On July 9, 2008 – just one year ago -- my dear mother passed away in my hometown of Klamath Falls, Oregon, over 2,800 miles from the mission home in Media, Pennsylvania. All who have lost a parent or close loved one know of the emotions, memories and heavenly hopes that such a passing presents. This first anniversary reminds me that I am one year closer to seeing her again.
On June 23, 2009, Robb Adkins, the 48 year old father of Sister Ashley Adkins, one of our fulltime missionaries, died as he was riding his motorcycle in Henrieville, Utah. A car cut in front of him and he was unable to stop. Henrieville is a very small town in southern Utah with a population of about 200. It feels even smaller now. Sister Adkins went home for the funeral and has returned to Philadelphia to complete her mission.
On June 25, 2009 our nephew Michael took his life. He was just 22 and was a wonderful, loving young man. Anxiety and emotional pressures of a kind I have never experienced enveloped his mind for many years. He loved his family, but desired to go home to his Father in Heaven. Although this loss is too great for words, his family has great hope because of Jesus Christ’s atonement.
On July 10, 2009 a friend named Sitaram Rao died of a heart attack in Hyderabad, India. He was 52. I first met Sitaram in January 2004 at an early morning breakfast meeting in a Hyderabad hotel. Sitaram was an exceptionally gifted man who helped lead and guide many NGOs in India. His impact on the lives of millions of poor people will become legendary. He took no credit for his success and sought nothing in return.If this life on earth is “all there is” then I would be very depressed. The sense of loss is amplified when we love those who are now gone. The pain can overwhelm the pleasure. We are taught in the scriptures that “God is love”. What does this mean? One interpretation is that this intense emotion is a gift given to mankind, from God, so that we can create relationships that matter and have eternal potential.
I know that there is life beyond the grave -- that these painful passings will be replaced, in God’s time, with resplendent reunions. I know that families can be forever. And the love that seems lost, is in fact being preserved on both sides of the veil and will have no end. What happiness and hope this gives me. I am not depressed -- I am eternally optimistic.
I believe that the spirits, or souls, of these four good people are now in heaven. They are learning more about God’s eternal plan of happiness. They are having all the missing pieces filled in. They know, as do I, that eventually their spirits will be reunited with their resurrected bodies. And they will continue to thrive through the eternities, for "God is love".
Our ultimate peace and happiness comes when we align our thoughts, actions and lives around the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ. We choose to believe that His way is the only way. And we re-focus our priorities on our most important relationships, knowing that time is the ultimate gift and the scarcest resource.
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