I never had the opportunity to meet Misty. I nonetheless am her Bishop (or Pastor) and therefore have the privilege to address you today and say a few words in Misty's behalf. It is my understanding that Misty encountered an inordinate number of challenges throughout her brief life. We are told in the scriptures that one of the primary purposes we were sent to this earth is to be "tried and tested" to see if "we will obey all of the commandments the Lord our God should give unto us". Misty was tested greatly. And now the period of her testing is over. No more pain, no more tears, no more worries, no more fears. Misty has now departed this life and you and I remain to sort it all out and make sense of it all. Misty's untimely departure leaves us all with a few questions on our minds.
Before I address some of these questions and their answers let me say a word or two about Misty's death. Most of you are aware of the difficult circumstances of Misty's passing. As Misty's Bishop, her spiritual leader, and most importantly her brother might I venture an assessment? I will use the words of Joseph Smith the Prophet to provide basis for my assessment of Misty's situation:
"While one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard. . . . He is a wise Lawgiver, and will judge all men, not
according to the narrow, contracted notions of men, but, "according to the deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil. . . ." We need not doubt the wisdom and intelligence of the Great Jehovah; He will award judgment or mercy to all nations according to their several deserts . . . and when the designs of God shall be made manifest, and the curtain of futurity be withdrawn, we shall all of us eventually have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done right.' " (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 218.)"
For Misty too, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemane and on the cross, for Misty too, He suffered in both body and spirit, for Misty too, He "shrank not" from the bitter cup that was offered Him. Nothing can change that. Nothing! You and I must leave judgement in the only completely clean pair of hands in our universe, namely Jesus Christ's. Now, inasmuch as we have a casket with a Misty physical body set here in front of us, we are challenged with several questions.
Where is Misty? Should we mourn her passing? Will we see each other again? What do each of us face when we step through death's door?
I would say to you friends and family here assembled, and to each and every one of you that hears my voice this day:
I know where she's at, and I know what she's doing!
When one of our loved ones passes beyond the veil of this mortal existence the parting brings a deep sadness and longing to each of us that is left behind. We feel disconnected and left behind, we pause and consider our own mortality and what we are doing with our lives. We long to know for sure what the future holds for us beyond the certain step with uncertain dimensions we call death. The passing of a loved one invites deep reflection. The Psalmist testified:
"...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
JST Psalms 30:Verse 5
But how can joy arise from the ashes of sorrow, when we are so clearly left behind? When our sorrow is so painfully fresh? How can we recover from the incredible and awful vacancy that enters our lives? To begin with we must realize and remember the eternal nature of God's Plan for our Happiness.
The Poet William Wordsworth wrote in his famous poem "Intimations of Immortality":
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Each of us treads a path that leads to a destiny of our choosing. Our choices mark the way and determine our ultimate destination. Key to this personal destiny is the concept of pre-mortality. To fully understand where Misty is we must understand where she, and each of us was before. Since we existed as beings capable of rational thought and choice prior to coming to this earth, we were able to do, say, and accomplish many things. One of the most important things we were not able to do in our pre-earth existence was obtain a physical body. We came to this planet to do just that. We know we are required to learn many things while in our bodies. The scriptures reveal the conversation of our Deity with these words:
And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; (Abraham 3:25)
Our strict heed of the words of God is so important! Because our Heavenly Father loves us so much He desires the maximum amount of joy to be our reward in the hereafter. Latter-Day scripture reveals that the unification of the body and spirit forms the "Soul of Man" and leads to a "Fullness of Joy". One scripture (D&C 93:33-35) states:
The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;
And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.
The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God...
Key to this destiny is the marvelous truth is that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has provided a way for us to be reunited with our physical bodies and our loved ones on the other side! He has prepared a plan with God our Heavenly Father that ensures eternal happiness and joy awaits each one of us. John chapter 3 verse 16 records probably the most often quoted passage in all of scripture:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
Everlasting life...this sounds like a long-term affair! When we come to terms with the eternal truth that we are eternal beings and that we will exist forever a massive measure of comfort enters our hearts. Job the righteous and afflicted prophet of old declared:
For I know [that] my redeemer liveth, and [that] he shall stand at the latter [day] upon the earth:
And [though] after my skin [worms] destroy this [body], yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Job 19: 25-26
The glorious remarkable truth which applies to Misty and to each of us that we will have the ability in a future day to regain our physical bodies only with the added blessing of inheriting a perfected immortal body which is incapable of, and irresponsible for suffering all of the vicissitudes we face in this life. Along with this amazing new incorruptible body comes peace of mind and soul as well. The cares and sorrows of this life will be a memory at that point. For now, we move forward step by sometimes agonizing step. A living apostle reminds us with a thought and resurrects a truth revealed by another prophet in ancient times:
The plan always points the way, but does not always smooth the way, since individual development requires an "opposition in all things." (2 Nephi 2:11.) (Neal A. Maxwell Ensign, May 1984, p. 22.)
Misty had a knowledge of what awaited her on the other side. As a Latter-Day Saint she was taught the principles I have thus far shared with you today. Her 28 years of mortality seem far too few. For some reason I imagine none of us can adequately explain her passage was hastened to that place of waiting we know to be the Spirit World. A place where the righteous and the wicked await resurrection and judgement. Meanwhile, the Holy Scriptures continue to testify to us of the plan of God for his children's happiness. Let me share three of my favorites with you:
For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:21-22
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
John 5: 28-29
In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also.
John 14: 2-3
A Prophet declared, speaking of those who mourn for their deceased relatives:
....when I talk to these mourners, what have they lost? Their relatives and friends are only separated from their bodies for a short season: their spirits which existed with God have left the tabernacle of clay only for a little moment, as it were; and they now exist in a place where they converse together the same as we do on the earth,
I have a father, brothers, children, and friends who have gone to a world of spirits. They are only absent for a moment. They are in the spirit, and we shall soon meet again. The time will soon arrive when the trumpet shall sound. When we depart, we shall hail our mothers, fathers, friends, and all whom we love...
Let us not unduly mourn the passing of Misty. She is not gone forever nor doth she sleep! Only her physical tabernacle resides in this chapel, her magnificent eternal spirit has taken its place among the millions that have gone before!
I know that Misty is certainly marveling in her newfound state of peace and clarity and that each of us as we move ever closer to our transition to the next world should feel peace in knowing that there is indeed a place "prepared for us".
