Great Grandpa Ray

It's amazing how the Lord speaks to you and prepares you, and you don't even know it until later.

This morning, I was reading in Alma 11 and 12, where Amulek teaches about death, both temporal and spiritual, and what happens after and in between.  Just a few hours later, I found out that my great grandfather passed away just this morning.  

He was 92.  He had seven children, six grandchildren, and five great grandchildren, so far.  His lovely wife, my great grandmother, passed away just four short years ago.  These last few years, he has been living with dementia and slowly retreating.  He was born on the Fourth of July, and I remember so many childhood Independence Days at his house in Davis, CA, singing Yankee Doodle Dandy to him with the rest of our family.  I remember swimming in his pool and diving off the diving board.  I remember sitting in his lap and telling him stories.  I remember staying over at his house and staying up late with him and my mom playing SkipBo.  I remember going to Great Grandma Mary's funeral (his wife) in 2009 and singing Ave Maria with him.  I remember playing Dominoes with him over and over and over again just less than a year ago...and Sorry, too!  (He loved games.)  I remember his laugh...loud and happy.  When we saw him last August, Ephraim and I just loved his laugh, and once he figured out how much we loved it, he made it a point to do it over and over and over again.  He was always full of life.  He was a truly amazing man.

I am grateful for the Lord's plan.  This new experience today helps to seal in what I read this morning in the scriptures.  It reminds me of why I love this gospel so much.  It helps me to see that there is so much light at the end of the tunnel.  It's a testament of why we're here on this earth.

When Adam and Eve were in the garden, they were told not to eat the forbidden fruit, that if they did they would surely die.  If they had not eaten the fruit, they would have lived forever in the Garden of Eden, in an innocent state, never knowing good from evil, or happiness from sadness.  They would never have gained any new knowledge.  And they would never have been able to progress.  They would have never been able to leave the earth and go back to Heavenly Father to live with Him for all eternity.  It was always part of the plan for them (us) to experience a physical and temporal death so that they (we) could be resurrected and go back to God.

With this knowledge, death could almost be celebrated.  Yes, we are sad that a person we love so much is gone from this world.  But we can take comfort in knowing that we can see them again someday.  And really, who wants to live here on earth forever when there is a much better place waiting for us?  Earth is fun and interesting and exciting for now, but it's just a temporary home (like Carrie Underwood says...and if you don't know that song, look it up).

I'm sad for my family because I know that we will all miss him.  I'm also happy for him and my beautiful great grandmother who will now be reunited with each other and two of their sons who went before.

Today I am so grateful for God's mercy, for His foresight, for His grace to give us just what we need when we need it.  I'm grateful for His Plan of Salvation and that I have the blessing of knowing it.  The Lord loves us so much, and we are so lucky to have Him on our side!




If you have any questions about what I've just talked about, please feel free to ask or go here: http://mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation

Pioneer Day

About a month ago, I was asked to go to Meadow, Utah, near Fillmore, and speak at the town's annual Pioneer Day celebration.  For those of you who don't know what Pioneer Day is: it's a Utah/Idaho/LDS holiday dedicated to remembering the pioneers who crossed the plains to get to Utah, Nevada, California, and Idaho (many were Latter-day Saints seeking a place where they could safely practice their religion).  Oftentimes, converts are referred to as "Modern-day Pioneers," so sometimes you'll hear from converts (which I am) about their conversion story, as well as pioneer stories.

Well, when I was asked to do this program, I was shocked and honored that my aunt Bonnie (who I had never even met at the time) would ask me to do this for her town.  Basically, I was given the directions of speak and sing for 30-45 minutes about your story and pioneer stories.  I've never done anything like this.  I've sang a musical number in church many times, I've given a 5-10 minute talk three times, but this was a BIG task.  

After lots of prayer, preparation, and asking friends for family stories (thank you to those who sent them!), I put together something that I hoped would be beneficial to someone.  I made the four hour drive to Meadow and arrived just in time for the parade, which was adorable!

When it came time for me to speak, I just hoped and prayed that one person would be touched by it.  The best part of the whole thing was knowing that someone was.  Right after I finished, a man in this thirties(ish) came up to and, with tears in his eyes, told me that he was going through a difficult time and that what I said was exactly what he needed to hear.

This is what it's about, folks.  I feel blessed and honored to have said something that might help him.  It's all inspiration.  The Lord knows what we need and when we need it, and He will place people in your life and in your path to deliver the message.

I hope that we can all be as open as this man was to hearing the message that God is trying to deliver to us.

This was easily one of the most memorable and touching moments of my life, and I am so grateful to have had that opportunity.

Uncle Shane, Aunt Bonnie, their 7 kids, and me!

This was my first time meeting half of them (we just found out about my uncle about five years ago because he was given up for adoption).
They're the coolest!