About a year ago at this time, I received a call at about 9:30pm at night from President Reynolds informing me that my grandmother had passed away.
 |
| G'pa's interment - full military honors |
At 9:41pm this last Friday night (November 3rd) , I received yet another call from President Reynolds. He informed me that my Grandpa Wright had passed away. I have no other words to describe how I felt than heartbroken. It was hard enough to lose my Grandma last year, though at least my family had informed me it might happen. The unexpected death of my Grandpa was very hard for me.
I remember seeing him just last April in my skype call home. He did his little smile every time someone said something funny, and he told me to keep working hard. In the call I made on October 11th last year after the passing of grandma he said, "we... love you. We appreciate the work you do. She... still... loves... you." I know that even though he may not be here right now that his love and legacy lives on.
President Reynolds tried to help me remember to think of the Plan of Happiness that I all-so-frequently teach. I've been scared to teach it the last few days because of my tender feelings, but we are going to share it with a family tonight. I am scared, but I know that my Heavenly Father is always helping me to stay strong through such times as these.
I am so grateful for the influence of my Grandpa in my life. If not for him, I would not probably have been able to play cello - he provided the funds for my lessons. And as you all know, just thinking of a cello brings tears to my eyes. It is such a huge part of my life. Without Grandpa I wouldn't have been able to come on a mission - I didn't have the funds at my disposal to do so, and I wouldn't have wanted to be such a burden on my family or the church. And my mission has 100% changed my life. Without my Grandpa, I never would have seen so many beautiful places in Oregon and Washington. I wouldn't have visited Alaska with my beautiful extended family. And without Grandpa and Grandma having raised my mother to be a faithful member of the church, I wouldn't have an eternal family. The influence of these two angels in my life is incredible. I only hope that I am working hard enough in my life, in my mission, on my testimony, that it will in some way pay back a small part of what they have done for me.
It reminds me of a primary song, "I have a family here on earth, they are so good to me. I want to share my life with them through all eternity. Families can be together forever, through Heavenly Father's plan. I always want to be with my own family, and the Lord has shown me how I can. The Lord has shown me how I can."
I am heartbroken and grieved at my Grandpapa's passing, but I look forward to getting to see my Grandpa and Grandma together one day in celestial courts on high. I love them, I cherish them, I am beyond grateful for all they have done for me. ❤️
 |
| Preparing the flag |
 |
| Taps |
Sometimes, everything seems to go downhill, or to not be looking up. One thing that Elder Sinclair said to us at Stake Conference on Sunday was, "I got an email from my daughter the other day who loves natural remedies. We call her a bit crunchy. Her scalp was apparently flaking so the Internet solutions told her to make a sugar and olive oil scrub. It sounded delightful to her, so she did it. Then she tried to figure out how to get the oil out. Apparently it is almost impossible to get olive oil out of one's hair. One of the Internet suggestions was to use dry shampoo. So she used her normal baking powder dry shampoo. It didn't soak up enough, so she used an egg wash with cocoa powder to try to soak up more oil. After more tries with powdered baking ingredients, Nothing was working! So she thought about it and listed off everything she had used, 'sugar, oil, baking powder, eggs, cocoa.... dad,' she said, 'I figured it out! I made brownies in my hair!'" His point was to tell us that when everything goes crazily wrong sometimes we need to look outside the box (or brownie box jaja) and find the joy in life.
Some joyful moments for me were seeing all of my beloved Rego Park friends in Stake Conference. The Grandma of Leo, a boy who got baptized, saw me and burst into tears and thanked me for doing my little part in helping him towards the waters of baptism. I thought Leo was already pretty great, but she shared how much he has changed for the better since baptism! Sitting next to her was an investigator who began to cry as well for the story she was relating. It was a tender moment for all of us.
Also, a daughter of a beloved Rego family, let's call her Ariel (she's probably four or five), went into the aisle during Stake Conference for some reason and tried to go back to find her family but kept walking right past the aisle. I could see her, but to get past the six people on my left would have been very awkward. I watched her wander into the next aisle, confused and searching for her seres queridos (loved ones). A member from Rego Park saw her wandering and guided her back to her family. I saw the reunion as she saw her family, then burst into tears as her family consoled her. Her sister, mom, and dad were all hugging her. And I thought of the member who guided her back, and imagined her as the Good Shepherd. Always out searching for his lost sheep to bring them back to the fold. May we ever follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 |
| Exchanges are fun! |
Last joyful comment from a youth speaker in Stake Conference: "If the Book of Mormon had never been written, Joseph Smith probably never would have translated it." Probably not! ;)
I love you all and my heart goes out to my mourning family. May each of you feel of God's love in this difficult time.
Love,
Hermana Ally Voss
"But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ." Mosiah 16:8
No comments:
Post a Comment