Love Wins

Say Love (Hilary Weeks)
http://youtu.be/wYPxi5GeMqc

Today I had a wonderful experience, I attended a funeral. Now, usually you don't associate funerals with wonderful experiences, but this was an exception.

My friend, Helen, was who was 85 years old, passed away a few days ago. It was not unexpected as she had been deteriorating for quite some time and had been under hospice care for the past 8 months. But the one thing that was amazing to me was the outpouring of love I saw given to her today by almost a hundred young men who weren't even there!

As I have mentioned previously, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as "The Mormons". I have lived in this area for just over 14 years. I met Helen just over 5 years ago when she joined our church after being taught by a couple of our missionaries. I was in attendance at her baptismal service and I also witnessed her participation at a temple ceremony that made it possible for her to be with her eternal companion forever. Those were wonderful moments, but today I saw something that made me stop and ponder the power of love.

As I walked into the funeral home I saw one of the missionaries who is serving here. I shook his hand and we talked for a few minutes and then I made my way over to the open casket where my friend, Helen's, body lay. She wasn't too much thinner than the last time I saw her and she looked at peace, finally, after being in pain for a very long time. The thing that struck me most though, was what I saw laying across a table next to her casket. On this table, on two different shelves, were ties. Yes, ties! Helen had a tradition of collecting a tie from each missionary that has served in our area over the past 5 years. She would ask them to write something on the back of them, or at least sign them. Some said how much they loved her and how much they loved being a missionary and serving the Lord here. Helen loved her missionaries!  She collected the ties and kept this collection visible in all of the various places that she has lived over the past 5 years. On the other side of her casket was a picture frame with many pictures of the various missionaries who have served in this area. It was fun to see their faces again and reminisce about the good memories and times we had when they were here. In a final act of love, Helen asked that all of the ties be placed in the casket with her so that she could be buried with the love and warm wishes that were written on each of the ties.

In the course of conversations during the luncheon that followed the service, I discovered that each set of missionaries who were here, when they were getting transferred, would pass along the request to be sure to visit "Grandma Helen". Each set that followed did so and adopted her as a substitute grandma. Many of these young men were far from home, some for the first time, so it was a great comfort to them to have a "grandma" who loved them, fed them and cared about them here. They all came to love her and she loved them. It was a simple act of kindness to leave a tie behind for a memory for dear "Grandma Helen" but she cherished each and every one.

Grandma Helen has passed on to be with her beloved now, but her memory will live on in the lives and hearts of each of us that loved her and cared for her. I am a little sad to know that the next missionaries that serve here won't have the blessing of getting to know her and to be one of "her boys". But I know, because I felt it, that she loved us and is mindful of each one of us. She will now be stronger and better able to serve and love us from the other side of the veil. Now she is strong and pain free. We will miss her, but know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we will see each other again someday.

Rest in peace, sweet Helen, rest in peace.

That's What Love is For (Amy Grant)
http://youtu.be/QaeUgmoL7HE