It's hard to believe that Sharon passed away one month ago today. Although she is gone, as Shalaine said we know that she is with us and helping us to move forward with our lives. We all continue to be amazed at the love and support that we are getting from all of you. I am reminded of the quote that Greg put on the white board at the City of Hope when we went for the bone marrow transplant.
"In the depths of winter I finally learned that within me there lay an invincable summer." (Albert Dumas) Every day I understand this more as "WE MOVE FORWARD WITH FAITH."
Below is Jeff's talk from Sharons Funeral. It is a perfect statement of our understanding and belief as a family. I hope you enjoy it.
HOPE
Throughout history man has voiced the questions, “Where did I come from?” “Why am I here?” and “Where am I going?” Ever since I can remember I have known the answers to these questions. My mother taught them to me. As I have grown I have come to know that what she taught me is true. I now know these things, independent of any other person.
The answers to these questions are firmly rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Prophets have called it the plan of salvation and “the great plan of happiness”. Through inspiration we can understand this plan of eternity and use it to guide our path in mortality.
The gospel teaches us that we are the spirit children of heavenly parents. Before our mortal birth we had “a pre-existent, spiritual personality, as the sons and daughters of the Eternal Father”. We were placed here on earth to progress toward our destiny of eternal life. These truths give us a unique perspective and different values to guide our decisions from those who doubt the existence of God and believe that life is the result of random processes.
Our understanding of life begins with a council in heaven. There the spirit children of God were taught his eternal plan for their destiny. We had progressed as far as we could without a physical body and an experience in mortality. To realize a fullness of joy, we had to prove our willingness to keep the commandments of God in a circumstance where we had no memory of what preceded our mortal birth.
In the course of mortality, we would become subject to death, and we would be soiled by sin. To reclaim us from death and sin, our Heavenly Father’s plan provided us a Savior, whose atonement would redeem all from death and pay the price necessary for all to be cleansed from sin on the conditions he prescribed.
Satan had his own plan. He proposed to save all the spirit children of God, assuring that result by removing their power to choose and thus eliminating the possibility of sin. When Satan’s plan was rejected, he and the spirits who followed him opposed the Father’s plan and were cast out.
All mortals who have been born on this earth chose the Father’s plan and fought for it. Many of us also made covenants with the Father concerning what we would do in mortality. In ways that have not been revealed, our actions in the spirit world influence us in mortality.
Although Satan and his followers have lost their opportunity to have a physical body, they are permitted to use their spirit powers to try to frustrate God’s plan. This provides the opposition necessary to test how mortals will use their freedom to choose. Satan’s most strenuous opposition is directed at whatever is most important to the Father’s plan. Satan seeks to discredit the Savior and divine authority, to nullify the effects of the Atonement, to counterfeit revelation, to lead people away from the truth and to contradict individual accountability. He desires all to be “miserable like unto himself”. He would have us loose our faith in our Fathers plan and destroy our hope in Jesus Christ, the Savior of all Mankind.
The loss of my mother has been the most painful experience in my life. While there have been trying and tragic events in my past this has pained my soul deeply.
Since the time my mother was diagnosed with leukemia last November it has been a roller coaster ride of emotions for us as a family. While we were experiencing the highs and lows of this journey there was always hope. I always hoped for something better, a brighter day, for my mom. It was hope that pushed us forward, caused us to take action and move forward with faith.
Alma describes this perfectly when he exclaimed, “And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
The word hope is sometimes misunderstood. In our everyday language, the word often has a hint of uncertainty. For example, we may say that we hope for a change in the weather or a visit from a friend. In the language of the gospel, however, the word hope is sure, unwavering, and active. The prophet Moroni taught, "Whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men…" (Ether 12:4).
As I was with my mother this past Sunday afternoon and witnessed her passing from this life into the next, it seemed to me that all hope was lost. The despair was overwhelming. My wife, Jennifer, and I have spoken in quiet times since about this.
As the minutes have inched past since Sunday afternoon, I have reached for hope and have realized that it has never left me. My hope and faith is the “anchor to my soul.”
Our ultimate hope must be anchored to the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, “If you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.”
An understanding of that objective should help us approach the future with faith instead of fear, with a more excellent hope in place of despair.
Samuel Smiles wrote: “ ‘Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.’ … Hope sweetens the memory of experiences well loved. It tempers our troubles to our growth and our strength. It befriends us in dark hours, excites us in bright ones. It lends promise to the future and purpose to the past. It turns discouragement to determination.”
A modern day apostle, listed among my mother’s favorites, if not the favorite, was Neal A. Maxwell. She loved the way he spoke and enjoyed the books he wrote. It seemed as if after every general conference she would say to me, “did you hear Elder Maxwell’s talk, wasn’t it great…I can hardly wait to read and study it when it is published, so hopefully I can understand it.”
Elder Maxwell is not only related to my mother thru her mothers line but he also endured a battle with leukemia, which took his life in 2004.
In closing, I quote Elder Maxwell on the plan of salvation…the great plan of happiness:
“Life turns out, however, to be just what one would expect of a deliberately constructed proving and tutoring experience which features opportunities, choices, and deprivations. Furthermore, there is no way around—the only way to go is through!
And what a “through” it is!
Hence, brothers and sisters, for the faithful, our finest hours are sometimes during or just following our darkest hours.
It is an incredible irony, therefore, that some complainingly attempt to use the very tutoring process of the Lord against Him. Or resent the reality that we are to walk by faith during this mortal experience.
Furthermore, since this life is such a brief experience, there must be regular exit routes. Some easy. Some hard. Some sudden. Others lingering. Therefore, we cannot presume, even by faith, to block all these exits, all the time, and for all people. Nor, if possessed of full, eternal perspective, would we desire so to do.
Since certain recollections are withheld, we do not now see the end from the beginning. But God does. Meanwhile, we are in what might be called “the murky middle.” Therein, however, we can still truly know that God loves us, individually and perfectly, even though we cannot always explain the meaning of all things happening to us or around us. (See 1 Ne. 11:17.) With an understanding of God’s plan of salvation, we know that the rejoicing, the striving, the suffering, the tutoring, and the enduring experiences of life all play their part in an intelligible process of helping us, if we will, to become, as the Savior beckoningly invited, “even as I am.” (3 Ne. 27:27.) Hence, in submitting knowingly and meekly to this plan, we cannot say to the Lord that we are willing to surrender but only on our terms. There are no conditions in unconditional surrender! The plan always points the way, but does not always smooth the way…
And why not? It is God’s plan—not ours! And, given the unimpressive outcomes of man’s plans to solve the world’s problems, aren’t we glad! Furthermore, of all the things about which we might converse, as Jacob wrote, “Why not speak of the atonement of Christ?” (Jacob 4:12.) Why not, brothers and sisters? This event arches over all of human history, as a Redeeming God and Savior Son pressed onward with the great plan of happiness. Yes, in the plan, God would have us be happy…”
I testify that the things I have spoken of today are true. I also testify that the priesthood and all priesthood keys, have been restored, to the earth, in this the last dispensation of the fullness of times; namely the sealing keys that were restored to the prophet Joseph Smith by Elijah in the Kirtland Temple. These same sealing keys have sealed and bound us together as a family for eternity. I am forever grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for blessing his children by restoring the priesthood to the earth, enabling families to be together forever, never to be divided. This is my hope.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
