We hope you all had a WONDERFUL Christmas filled with joy, love and happiness.
Although we could not be with our family we miss dearly, we had the blessing of gathering with some sweet Missionaries, who also were not with their families and it felt like family in Indiana for a few hours❤️ Grateful and Thankful.
This past week we lost a great disciple of Jesus Christ President Jeffery R Holland who passed away at the age of 85. For some you might have never heard of him. He was a beloved apostle of the Lord who taught by word, deed and genuine love.
He was a dear friend of our Mission President, President Boyd Matheson and for the last few days we have had the blessing of hearing President Matheson reflect on and share some of the tender stories and texts exchanges between he and President Holland.
We had the blessing of meeting with Elder Holland at the time when our daughter Nichole worked at the Church offices. Scott had told Nichole Elder Holland was his favorite apostle. She took the opportunity to line up a meeting with him to surprise her dad. He came literally running in his office because he was a few minutes late and apologized to us. For the next 20 minutes, we have a wonderful conversation as he genuinely wanted to know about us and thanked us for coming.
When someone we love and admire passes from this life into the next, it is natural too grieve their loss. We feel the separation and long for the connection again but their words live on…
“Look to God and Live”- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
“Life in every era has had its troubles…We know that some of the world’s most painful suffering is done in silence, in the sorrow of a lonely life. But some of it has more violent expression. Millions around the world are, as one observer put it, “angry, armed and dangerous.”
There is an increasing feeling that time is out of joint, that no one seems wise enough or strong enough to set it right…If I may be so bold this morning, may I suggest “direction for deliverance”? In words of one syllable, we need to turn to God. We need to reaffirm our faith, and we need to reassert our hope. Where necessary we need to repent, and certainly we need to pray…
My testimony today is of the angels and ministers of grace who will always defend us if, as the prophet Alma commanded us, we “take care of … sacred things,” we “look to God and live”
Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
“Keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever…. With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed…”
Now to a more personal note. Knowing family was gathering at Nate and Alicia’s home this Christmas brought an unexpected wave of grief Christmas morning to me as I missed our oldest son Nate who passed away in 2019.
He would have been in his element entertaining family, overjoyed to have his siblings there. Laughing, showing them the newest tech gadget he had found. Family was his focus.
While struggling with mother’s grief a message came to mind he wrote in his journal in 1999 at the age of 19 while far away in Bolivia serving a full time mission.
“…I am having the time of my life Mom. It is tough to not be able to give you a hug because sometimes I need one, but when I feel like I need a hug from you, I just get down on my knees, and Heavenly Father gives me a proxy hug from you…”
Now it is our turn to kneel down and seek that proxy hug of a loving Heavenly Father from our son.
Lessons live on❣️Thanks son for the reminder. God be with you till we meet again 💕 What a JOYOUS reunion that will be.
❣️Skittles❣️ Elder and Sister Davis