This has been one of the hardest months of my life. I got a call from my mom late one night and I knew immediately that something was wrong. She never calls that late.
She broke down as she told me a dear elderly couple in our ward had been murdered. They were two of the sweetest, kindest people I know and it was a relative of theirs who did it. My mom was recovering from an injury and asked me to pass the news to my brother who is deployed at the moment. I was shaking all over and felt like I was in shock for a while, then furious. My brother was so upset and it felt terrible telling him such a thing, knowing there was no one there to comfort him other than a friendly pat on the back from a pal.
I have struggled a lot with anger for weeks and have never encountered this kind of grief before. I have brief periods of sadness, but then I become angry that I am sad because it was intentionally inflicted. There are enough tragedies in life that have no one to blame as it is. How dare anyone add to that! I just can’t comprehend wanting to commit such an act of evil.
I turned to Heavenly Father and the Spirit said to me, “No one can take their eternity.” That’s one thing I have learned. No matter what anyone ever does to you, they can’t take away your eternal happiness. These friends lived wonderful lives and I believe the most painful thing for them was to witness their posterity doing something so horrible that was sure to jeopardize his salvation. They had given him many chances and always held out hope that he could change. They had spent the day helping him after he just got out of prison and that’s what he chose.
I decided I have one thing to worry about in life and that is my standing with God and teaching my children the same. I just can’t give in to the fear of what could happen to the people I love. If I can live a righteous life, then my loved ones might have peace no matter how I go. The most heartbreaking thing to me in this situation is that this man threw away the life he was given. I imagine it must be a devastating thing for Heavenly Father, as well as his family.
Use search term Lorenzo Snow to view more for this week or for other weeks.The opening story in this lesson just grabbed my heart and soul. It is so simple and so sweet. Just in case you haven’t read it …