Peace be unto you in Arabic. Yes I can speak a little Arabic lol When I
come home I'll speak some for everyone. This is a normal greeting between
Muslim people. Well to be honest with everyone, I don’t really know what to
talk about. Nothing really happened this week. I just want to share a story from
my favorite talk from Niel L. Anderson that has been a strength to me my whole mission.
________________________________________________________
On June 12 of this year, I received an email telling me
that the bishop from a Utah ward, his wife, and two of their children had been
killed in an airplane accident. Bishop Mark Openshaw had been piloting the
plane as it left a small airfield, when it suddenly fell from the sky and
crashed to the earth. Bishop Openshaw, his wife, Amy, and their children Tanner
and Ellie were killed in the accident. Miraculously their five-year-old son,
Max, thrown out of the airplane in his airplane seat, escaped with only broken
bones.
I learned that their son Elder Porter Openshaw was serving
in the Marshall Islands Majuro Mission and that their 17-year-old son, Zane,
was on a school cultural exchange in Germany.
I called Elder Openshaw on Christmas Island. Although
heartbroken by the unexpected death of his mother, father, brother, and sister,
Elder Openshaw immediately turned his concern to his two younger brothers.
Ultimately it was Elder Openshaw and his brother Zane who
decided that others could help at home and that Porter should stay on his
mission. They knew it was what their parents would want.
As I spoke with Elder Openshaw, I felt his sadness but also
his unquenchable fire of faith. “I have the confidence,” he told me, “and I
know without a shadow of a doubt that I will see my family again. … Strength in
our trials is always found in … our Lord, Jesus Christ. … God’s omnipotent hand
has been so apparent in helping [me] and my brothers throughout [this] very
difficult challenge.”
I met Zane for the first time at the funeral. As I looked at
the four caskets before us in the chapel, I marveled at the faith of this
17-year-old as he addressed the congregation. “Today,” he said, “we have
gathered with humble hearts and weary souls to remember the lives of my mom,
dad, Tanner, and Ellie. … We have talked together, cried together, remembered
together, and felt the hand of God together. …
“The day after I heard the news of the accident, I found a
letter in my bag from my mom. In the letter she wrote: ‘Zane, remember who you
are and where you come from. We will be praying for you and missing you.’” Zane
continued: “There could not be more fitting last words from my mother. I know
that she, along with Tanner, Ellie, and my dad are … praying for [my brothers
and] me. I know that … they pray that I remember who I am … because I, like
you, am a child of God, and He has sent me here. I testify [that] … no matter
how alone we feel, God will not forsake us.”
My dear friends, your faith did not begin at
birth, and it will not end at death. Faith is a choice. Strengthen your faith,
and live to be deserving of the Savior’s approving words: “Great is thy faith.”
As you do, I promise you that your faith, through the grace of Jesus Christ,
will one day allow you to stand with those you love, clean and pure in the
presence of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
_________________________________________________________
Thank
you all for the support. I love you all and look forward to next week when I
share what an apostle of the Lord taught all of us! (Elder Renlund is in Ghana this week!)
No comments:
Post a Comment