Grandma's viewing was Monday night in Blackfoot and her funeral was on Tuesday in Thomas. It was so nice to see all the family and to spend time remembering Grandma. She really left a legacy and her children and grandchildren know that she loves them. It was fun to see pictures of Grandma and Grandpa together and to see all of her friends from her old ward. She was important to a lot of people. We are sad that she has left us, but we are so happy for her and for her reunion with Grandpa and with Jessica, my sister and with her parents and all her siblings who have passed on before her. Shawn gave the opening prayer (he did a wonderful job), Jerilyn, Cam, and Angie gave her life sketch, all the kids and grandkids sang Families Can be Together Forever; Melanie, Casey, Chelsey, Whitney, and I sang "Let Us All Speak Kind Words to Each Other" and "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good", and Josiah spoke. It was a great meeting and Grandma was proud and pleased, I am sure. :)
Grandma had said that she was ready to go long ago, especially when she started forgetting things and not being able to be alone anymore. She was frustrated that her body wasn't working right anymore, and that she was still here. She didn't ever want anybody to have to take care of her... She was the one who took care of everyone else. I am sure that she didn't understand why she was still here when she missed Grandpa so much and felt that she had done all that she was meant to do on earth still. But as I read my scriptures this week, I remembered Moroni. He felt the same thing... That he had accomplished his duties and fulfilled his purposes on the earth and that there was no more that he could do. For the Nephites were all extinct and had all died from war because of their evil and sin and the Lamenites would not listen to his messages - they would kill him if they found him. He was all alone. But Moroni said goodbye three or four different times in the Book of Mormon. After recording the account of the Jadeites, he was ready to die, but Moroni recorded some of the most powerful chapters of the Book of Mormon after he thought he was finished. The lessons taught at the end of the Book of Mormon were of utmost importance. I wonder if the lessons that we needed to learn from Grandma were lessons that we needed to learn while we served her and waited for death with her. I learned that Heavenly Father is in charge and that a few years in Heaven's time is but a blink of an eye. I learned that we must be patient in our afflictions and keep our eyes and hearts focused on our Savior because He loves us and knows better what we need than we do.
Grandma's legacy continued with Cutler's baptism on Saturday. He was so excited to get baptized and our Stake baptism was on his birthday (at the same time of Sierra's cheer competition), so we decided to "borrow" my parent's stake and have him baptized in the Tyhee Stake building so he didn't have to wait clear till March. It was a wonderful meeting and Cutler was awesome! Sierra, Bryson, Jenkia, and Cutler sang The Beautiful Gift of Jesus. Melanie and Russel gave a talk about the atonement and baptism. Cutler was baptized by Shawn, and then Griffin gave a talk about the Holy Ghost. Cutler was blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost by his dad too. It was a beautiful blessing. Shawn blessed him to be a leader and lead others to the Savior, and also a follower of Jesus Christ. He blessed him to remember the love of his family and of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He blessed him also to learn to recognize and to listed to the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. After the meeting, we gathered for lunch of meatball subs and veggies and chips and visited for a little while, and then we were off. :) It was perfect.
Casey blessed her new baby, Blake on Sunday, so we drove back to Pocatello for that Sunday morning. It was fun, again, to see familiar faces in the ward, and to spend more time with the family. Blake is adorable and Casey and Luke are such cute parents!
I am grateful to be a member of a true church, the only true church on the earth today that uses and honors the Priesthood for special ordinances that bring us close together as a family. I love that we gather together to honor special events and share special times together. I feel that our families time together is short and that our lives go by so quickly! It seems that my memories consist of fleeting moments of the most special, sacred occasions, and I know that these are the important reasons we are here.
No comments:
Post a Comment