The Unexpected Surprises of Life

At the end of last week we had a young woman die in our ward. She was just 30 and as of now they are not sure what caused her death. She was disabled and so devoted to the church. Kelly had an illness in her childhood that left her functioning just slightly below normal mentally but it was enough to make her seems somewhat childlike. Kelly was often in need of rides which we gave her and she would come to our house on special holidays when she had no where to go. She was in Temple Pageant with our Laura and would always ask about her and Spencer who was also in pageant with Laura. We had a nice connection with her and it seems so unreal that she is gone now.

Kelly was the only member of the church in her family and she was also an only child. She always wanted her parents to get baptized. That is how it is when you have found something so wonderful. You just want to share it with the people you love so much. She had a great desire to have her parents enjoy the blessings of being members of the church. Yesterday her parents came to church as they had come down from Oregon to make arrangements.

It was high council Sunday and one of the speakers, Jeff Adams, realized this may be the only opportunity her parents had to hear the message of the gospel.
So he just scraped his prepared talk and went by the spirit. He was absolutely amazing~He gave this spontaneous message that touched everyone's hearts including theirs. He just led us through a number of scriptures that made everything so simple and easy to understand~it was really neat. It made me wonder if given no advanced notice, could we all do something like that? I know that my testimony would be as strong but would I be able to just site scriptures after scripture and lace them through my talk in such a way to inspire others in that way?

This is one thing I truly love about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has so many layers of understanding and we are never done learning. It just never gets old or boring but is always so alive. The interesting thing is that no matter how much there is to learn, God only requires a childlike faith in Jesus Christ like Kelly's. It is tailor made for every individual and that is Grace at its best. And I really love how it is always so applicable and practical as we use the things we have learned each week to make life better and more enjoyable and meaningful. No wonder Kelly wanted her parents to have it too. Who wouldn't?

We will miss Kelly, that is for sure! But how wonderful it is to know we will see her again one day. As we celebrate Easter it is something to think about and be thankful for everyday~ not just on the appointed holiday.