepped away, looking about him as if accessing a long-ago scene. “Fourteen years old and out on the street— living on the street. Because the orphanage—run by the church —put me there when I turned twelve. And I heard him speak.”
    “The Lord?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine any other voice could bring about the rapturous expression on Nathan’s face. The entire forest around us had disappeared, leaving him back on that street corner.
    “No—well, yes. Both in the same. I’ll never forget. The prophet was standing on a crate, right in the middle of the street.” To demonstrate, Nathan leaped onto a stone, towering above me, and struck a dramatic pose, turning the trees into a crowd. “And the way he spoke—it was like nothing I’d ever heard before. There must have been a hundred people gathered in that street, and you know what he did? He looked right through that crowd and found me.” Nathan crouched down on the rock and reached his hand out. “And he said, ‘You, young man. How will you answer the call of Heavenly Father?’ And it was like he cared. No one had ever cared about me before. I followed him then, and I’ve never looked back. I brought my sister with me, and we were brought into a family. I want you to be a part of it too. Now, my love, is the time to change your life.”
    I took his outstretched hand and attempted my best coquettish smile. “My goodness, Mr. Fox. I don’t know if you’re trying to seduce me or convert me.”
    He smiled and in one smooth motion brought my fingers to his lips and leaped off the rock. “Yes, if I win your soul, I’ll have an eternal reward. And if you’re my wife, you’ll share that eternity with me. Can you imagine—” he drew me closer—“this moment, over and over, through endless time?”
    He kissed me again, and time did stop. Or maybe it stretched, wrapping itself around us. I couldn’t think in any manner close to clearly, and every time I tried to pull myself away—just enough to gather my thoughts—Nathan pulled me closer, his embrace more eager with each renewal, and I felt myself on the brink of