It's been a very emotional couple of days. Jennie's funeral yesterday was a mixture of joy and sorrow. I didn't think I would cry. In fact I was fairly sure I wouldn't cry. Jennie had a long and fulfilled live, faithful to her beliefs and to her Saviour, devoted to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and loved by everyone who knew her. Many times she had spoken of how she missed Arthur and looked forward to being re-united with him one day.
When she moved away to live with Arthur Jnr it was a wrench. She was a tiny little woman but she seemed to leave a huge hole in the Ward when she left. Yet she was always there at the end of a telephone line or an email in my in box. In fact I'd had an email from her only days ago where she talked about watching President Hinckley's funeral and bearing her testimony of Thomas S. Monson as our new President. I don't want to remove her name from my address book yet but I know I can never email her again.
The funeral was lovely with a beautiful musical item by members of her family and a lovely poem.
Miss Me -- But Let Me Go
When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.
Why cry for a soul set free?
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little--but not too long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love that we once shared,
Miss me--but let me go.
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love that we once shared,
Miss me--but let me go.
For this is a journey that we all must take
And each must go alone.
It's all a part of the Master's plan,
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick of heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.
Miss Me--But Let me Go!
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.
Miss Me--But Let me Go!
How beautiful, and how like Jennie that sounds. Arthur Jnr gave a lovely talk,very personal and very moving, describing how she slipped gently from this life to the next. There were tears for the mother he loves and will obviously miss but strength and assurance too in knowing where she has gone and that she will have been met there by his father who went before. He said she asked to be helped to sit up. He offered to give her a blessing but she shook her head and waved her finger to refuse - she knew the time had come to leave and nothing should be done to keep her here. Then quietly and peacefuly she slipped away.
Bro Walsh gave a talk. He told how Jennie had previously told him that she wanted him to speak at her funeral and had even asked him if he'd prepared what he was going to say! How like Jennie. How practical to want to sort things out in advance. He spoke of how he first met her only a few years ago but how they both knew that they had met before in the Pre-existence and how they knew they woukd find each other one earth and recognise that.
I thought about Peter and wondered if he would have met Jennie yet 'up there' - then I found myself, as I often do, shedding a tear because I still miss him and asking why Jennie and Arthur had so many years together and Peter and I had so few by comparison.
Then I felt Peter asking if I'd been listening to Bernard - Bro Walsh - about him meeting Jennie before they came to earth. He told me that we had met Geoff before, that he had known he would not be born into a church family and that Peter had known that we would find the Gospel. He had promised Geoff that we would find him and bring him home. He told me he had to leave so that that could happen. In her Patriarchal blessing Myrra is told that she is to be an example to Geoff. Peter has left us with that responsibility and it is up to us to fulfill it for him, that is why he had to leave when he did.
He'd had the same vision on two previous occasions of somewhere he would go when he left this life. There was a big building. He said it reminded him of the 'great and spacious building' of Lehi's vision. He was preaching the gospel to the people who were in different rooms in this building but he'd twice been told 'not yet' and to return here. Then finally it was the right time and he willingly went even though he did not want to leave us. He'd hoped to see the girls grow up and get married. We'd hoped to serve a mission together as a retired couple. That was not to be. We watched a home movie where Peter said to Emma that he would show the film to her boyfriend when she was 21. But he isn't here to do that. He thought he would be. He didn't expect to have to go so soon.
After we had watched that home movie in our family home evening I was again saddened that he didn't get to see his girls grow up, but again he assured me that he had to leave so that we could fulfill those promises that we had made in the pre-existence, but not just to Geoff. In the building there are people locked inside rooms that they can only unlock from the inside but they have no keys. Here in this life we have the keys they need by performing baptisms on their behalf - then the key can be passed to them and they can accept it and unlock the door from the inside and come out of their prison and join Lehi and his family on the path holding onto the iron rod. Some of the people inside some of those rooms are Geoff's family. They are waiting. Peter has done all he can do on his side by teaching them and now they are waiting for their keys. How else would they get those keys if we didn't know about them? He is keeping his side of the promise and here it is up to us to strive to keep ours.
I was so blessed to find Peter and to have those precious years with him here. He was a wonderful missionary and I'm sure he's still doing a great job. I need to constantly pray for strength to do my part.
Whilst at Jennie's funeral we heard that Sandra had passed away. Her funeral will be on Friday. So many in such a short time. Brian and the boys will be devastated but Sandra, bless her, will be at peace from all the suffering she has endured these long months in fighting that cancer and especially the chemo. She too never lost her faith and right to the end was wanting to be able to come to church again. She missed her calling in nursery. She will be a wonderful person in the eternities and I imagine there will be many who won't recognise her because they never saw her for who she really was when she was here.
Bro Walsh gave a talk. He told how Jennie had previously told him that she wanted him to speak at her funeral and had even asked him if he'd prepared what he was going to say! How like Jennie. How practical to want to sort things out in advance. He spoke of how he first met her only a few years ago but how they both knew that they had met before in the Pre-existence and how they knew they woukd find each other one earth and recognise that.
I thought about Peter and wondered if he would have met Jennie yet 'up there' - then I found myself, as I often do, shedding a tear because I still miss him and asking why Jennie and Arthur had so many years together and Peter and I had so few by comparison.
Then I felt Peter asking if I'd been listening to Bernard - Bro Walsh - about him meeting Jennie before they came to earth. He told me that we had met Geoff before, that he had known he would not be born into a church family and that Peter had known that we would find the Gospel. He had promised Geoff that we would find him and bring him home. He told me he had to leave so that that could happen. In her Patriarchal blessing Myrra is told that she is to be an example to Geoff. Peter has left us with that responsibility and it is up to us to fulfill it for him, that is why he had to leave when he did.
He'd had the same vision on two previous occasions of somewhere he would go when he left this life. There was a big building. He said it reminded him of the 'great and spacious building' of Lehi's vision. He was preaching the gospel to the people who were in different rooms in this building but he'd twice been told 'not yet' and to return here. Then finally it was the right time and he willingly went even though he did not want to leave us. He'd hoped to see the girls grow up and get married. We'd hoped to serve a mission together as a retired couple. That was not to be. We watched a home movie where Peter said to Emma that he would show the film to her boyfriend when she was 21. But he isn't here to do that. He thought he would be. He didn't expect to have to go so soon.
After we had watched that home movie in our family home evening I was again saddened that he didn't get to see his girls grow up, but again he assured me that he had to leave so that we could fulfill those promises that we had made in the pre-existence, but not just to Geoff. In the building there are people locked inside rooms that they can only unlock from the inside but they have no keys. Here in this life we have the keys they need by performing baptisms on their behalf - then the key can be passed to them and they can accept it and unlock the door from the inside and come out of their prison and join Lehi and his family on the path holding onto the iron rod. Some of the people inside some of those rooms are Geoff's family. They are waiting. Peter has done all he can do on his side by teaching them and now they are waiting for their keys. How else would they get those keys if we didn't know about them? He is keeping his side of the promise and here it is up to us to strive to keep ours.
I was so blessed to find Peter and to have those precious years with him here. He was a wonderful missionary and I'm sure he's still doing a great job. I need to constantly pray for strength to do my part.
Whilst at Jennie's funeral we heard that Sandra had passed away. Her funeral will be on Friday. So many in such a short time. Brian and the boys will be devastated but Sandra, bless her, will be at peace from all the suffering she has endured these long months in fighting that cancer and especially the chemo. She too never lost her faith and right to the end was wanting to be able to come to church again. She missed her calling in nursery. She will be a wonderful person in the eternities and I imagine there will be many who won't recognise her because they never saw her for who she really was when she was here.
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