A talk given by 13-year-old Camilla in the same sacrament meeting in which Michael reported his mission in the Bountiful Twentieth Ward on Sunday, August 21, 1994. Her talk was printed in the August 29, 1994, Family Journal. Camilla at the time was just about to begin the seventh grade at Mueller Park Junior High School.
We all can be missionaries no matter how old we are. And all the little things that we do can change a person’s life. Here are some things that you can do to help your nonmember friends learn the gospel.
You should study the gospel so you are ready to teach anybody who wants to hear, and be a good friend to your nonmember friends, and help them and invite them over, and take them to any Church activities or meetings, and just be really nice to them, and try to bear your testimony to them, and ask if they want to hear the discussions from the missionaries, and just be a good example, and don't ever give up.
It's really a good feeling when you see your friend get baptized.
In Alma 29:1–2 it says, "O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
"Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth."
When my sister [Rachael] goes to college she has some friends, and they ask her about the Church, and two of them already got baptized. She says it is really, really neat when they get baptized.
I hope that we can all be missionaries, and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
74. Death Is an Eternal Milestone
Concluding remarks by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Council of the Twelve Apostles at the funeral services for Barbara Jean Fraughton Lange on Monday, February 28, 1994, in the Mueller Park Ninth Ward in Bountiful, Utah. This talk was transcribed from a recording of the funeral and published in the March 7, 1994, issue of the Family Journal. Elder Oaks’s wife, June Dixon Oaks, was Barbara Lange’s first cousin.
Marvin and David and Claudia and other members of the family and my brothers and sisters: I feel privileged to be invited to take a few moments to speak at the conclusion of this beautiful service. I complement Bishop Clegg and Brother Cleverly for the wonderful spiritual banquet that they have given us.
As I listened to what they had to say, I couldn't help contrasting that with the last funeral service I attended in another place and under a different presiding authority. It was a suitable tribute to a life well lived, but I went away spiritually undernourished because there was no testimony, there was no doctrinal comfort, there was no tribute to the Lord Jesus Christ, who makes it all possible. There was no note taken of the fact that love is immortal and marriage properly entered and covenants properly observed can be eternal, and that life has a purpose and that death is only a transition from one phase of eternal life to another.
We've had all those assurances in this service, and they're true. And I thank Bishop Clegg and Brother Cleverly for the beautiful assurances that they've given, which I affirm.
Like many of you, I've felt the warmth of Barbara's hospitality and I've taken strength from the brilliance of her example. Hers was a life well lived, hers an example appropriately followed, hers was a faith strong and bright, hers an influence that will perpetuate itself through the generations to come—as is evident from the expressions that I've observed on the faces of those who are her descendants, her companion, her friends.
Death is an eternal milestone. And a funeral, which commemorates a death, is not a time for trivial things. That's a truth forgotten in many Latter-day Saint funerals. But it wasn't forgotten here. The things spoken of here have been things important, not things trivial. And so this service has been a comforting one and an appropriate one, and all of us in tune with the Spirit that has activated what has been said and done here have recognized the benediction of approval from our Heavenly Father whose daughter Barbara is and who takes joy, as has been noted, in the death of His saints, a life well lived, a new horizon opening, for additional joy.
And when there is a sad parting here, there is a joyous reunion there. And I'm sure that joy is warmly felt by many for whom we have ties of love and affection, because our families, in every case, are on both sides of the veil. And when we have that vision, a funeral has a different meaning and death has a different significance.
I testify of Jesus Christ, who made it all possible, of the truth of His gospel, and of the authority of the holy priesthood, which makes possible the fulfillment of the promises given, contingent upon the covenants made.
I testify to you of these things and invoke His blessings upon the family to comfort and strengthen them, and especially upon our brother Marvin, who has a difficult season of adjustment despite the sweet assurances that have been given.
And I say these things and invoke these blessings, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Marvin and David and Claudia and other members of the family and my brothers and sisters: I feel privileged to be invited to take a few moments to speak at the conclusion of this beautiful service. I complement Bishop Clegg and Brother Cleverly for the wonderful spiritual banquet that they have given us.
As I listened to what they had to say, I couldn't help contrasting that with the last funeral service I attended in another place and under a different presiding authority. It was a suitable tribute to a life well lived, but I went away spiritually undernourished because there was no testimony, there was no doctrinal comfort, there was no tribute to the Lord Jesus Christ, who makes it all possible. There was no note taken of the fact that love is immortal and marriage properly entered and covenants properly observed can be eternal, and that life has a purpose and that death is only a transition from one phase of eternal life to another.
We've had all those assurances in this service, and they're true. And I thank Bishop Clegg and Brother Cleverly for the beautiful assurances that they've given, which I affirm.
Like many of you, I've felt the warmth of Barbara's hospitality and I've taken strength from the brilliance of her example. Hers was a life well lived, hers an example appropriately followed, hers was a faith strong and bright, hers an influence that will perpetuate itself through the generations to come—as is evident from the expressions that I've observed on the faces of those who are her descendants, her companion, her friends.
Death is an eternal milestone. And a funeral, which commemorates a death, is not a time for trivial things. That's a truth forgotten in many Latter-day Saint funerals. But it wasn't forgotten here. The things spoken of here have been things important, not things trivial. And so this service has been a comforting one and an appropriate one, and all of us in tune with the Spirit that has activated what has been said and done here have recognized the benediction of approval from our Heavenly Father whose daughter Barbara is and who takes joy, as has been noted, in the death of His saints, a life well lived, a new horizon opening, for additional joy.
And when there is a sad parting here, there is a joyous reunion there. And I'm sure that joy is warmly felt by many for whom we have ties of love and affection, because our families, in every case, are on both sides of the veil. And when we have that vision, a funeral has a different meaning and death has a different significance.
I testify of Jesus Christ, who made it all possible, of the truth of His gospel, and of the authority of the holy priesthood, which makes possible the fulfillment of the promises given, contingent upon the covenants made.
I testify to you of these things and invoke His blessings upon the family to comfort and strengthen them, and especially upon our brother Marvin, who has a difficult season of adjustment despite the sweet assurances that have been given.
And I say these things and invoke these blessings, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
73. The Bluebird of Happiness
Remarks I gave at the funeral service for Barbara Jean Fraughton Lange (1928–1994) held on Monday, February 28, 1994, in the Mueller Park Ninth Ward, Bountiful Utah Mueller Park Stake. Grandma Lange had passed away the previous Thursday, February 24, at the age of 65. This talk was transcribed from a recording of the funeral and published in the March 7, 1994, issue of the Family Journal. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife were present at the funeral. June Dixon Oaks was Barbara Lange’s first cousin.
And no matter what you have,
Don't envy those you meet.
It's all the same; it's in the game:
The bitter and the sweet.
And if things don't look so cheerful,
Just show a little fight.
For every bit of darkness,
There is a little bit of light;
For every bit of hatred,
There's a little bit of love;
For every cloudy morning
There's a midnight moon above.
So don't you forget, you must search
Until you find the Bluebird.
You will find peace and contentment forever
If you will be like I,
Hold your head up high
Till you see a ray of light and cheer,
And so remember this:
Life is no abyss;
Somewhere there's a Bluebird of Happiness.
Those words fit Grandma. Whoever wrote that song must have known her because her life was filled with usefulness and purpose. She loved people. She loved doing things for them. I think she was the Bluebird of Happiness.
Most of you probably won't be able to see these if you're past about the second row, but if you've ever been in her home in the last couple of years you've seen on the mantle these little blue birds, which I think are a fitting symbol of the kind of life that she led.
She received a patriarchal blessing in March 1949. That was just a few months before she married Marvin. And the patriarch promised her, "Your counsel will be sought after by your associates and your influence will always be for good." I think this roomful of people—and many others who would be here if they could have been—is evidence that that promise was fulfilled. Her influence has always been for good. Last night at the viewing someone (I don’t remember who) talked about the good memories that people will have of Barbara Lange, the good memories that she leaves in the minds and the hearts and the lives of everyone who knew her. And I don't know of anyone who will have bad memories of her, but the memories will be sweet and hallowed and precious.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell once wrote, "The very usefulness of our lives depends upon our willingness to serve others" (Even As I Am, 62).
By that standard, the life of Barbara Jean Fraughton Lange was preeminently useful. And if we are to learn anything from her life, and the example she’s left, and the counsel she's given, we will go and do the same. We will have a willingness to serve others and bless their lives and cheer their days and soothe their hurts and encourage their best efforts. Her grandchildren, in whose lives she most delighted, knew that she was their greatest benefactor, their greatest sponsor, their best friend.
She had a fourth-great-grandfather by the name of Charles Dixon who was born in England in 1730. He immigrated to the new world in 1772. That was four years before the beginning of the American Revolution. And he lived until 1817, which was three years before Joseph Smith went into the grove of trees near Palmyra, New York, and had the First Vision. And sometime between when he came to New Brunswick, Canada, in 1772, sometime between then and his death in 1817, he wrote a letter to his son Charles. And among the things that were in it, he wrote a bit of what I think is very profound counsel to his son, and by extension to his posterity clear down to this day—200 years later.
And this is the quote: "Be thou not high minded, but remember the rock from whence thou wast hewn, and in future times, when I and thy mother shall be called home, and rest in the silent grave, you may remember, that for your sakes we crossed the ocean. See that you outstrip us in purity of heart and holiness of life. . . . Acquaint yourselves with God and be at peace—at peace with yourselves and with all men, and may the God of Peace be with you evermore."
What a sermon in just a few short sentences! That would be the wish of every righteous parent for their children and their grandchildren: See that you outstrip us in purity of heart and holiness of life. Acquaint yourselves with God. Be at peace with all men. And may the God of Peace be with you evermore.
Nearly 21 years ago Barbara Lange became a grandmother with the birth of our oldest son, Michael, who of all of her posterity is the only one not with us here today. He is serving a mission in Brazil.
And being a grandmother seemed to suit her well. (I’m not at that phase of life quite yet, but I understand that grandchildren are much more delightful than children.) But she was always involved in their lives, doing things for them, supporting them, attending their games and activities, baking lasagna for them for their birthdays if they wanted it, showering them with generous Christmas gifts, spoiling them in ways that parents can't and aren't supposed to but grandmothers can—and can get away with.
For many years, while they still lived in California, she was fortunate to be close to David and Janice and their children. And these past six or seven years, we've been delighted to have them here close to us since they moved back to Utah.
And though she never actually lived in our ward, the other night, Thursday night, when I told our bishop that she had died, because she had been there so many times when the children gave talks in church or had Primary activities or other things going on, and she was always there, our bishop said, "That’s like losing a member of our ward." (And many of them would have been here today, but we had a neighbor die in our ward the very same day, and his funeral is happening at this very same hour.)
I mentioned that her oldest grandson isn’t here today. But in a manner of speaking, he is. We aren’t even sure if he knows yet that his grandmother has died. But on Saturday, last Saturday his dear friend Shauna shared with us a letter that he had written earlier this month. And I'd like to quote just a couple paragraphs from that letter. This was written on the fifth of February, one day before he was transferred to his present assignment, which is about a thousand miles from his mission headquarters in the Amazon jungle of Brazil.
"Today I attended my first (and hopefully only) Brazilian funeral. One of the two stake presidents [here] died suddenly early Friday morning." And then he goes on and gives some details about that.
"This morning was the funeral. Elder Fails and I went with President and Sister Francesconi. The chapel was pretty much filled to capacity. I was surprised at how fast news travels. In Brazil they have to bury the body within 24 to 36 hours. . . . The service was very nice. President spoke, the bishop spoke, and his wife was the last speaker. I think that would take a lot of courage and strength to speak at your spouse’s funeral. Especially when it was such a surprise. She’s probably 37. They’d been married [only] 7 years or so. They have two children, ages 5 and 4.
"The closing hymn was 'Families Can Be Together Forever.'" And then he quotes the words of that song, all in Portuguese, but I'll translate them for you:
I have a family here on earth.
They are so good to me.
I want to share my life with them
Through all eternity.
Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father’s plan.
I always want to be with my own family,
And the Lord has shown me how I can.
The Lord has shown me how I can.
While I am in my early years,
I'll prepare most carefully,
So I can marry in God's temple
For eternity.
Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father's plan.
I always want to be with my own family,
And the Lord has shown me how I can.
The Lord has shown me how I can.
And after quoting that, he says: "And it was strange. Sitting there at the funeral singing the song. Many people singing with tears in their eyes. In a chapel in Brazil. Then we went to the cemetery. The funeral procession consisted of a VW-Van thingy with the coffin and three busses that had been rented to help take the people who didn't own a car."
And then he says, "To back track momentarily, the closing song." [And I should mention, well it's been announced already, the grandchildren are going to sing this as part of the closing song] "As it was being sung I had wave after wave of tingling-shivers come over me. It was as if even here when a friend and a leader had passed on to the other side of the veil, and though all were saddened I just seemed to realize even more that yes, families can be forever. And most everyone else there knew that. And that brought a comfort that the vast majority of people don't know. And I also realized how important it was to live a life correctly so that we can be worthy to qualify for those blessings. That's why the ordinances and covenants of the gospel are so vital and important. And therein lies the profoundness of the simplicity of the gospel."
And then he talks about the experience of going to the cemetery and watching the burial: "And both Elder Fails and I felt as if we were caught up in some weird whirlwind time-warp. As if everything was happening in a film, and we were there watching it all happen, but as if we weren't at the same time, and as if no one else could see us. It was a very strange sensation that I don't know if I'd ever be able to accurately put into words.
"It’s funny how our lives weave patterns into the lives of so many others in ways often so deep and profound that we aren't even aware of the influence we have (for good or bad). The whole funeral was one of those quiet moments when the vastness of eternity seemed to distill on my soul. And it made me realize how ungrateful we really are as people, and how we really should treasure life, even the small simple daily things. I have been so richly blessed and I feel so undeserving and as if I am so ungrateful."
We are so amazingly blessed that I sometimes wonder if we don't take for granted what we've been given. Certainly we do in our relationships with each other. And often we do it with the marvelous insights and blessings and knowledge the Lord has revealed to us.
One of the great blessings we enjoy as Latter-day Saints is the knowledge we receive from the Holy Ghost that God really lives. Much of the world does not know that He lives. And even those who believe in God do not know much about Him or what He is like. And yet we read in the holy scriptures where Jesus the night before He was crucified prayed to His Father and said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3).
Back in January 1988, a little over six years ago, I asked my three youngest children, then six-year-old Camilla, four-year-old Eliza, and three-year-old Mary what they knew about Heavenly Father and Jesus. And with a little prompting, they came up with these answers:
"Heavenly Father loves children.
"He's a friend of us.
"He gives us good food. And our house.
"Jesus was born on Christmas in Bethlehem.
"Mary was the mother of Jesus.
"Heavenly Father was the father of Jesus.
"Heavenly Father is kind.
"He made the world.
"He is the father of our spirits.
"We lived with Him before we were born.
"We lived with both Heavenly Father and Jesus.
"We can become like Them.
"They want us to be happy.
"We can be happy by keeping God's commandments.
"They like us a lot.
"He wants us for a sunbeam. To shine for Him each day.
"And be good."
Now let's talk for a moment about the timing of her passing. To us it seemed so unexpected; it caught us off guard. Just last Wednesday, the evening before she died, Grandma had prepared dinner and brought it to our house, and we had a lovely meal and visit together. And that was so like Grandma. And then the next evening she was gone.
But death, sooner or later, comes to each of us. And in her case, as the bishop intimated and as I firmly believe, I think she did have a feeling, perhaps not consciously, but an intimation that she was leaving us.
Another interesting promise from her patriarchal blessing: "You will fill your mission upon the earth and will live until it is fully accomplished, and you will find great joy and satisfaction in it."
She did find joy and satisfaction in blessing the lives of other people. Surely that was much of what her mission was all about, and she lived until she accomplished it fully. She had done all that was required of her. She had passed the test. She had finished the race. There was no more to be done.
Earth life is a school. We can understand that. Elder Orson F. Whitney, who was a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles at the first part of this century, taught, "This earth was made for God's children, his spirit sons and daughters, who take bodies and pass through the experiences of joy and sorrow for their development and education, and to demonstrate through time's vicissitudes that they will be true to God and do all that he requires at their hands.
"When we have done the things that we were sent to do, when we have gained all the experience that this life affords, then is the best time to depart. School being out, why not go home? The mission ended, why not return? That is what death means to a Latter-day Saint. The only sad thing about it is parting with the loved ones who go, . . . but it is simply a passing into the spirit world, to await the resurrection, when our bodies and spirits will be reunited—the righteous to enjoy the presence of God. . . .
"If we can be patient and resigned, and by God's help do his holy will, all will come out well. Trials purify us, educate us, develop us." And I might say parenthetically Grandma had her share of those with the health challenges she experienced.
"Trials purify us, educate us, develop us. The great reason why [we were] placed upon the earth was that [we] might become like [our] Father and [our] God. That is why we are here, children at school. What matters it when school is out and the time comes to go back home?" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 9–11).
There's a revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants that has been referred to as the Law of the Mourner. Prefacing it the Lord talks about if there any who are sick, we are to call for the elders of the Church, and they are to come and administer to them, and if they're not appointed unto death then they'll be healed, but He says if they die they die unto Me, and if they live they live unto Me (see D&C 42:44).
And this is the part I wanted to read particularly, "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die [and so the Lord sanctions that, commands it I think—thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die], and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection.
"And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them" (D&C 42:45–46).
I think Grandma, Barbara Lange, has died in the Lord. Her death, her passing was certainly sweet. It was peaceful. And though it's hard, it was right, and we can all feel that. Her time had come.
The Apostle John in the book of Revelation uses this same phrase: Blessed are they that die in me, that "die in the Lord," for "they . . . rest from their labours; and their works do follow them" (Revelation 14:13).
What do we mean? What does that expression mean—they who die in the Lord?
Elder Bruce R. McConkie speaking at a funeral once made these comments. He quoted first from the Psalms, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalm 116:15). Now, that's an interesting way of putting it: precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
"Now does that do something to death in the eternal perspective of things? Precious unto the Lord is the death of his saints! Not something that brings sorrow and anguish and anxiety into the soul, but something that announces a reward and a triumph and the beginning of a day of glory and peace and reward. Something that indicates that a soul has come from the presence of God and passed through a mortal probation and ended dying in the Lord. Or, in other words, ended life having kept the faith.
"Now the people that die in the Lord are the people that keep the faith but are not [yet] perfect. They are not perfect many of them by any manner of means. There was only one perfect being and that was the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you had to be perfect in this life to gain salvation there would only be one saved person. Now, yes, they become perfect eventually in eternity, but as pertaining to this life they die in the faith, in the Lord” (Bruce R. McConkie, funeral sermon for Wilford Payne, Dec. 6, 1982).
And I'm skipping some of what Elder McConkie said. He quotes Paul writing to Timothy, and he says that this applies to every righteous person that goes out of this life:
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7–8).
"Now that is the benediction spoken or unspoken that in thought content is in the heart and the mind and the soul of every person who departs this life in the faith, who dies in the Lord.
"What we do in this life is to chart a course leading to eternal life. That means we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are baptized for the remission of sins. We receive by the laying on of hands the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the right to the constant companionship of that member of the Godhead based on faithfulness, and then we struggle and labor and strive to endure to the end, to keep the commandments after baptism" (Payne funeral sermon).
As Nephi said, we "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men" (2 Nephi 31:20). And we feast upon the words of Christ. Then He gave a glorious promise to those who so do: "Thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:20).
"Now this is what is expected of us: to chart a course leading to eternal life. And then if we are on the course and in the path and struggling and striving and trying to do what we best can [as Barbara Lange was clearly doing], if we are trying to utilize the talents that the Lord has given us [as she was clearly doing], and we depart this life still on the path, having died in the faith, it is as though at that moment our calling and election is made sure, because no one departs from the path after this life if he died in the Lord.
"Now I am not saying that all people are equal in the eternal worlds," Elder McConkie continues, "neither in the spirit world, nor in the resurrection. The Prophet told us that 'whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection' (D&C 130:18), that if a man [or a woman] 'gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come' (D&C 130:19).
"But what I am saying is that if we believe the gospel and if we enter into the eternal covenants, chiefly and primarily marriage, and if we strive and struggle and keep the faith and are doing the best we can, though we haven't attained the perfection that ultimately is our potential, if we go forward and die in the Lord, we filled the measure of our creation, and what more can we ask" (Payne funeral sermon).
I think that’s exactly where we are with Grandma.
In behalf of the family, I would express appreciation to any and all who have helped during these last five days. And to many who will yet help in countless ways in future days. The Lord will bless your quiet, kindly deeds.
We quoted earlier from Elder Orson F. Whitney. He said, "A funeral sermon is not for the benefit of the departed; rather it is for the good of those who remain. The dead, as we call them—though they are no more dead than we are, and are as much alive now as ever—are [simply] beyond our reach, just as they are beyond our vision. We cannot add to anything that they have done, nor can we take anything away. They have made their record and are in the keeping of a higher Power. But we can do something to comfort those who mourn, and by acts of kindness lessen human suffering. [And have you ever known anyone who by acts of kindness lessened human suffering more than Barbara Lange did?] Our Father in heaven expects this at our hands" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 3).
Well, Grandma has made her record. She is in the keeping of a higher Power, even the Father of us all.
President Ezra Taft Benson has taught that nothing will startle us more when we pass through the veil, as Grandma has now done, to realize how well we know our Heavenly Father and how familiar His face will be to us.
So we don't mourn for her; we mourn for us. And it's all right that we do so: for as we quoted earlier, the Lord has commanded that we are to "weep for the loss of them that die" (D&C 42:45).
There is something sanctifying about a funeral, especially the funeral of a faithful person, like Grandma, because (as Elder McConkie taught on a similar occasion), "it is an occasion for us to be reminded of the eternal things that are involved in life and how thin the veil is and of how gracious and wondrous it is that a noble soul has gone on and, as a consequence, for us to make the determinations that we need to make so that we can be as they were" (Payne funeral sermon).
The words of a hymn express the thoughts of all of us:
Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.
What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.
When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior’s name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord above.
(Karen Lynn Davidson, Hymns [1985], 293)
God lives. As Elder Marion D. Hanks taught so eloquently in his final address in general conference as a General Authority, "To believe in God is to know that all the rules will be fair and there will be wonderful surprises" (Ensign, Nov. 1992, 65).
And to us, with our understanding, this may not seem like a wonderful surprise—a surprise, but maybe not wonderful. But try to imagine the wonderful surprise it's been for her in meeting again her parents, her sister, and many, many loved ones who have gone on before her. All the rules will be fair and there will be wonderful surprises.
God lives. He’s given us a plan for our happiness. He sent His Son to make it all effective by working out the atoning sacrifice. And He has so graciously and kindly revealed it to us all in this day, together with all the ordinances and everything that makes it possible.
We can be grateful that we have known and been touched by and influenced by the life of Barbara Lange. We will miss her deeply. It’s appropriate that we should. But she would want us to go on and live our lives by the example she gave us.
In fact, I don't know if it's appropriate in a funeral sermon to give you an assignment, but I'm going to give you an assignment, because she would want you to do this: Before this day is over I want each of you who is here to go out and hug someone and to tell them you love them and to be nice to people and to be the kind of Christian, gentle, wonderful folk that she was, that we should be, and that our Heavenly Father expects of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
And no matter what you have,
Don't envy those you meet.
It's all the same; it's in the game:
The bitter and the sweet.
And if things don't look so cheerful,
Just show a little fight.
For every bit of darkness,
There is a little bit of light;
For every bit of hatred,
There's a little bit of love;
For every cloudy morning
There's a midnight moon above.
So don't you forget, you must search
Until you find the Bluebird.
You will find peace and contentment forever
If you will be like I,
Hold your head up high
Till you see a ray of light and cheer,
And so remember this:
Life is no abyss;
Somewhere there's a Bluebird of Happiness.
Those words fit Grandma. Whoever wrote that song must have known her because her life was filled with usefulness and purpose. She loved people. She loved doing things for them. I think she was the Bluebird of Happiness.
Most of you probably won't be able to see these if you're past about the second row, but if you've ever been in her home in the last couple of years you've seen on the mantle these little blue birds, which I think are a fitting symbol of the kind of life that she led.
She received a patriarchal blessing in March 1949. That was just a few months before she married Marvin. And the patriarch promised her, "Your counsel will be sought after by your associates and your influence will always be for good." I think this roomful of people—and many others who would be here if they could have been—is evidence that that promise was fulfilled. Her influence has always been for good. Last night at the viewing someone (I don’t remember who) talked about the good memories that people will have of Barbara Lange, the good memories that she leaves in the minds and the hearts and the lives of everyone who knew her. And I don't know of anyone who will have bad memories of her, but the memories will be sweet and hallowed and precious.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell once wrote, "The very usefulness of our lives depends upon our willingness to serve others" (Even As I Am, 62).
By that standard, the life of Barbara Jean Fraughton Lange was preeminently useful. And if we are to learn anything from her life, and the example she’s left, and the counsel she's given, we will go and do the same. We will have a willingness to serve others and bless their lives and cheer their days and soothe their hurts and encourage their best efforts. Her grandchildren, in whose lives she most delighted, knew that she was their greatest benefactor, their greatest sponsor, their best friend.
She had a fourth-great-grandfather by the name of Charles Dixon who was born in England in 1730. He immigrated to the new world in 1772. That was four years before the beginning of the American Revolution. And he lived until 1817, which was three years before Joseph Smith went into the grove of trees near Palmyra, New York, and had the First Vision. And sometime between when he came to New Brunswick, Canada, in 1772, sometime between then and his death in 1817, he wrote a letter to his son Charles. And among the things that were in it, he wrote a bit of what I think is very profound counsel to his son, and by extension to his posterity clear down to this day—200 years later.
And this is the quote: "Be thou not high minded, but remember the rock from whence thou wast hewn, and in future times, when I and thy mother shall be called home, and rest in the silent grave, you may remember, that for your sakes we crossed the ocean. See that you outstrip us in purity of heart and holiness of life. . . . Acquaint yourselves with God and be at peace—at peace with yourselves and with all men, and may the God of Peace be with you evermore."
What a sermon in just a few short sentences! That would be the wish of every righteous parent for their children and their grandchildren: See that you outstrip us in purity of heart and holiness of life. Acquaint yourselves with God. Be at peace with all men. And may the God of Peace be with you evermore.
Nearly 21 years ago Barbara Lange became a grandmother with the birth of our oldest son, Michael, who of all of her posterity is the only one not with us here today. He is serving a mission in Brazil.
And being a grandmother seemed to suit her well. (I’m not at that phase of life quite yet, but I understand that grandchildren are much more delightful than children.) But she was always involved in their lives, doing things for them, supporting them, attending their games and activities, baking lasagna for them for their birthdays if they wanted it, showering them with generous Christmas gifts, spoiling them in ways that parents can't and aren't supposed to but grandmothers can—and can get away with.
For many years, while they still lived in California, she was fortunate to be close to David and Janice and their children. And these past six or seven years, we've been delighted to have them here close to us since they moved back to Utah.
And though she never actually lived in our ward, the other night, Thursday night, when I told our bishop that she had died, because she had been there so many times when the children gave talks in church or had Primary activities or other things going on, and she was always there, our bishop said, "That’s like losing a member of our ward." (And many of them would have been here today, but we had a neighbor die in our ward the very same day, and his funeral is happening at this very same hour.)
I mentioned that her oldest grandson isn’t here today. But in a manner of speaking, he is. We aren’t even sure if he knows yet that his grandmother has died. But on Saturday, last Saturday his dear friend Shauna shared with us a letter that he had written earlier this month. And I'd like to quote just a couple paragraphs from that letter. This was written on the fifth of February, one day before he was transferred to his present assignment, which is about a thousand miles from his mission headquarters in the Amazon jungle of Brazil.
"Today I attended my first (and hopefully only) Brazilian funeral. One of the two stake presidents [here] died suddenly early Friday morning." And then he goes on and gives some details about that.
"This morning was the funeral. Elder Fails and I went with President and Sister Francesconi. The chapel was pretty much filled to capacity. I was surprised at how fast news travels. In Brazil they have to bury the body within 24 to 36 hours. . . . The service was very nice. President spoke, the bishop spoke, and his wife was the last speaker. I think that would take a lot of courage and strength to speak at your spouse’s funeral. Especially when it was such a surprise. She’s probably 37. They’d been married [only] 7 years or so. They have two children, ages 5 and 4.
"The closing hymn was 'Families Can Be Together Forever.'" And then he quotes the words of that song, all in Portuguese, but I'll translate them for you:
I have a family here on earth.
They are so good to me.
I want to share my life with them
Through all eternity.
Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father’s plan.
I always want to be with my own family,
And the Lord has shown me how I can.
The Lord has shown me how I can.
While I am in my early years,
I'll prepare most carefully,
So I can marry in God's temple
For eternity.
Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father's plan.
I always want to be with my own family,
And the Lord has shown me how I can.
The Lord has shown me how I can.
And after quoting that, he says: "And it was strange. Sitting there at the funeral singing the song. Many people singing with tears in their eyes. In a chapel in Brazil. Then we went to the cemetery. The funeral procession consisted of a VW-Van thingy with the coffin and three busses that had been rented to help take the people who didn't own a car."
And then he says, "To back track momentarily, the closing song." [And I should mention, well it's been announced already, the grandchildren are going to sing this as part of the closing song] "As it was being sung I had wave after wave of tingling-shivers come over me. It was as if even here when a friend and a leader had passed on to the other side of the veil, and though all were saddened I just seemed to realize even more that yes, families can be forever. And most everyone else there knew that. And that brought a comfort that the vast majority of people don't know. And I also realized how important it was to live a life correctly so that we can be worthy to qualify for those blessings. That's why the ordinances and covenants of the gospel are so vital and important. And therein lies the profoundness of the simplicity of the gospel."
And then he talks about the experience of going to the cemetery and watching the burial: "And both Elder Fails and I felt as if we were caught up in some weird whirlwind time-warp. As if everything was happening in a film, and we were there watching it all happen, but as if we weren't at the same time, and as if no one else could see us. It was a very strange sensation that I don't know if I'd ever be able to accurately put into words.
"It’s funny how our lives weave patterns into the lives of so many others in ways often so deep and profound that we aren't even aware of the influence we have (for good or bad). The whole funeral was one of those quiet moments when the vastness of eternity seemed to distill on my soul. And it made me realize how ungrateful we really are as people, and how we really should treasure life, even the small simple daily things. I have been so richly blessed and I feel so undeserving and as if I am so ungrateful."
We are so amazingly blessed that I sometimes wonder if we don't take for granted what we've been given. Certainly we do in our relationships with each other. And often we do it with the marvelous insights and blessings and knowledge the Lord has revealed to us.
One of the great blessings we enjoy as Latter-day Saints is the knowledge we receive from the Holy Ghost that God really lives. Much of the world does not know that He lives. And even those who believe in God do not know much about Him or what He is like. And yet we read in the holy scriptures where Jesus the night before He was crucified prayed to His Father and said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3).
Back in January 1988, a little over six years ago, I asked my three youngest children, then six-year-old Camilla, four-year-old Eliza, and three-year-old Mary what they knew about Heavenly Father and Jesus. And with a little prompting, they came up with these answers:
"Heavenly Father loves children.
"He's a friend of us.
"He gives us good food. And our house.
"Jesus was born on Christmas in Bethlehem.
"Mary was the mother of Jesus.
"Heavenly Father was the father of Jesus.
"Heavenly Father is kind.
"He made the world.
"He is the father of our spirits.
"We lived with Him before we were born.
"We lived with both Heavenly Father and Jesus.
"We can become like Them.
"They want us to be happy.
"We can be happy by keeping God's commandments.
"They like us a lot.
"He wants us for a sunbeam. To shine for Him each day.
"And be good."
Now let's talk for a moment about the timing of her passing. To us it seemed so unexpected; it caught us off guard. Just last Wednesday, the evening before she died, Grandma had prepared dinner and brought it to our house, and we had a lovely meal and visit together. And that was so like Grandma. And then the next evening she was gone.
But death, sooner or later, comes to each of us. And in her case, as the bishop intimated and as I firmly believe, I think she did have a feeling, perhaps not consciously, but an intimation that she was leaving us.
Another interesting promise from her patriarchal blessing: "You will fill your mission upon the earth and will live until it is fully accomplished, and you will find great joy and satisfaction in it."
She did find joy and satisfaction in blessing the lives of other people. Surely that was much of what her mission was all about, and she lived until she accomplished it fully. She had done all that was required of her. She had passed the test. She had finished the race. There was no more to be done.
Earth life is a school. We can understand that. Elder Orson F. Whitney, who was a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles at the first part of this century, taught, "This earth was made for God's children, his spirit sons and daughters, who take bodies and pass through the experiences of joy and sorrow for their development and education, and to demonstrate through time's vicissitudes that they will be true to God and do all that he requires at their hands.
"When we have done the things that we were sent to do, when we have gained all the experience that this life affords, then is the best time to depart. School being out, why not go home? The mission ended, why not return? That is what death means to a Latter-day Saint. The only sad thing about it is parting with the loved ones who go, . . . but it is simply a passing into the spirit world, to await the resurrection, when our bodies and spirits will be reunited—the righteous to enjoy the presence of God. . . .
"If we can be patient and resigned, and by God's help do his holy will, all will come out well. Trials purify us, educate us, develop us." And I might say parenthetically Grandma had her share of those with the health challenges she experienced.
"Trials purify us, educate us, develop us. The great reason why [we were] placed upon the earth was that [we] might become like [our] Father and [our] God. That is why we are here, children at school. What matters it when school is out and the time comes to go back home?" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 9–11).
There's a revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants that has been referred to as the Law of the Mourner. Prefacing it the Lord talks about if there any who are sick, we are to call for the elders of the Church, and they are to come and administer to them, and if they're not appointed unto death then they'll be healed, but He says if they die they die unto Me, and if they live they live unto Me (see D&C 42:44).
And this is the part I wanted to read particularly, "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die [and so the Lord sanctions that, commands it I think—thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die], and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection.
"And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them" (D&C 42:45–46).
I think Grandma, Barbara Lange, has died in the Lord. Her death, her passing was certainly sweet. It was peaceful. And though it's hard, it was right, and we can all feel that. Her time had come.
The Apostle John in the book of Revelation uses this same phrase: Blessed are they that die in me, that "die in the Lord," for "they . . . rest from their labours; and their works do follow them" (Revelation 14:13).
What do we mean? What does that expression mean—they who die in the Lord?
Elder Bruce R. McConkie speaking at a funeral once made these comments. He quoted first from the Psalms, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalm 116:15). Now, that's an interesting way of putting it: precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
"Now does that do something to death in the eternal perspective of things? Precious unto the Lord is the death of his saints! Not something that brings sorrow and anguish and anxiety into the soul, but something that announces a reward and a triumph and the beginning of a day of glory and peace and reward. Something that indicates that a soul has come from the presence of God and passed through a mortal probation and ended dying in the Lord. Or, in other words, ended life having kept the faith.
"Now the people that die in the Lord are the people that keep the faith but are not [yet] perfect. They are not perfect many of them by any manner of means. There was only one perfect being and that was the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you had to be perfect in this life to gain salvation there would only be one saved person. Now, yes, they become perfect eventually in eternity, but as pertaining to this life they die in the faith, in the Lord” (Bruce R. McConkie, funeral sermon for Wilford Payne, Dec. 6, 1982).
And I'm skipping some of what Elder McConkie said. He quotes Paul writing to Timothy, and he says that this applies to every righteous person that goes out of this life:
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7–8).
"Now that is the benediction spoken or unspoken that in thought content is in the heart and the mind and the soul of every person who departs this life in the faith, who dies in the Lord.
"What we do in this life is to chart a course leading to eternal life. That means we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are baptized for the remission of sins. We receive by the laying on of hands the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the right to the constant companionship of that member of the Godhead based on faithfulness, and then we struggle and labor and strive to endure to the end, to keep the commandments after baptism" (Payne funeral sermon).
As Nephi said, we "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men" (2 Nephi 31:20). And we feast upon the words of Christ. Then He gave a glorious promise to those who so do: "Thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:20).
"Now this is what is expected of us: to chart a course leading to eternal life. And then if we are on the course and in the path and struggling and striving and trying to do what we best can [as Barbara Lange was clearly doing], if we are trying to utilize the talents that the Lord has given us [as she was clearly doing], and we depart this life still on the path, having died in the faith, it is as though at that moment our calling and election is made sure, because no one departs from the path after this life if he died in the Lord.
"Now I am not saying that all people are equal in the eternal worlds," Elder McConkie continues, "neither in the spirit world, nor in the resurrection. The Prophet told us that 'whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection' (D&C 130:18), that if a man [or a woman] 'gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come' (D&C 130:19).
"But what I am saying is that if we believe the gospel and if we enter into the eternal covenants, chiefly and primarily marriage, and if we strive and struggle and keep the faith and are doing the best we can, though we haven't attained the perfection that ultimately is our potential, if we go forward and die in the Lord, we filled the measure of our creation, and what more can we ask" (Payne funeral sermon).
I think that’s exactly where we are with Grandma.
In behalf of the family, I would express appreciation to any and all who have helped during these last five days. And to many who will yet help in countless ways in future days. The Lord will bless your quiet, kindly deeds.
We quoted earlier from Elder Orson F. Whitney. He said, "A funeral sermon is not for the benefit of the departed; rather it is for the good of those who remain. The dead, as we call them—though they are no more dead than we are, and are as much alive now as ever—are [simply] beyond our reach, just as they are beyond our vision. We cannot add to anything that they have done, nor can we take anything away. They have made their record and are in the keeping of a higher Power. But we can do something to comfort those who mourn, and by acts of kindness lessen human suffering. [And have you ever known anyone who by acts of kindness lessened human suffering more than Barbara Lange did?] Our Father in heaven expects this at our hands" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 3).
Well, Grandma has made her record. She is in the keeping of a higher Power, even the Father of us all.
President Ezra Taft Benson has taught that nothing will startle us more when we pass through the veil, as Grandma has now done, to realize how well we know our Heavenly Father and how familiar His face will be to us.
So we don't mourn for her; we mourn for us. And it's all right that we do so: for as we quoted earlier, the Lord has commanded that we are to "weep for the loss of them that die" (D&C 42:45).
There is something sanctifying about a funeral, especially the funeral of a faithful person, like Grandma, because (as Elder McConkie taught on a similar occasion), "it is an occasion for us to be reminded of the eternal things that are involved in life and how thin the veil is and of how gracious and wondrous it is that a noble soul has gone on and, as a consequence, for us to make the determinations that we need to make so that we can be as they were" (Payne funeral sermon).
The words of a hymn express the thoughts of all of us:
Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.
What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.
When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior’s name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord above.
(Karen Lynn Davidson, Hymns [1985], 293)
God lives. As Elder Marion D. Hanks taught so eloquently in his final address in general conference as a General Authority, "To believe in God is to know that all the rules will be fair and there will be wonderful surprises" (Ensign, Nov. 1992, 65).
And to us, with our understanding, this may not seem like a wonderful surprise—a surprise, but maybe not wonderful. But try to imagine the wonderful surprise it's been for her in meeting again her parents, her sister, and many, many loved ones who have gone on before her. All the rules will be fair and there will be wonderful surprises.
God lives. He’s given us a plan for our happiness. He sent His Son to make it all effective by working out the atoning sacrifice. And He has so graciously and kindly revealed it to us all in this day, together with all the ordinances and everything that makes it possible.
We can be grateful that we have known and been touched by and influenced by the life of Barbara Lange. We will miss her deeply. It’s appropriate that we should. But she would want us to go on and live our lives by the example she gave us.
In fact, I don't know if it's appropriate in a funeral sermon to give you an assignment, but I'm going to give you an assignment, because she would want you to do this: Before this day is over I want each of you who is here to go out and hug someone and to tell them you love them and to be nice to people and to be the kind of Christian, gentle, wonderful folk that she was, that we should be, and that our Heavenly Father expects of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
72. A Temporary Loss
Claudia’s mother, Barbara Jean Fraughton Lange (1928–1994), was born April 27, 1928, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the older of two daughters born to Lowell Dee Fraughton and Bernice Dixon. She married John Marvin Lange on June 15, 1949, and they were the parents of two children: Claudia and David. Grandma Lange died on February 24, 1994, in Bountiful, Utah, at the age of 65 from causes incident to kidney disease. Bishop Richard R. Clegg, bishop of the Mueller Park Ninth Ward, conducted Grandma’s funeral on Monday, February 28, 1994, read the obituary, and offered brief remarks. His comments were published a month later in the March 28, 1994, issue of the Family Journal.
Brothers, sisters, and friends, we are here today as an expression of our love and respect for Barbara Lange, who passed away last Thursday evening, February 24, here in Bountiful.
These services are under the direction of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I am Bishop Richard R. Clegg of the Mueller Park Ninth Ward, whom the family has asked to conduct these services. I wish to extend to Marvin, Claudia, and David my deepest sympathy and love on this sacred occasion as we honor and pay tribute to their mother and sweetheart.
Seated on the stand with me is Alan Collier, who is a counselor in the Ninth ward bishopric and who will be conducting the grave-side services.
We want to thank Nan Knoles for the music provided in these services. As part of these services, the family prayer was offered by J. Marvin Lange. The opening song will be "I Am a Child of God," sung by Barbara’s grandchildren. The invocation will be offered by a neighbor and friend, John Harmer.
OBITUARY
"Barbara Jean Fraughton Lange, 65, died February 24, 1994, in Bountiful.
"Born April 27, 1928, in Salt Lake City, the daughter of Lowell Dee Fraughton and Bernice Dixon. Married John Marvin Lange on June 15, 1949, in the Salt Lake LDS temple.
"Attended school in Provo and Salt Lake City, where she graduated from East High School in 1945 and the University of Utah in 1949. She taught first grade at Wasatch Elementary [for one year] before moving in 1954 to San Gabriel, California. In 1987 she returned with her husband to Bountiful.
"Active in the LDS Church, she held many positions in the Sunday School, Primary, and Relief Society. She delighted in her family, especially her grandchildren who loved her dearly. She spent her life serving others and being a generous friend and neighbor. She had a special gift of bringing family and friends together and loved to host them in her home.
"Survived by her husband, Marvin; daughter, Claudia (and Dean) Cleverly, Bountiful; son, David (and Janice) Lange, La Crescenta, California; and 14 grandchildren. Preceded in death by her parents and her only sister, Patricia Fraughton Smedley Hunter."
REMARKS
Prior to the foundations of this world, in heavenly council with our spiritual parents, brothers, and sisters, the plan of mortal life was presented to us all. We were to receive a mortal body and be guided through trials and tests by earthly parents. This transition from spiritual preexistence to mortal existence is called birth.
We have all made this transition. Even our Savior, Jesus Christ, was required to enter this earthly realm the same way.
Even as birth was the way we arrived to begin our test here, death will be the means by which we will pass from this earth back to a spiritual existence, to await the reuniting of our resurrected body and spirit, having been tried and tested, never to die physically again, exalted and glorified through our faithfulness while in this proba-tionary state.
Our Savior was released from these earthly bonds this same way as well.
We mourn today, not the death of Barbara Lange, but we mourn our temporary loss. I emphasize our loss as well as temporary, for we believe, as did this faithful woman, that death was as I described—a welcome return to a limitless coexistence with Deity, even eternal life. What a glorious promise!
Who would not look forward to such a promise? To rise with a perfected, resurrected body and continue to serve man and God as one has served on earth, but without the earthly restrictions and imperfections of the natural man.
I emphasize our loss because we have been separated from a wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. This will create an admitted and understandable void in our lives.
I also emphasize temporary because we too, at some future time, must pass from here to there by means of death, at which time we will have the opportunity to see those waiting for us to return.
Barbara Lange understood and accepted these eternal principles and would admonish us to continue in the paths of righteousness.
As the Lord disclosed to His apostles the certainty of His approaching death and resurrection, He gave them a blessing, which may appropriately be extended to each of us here today. "Peace I leave with you," He said, "my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).
Permit me a brief quote from the late President Harold B. Lee: "Having gone through some similar experiences in losing loved ones in death, I speak from personal experience when I say to you who mourn, do not try to live too many days ahead. The all-important thing is not that tragedies and sorrows come into our lives, but what we do with them. Death of a loved one is the most severe test that you will ever face, and if you can rise above your griefs and if you will trust in God, then you will be able to surmount any other difficulty with which you may be faced" (Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 53).
I bear solemn witness of the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know by the powers of inspiration and revelation that God lives, that the Lord will come again to the earth in power and bring with Him those who have been faithful. I further testify that the faithful, whose bodies yet lie in their graves, will be resurrected and caught up to meet Him in glory.
I fervently pray that our lives may be so ordered that on that day, at the appointed signal, we may be ushered into the presence of loved ones once again, and that we may merit their never-ending association, for this is the plan. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Brothers, sisters, and friends, we are here today as an expression of our love and respect for Barbara Lange, who passed away last Thursday evening, February 24, here in Bountiful.
These services are under the direction of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I am Bishop Richard R. Clegg of the Mueller Park Ninth Ward, whom the family has asked to conduct these services. I wish to extend to Marvin, Claudia, and David my deepest sympathy and love on this sacred occasion as we honor and pay tribute to their mother and sweetheart.
Seated on the stand with me is Alan Collier, who is a counselor in the Ninth ward bishopric and who will be conducting the grave-side services.
We want to thank Nan Knoles for the music provided in these services. As part of these services, the family prayer was offered by J. Marvin Lange. The opening song will be "I Am a Child of God," sung by Barbara’s grandchildren. The invocation will be offered by a neighbor and friend, John Harmer.
OBITUARY
"Barbara Jean Fraughton Lange, 65, died February 24, 1994, in Bountiful.
"Born April 27, 1928, in Salt Lake City, the daughter of Lowell Dee Fraughton and Bernice Dixon. Married John Marvin Lange on June 15, 1949, in the Salt Lake LDS temple.
"Attended school in Provo and Salt Lake City, where she graduated from East High School in 1945 and the University of Utah in 1949. She taught first grade at Wasatch Elementary [for one year] before moving in 1954 to San Gabriel, California. In 1987 she returned with her husband to Bountiful.
"Active in the LDS Church, she held many positions in the Sunday School, Primary, and Relief Society. She delighted in her family, especially her grandchildren who loved her dearly. She spent her life serving others and being a generous friend and neighbor. She had a special gift of bringing family and friends together and loved to host them in her home.
"Survived by her husband, Marvin; daughter, Claudia (and Dean) Cleverly, Bountiful; son, David (and Janice) Lange, La Crescenta, California; and 14 grandchildren. Preceded in death by her parents and her only sister, Patricia Fraughton Smedley Hunter."
REMARKS
Prior to the foundations of this world, in heavenly council with our spiritual parents, brothers, and sisters, the plan of mortal life was presented to us all. We were to receive a mortal body and be guided through trials and tests by earthly parents. This transition from spiritual preexistence to mortal existence is called birth.
We have all made this transition. Even our Savior, Jesus Christ, was required to enter this earthly realm the same way.
Even as birth was the way we arrived to begin our test here, death will be the means by which we will pass from this earth back to a spiritual existence, to await the reuniting of our resurrected body and spirit, having been tried and tested, never to die physically again, exalted and glorified through our faithfulness while in this proba-tionary state.
Our Savior was released from these earthly bonds this same way as well.
We mourn today, not the death of Barbara Lange, but we mourn our temporary loss. I emphasize our loss as well as temporary, for we believe, as did this faithful woman, that death was as I described—a welcome return to a limitless coexistence with Deity, even eternal life. What a glorious promise!
Who would not look forward to such a promise? To rise with a perfected, resurrected body and continue to serve man and God as one has served on earth, but without the earthly restrictions and imperfections of the natural man.
I emphasize our loss because we have been separated from a wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. This will create an admitted and understandable void in our lives.
I also emphasize temporary because we too, at some future time, must pass from here to there by means of death, at which time we will have the opportunity to see those waiting for us to return.
Barbara Lange understood and accepted these eternal principles and would admonish us to continue in the paths of righteousness.
As the Lord disclosed to His apostles the certainty of His approaching death and resurrection, He gave them a blessing, which may appropriately be extended to each of us here today. "Peace I leave with you," He said, "my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).
Permit me a brief quote from the late President Harold B. Lee: "Having gone through some similar experiences in losing loved ones in death, I speak from personal experience when I say to you who mourn, do not try to live too many days ahead. The all-important thing is not that tragedies and sorrows come into our lives, but what we do with them. Death of a loved one is the most severe test that you will ever face, and if you can rise above your griefs and if you will trust in God, then you will be able to surmount any other difficulty with which you may be faced" (Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 53).
I bear solemn witness of the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know by the powers of inspiration and revelation that God lives, that the Lord will come again to the earth in power and bring with Him those who have been faithful. I further testify that the faithful, whose bodies yet lie in their graves, will be resurrected and caught up to meet Him in glory.
I fervently pray that our lives may be so ordered that on that day, at the appointed signal, we may be ushered into the presence of loved ones once again, and that we may merit their never-ending association, for this is the plan. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
71. Angels and Ministers of Grace
A funeral sermon I preached on Tuesday, December 28, 1993, at the funeral of my grandmother, Hazel Jane Lee Batt Pledger (1894–1993), who at her death on Christmas Eve in 1993 was in her 100th year of life. The talk was published in the Family Journal on November 20, 1995, the 101st anniversary of her birth. This talk is also found in chapter 26 of Batt & Lee Ancestors.
Last Friday morning, after learning that Hazel had passed away, I told our children that Grandma had died. Our ten-year-old Eliza, with wisdom far beyond her years, asked, "Is that good or bad?"
"Good," I replied. Very good, indeed. In fact, as I reflected further upon it, I could not think of a single reason why we would consider it bad. Grandma had gone home for Christmas.
Hazel Jane Lee was born November 20, 1894, in Milo, Bonneville County, Idaho, the sixth of eleven children born to Orrin Strong Lee Jr. and Martha Jane White. At the time Milo was known as Leorin, so named after her father or grandfather, both of whom were named Orrin Lee; before that the area was also known as Willow Creek.
Ten years earlier, in 1884, her parents, who had been married not quite two years, came in late November to eastern Idaho, still six years away from statehood. The young couple arrived in Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls), having traveled for 11 days by wagon in cold, bleak weather. They spent the winter with Martha’s sister and her husband in the Willow Creek area.
The next spring they drove around the valley looking for suitable land and finally filed a homestead claim on 160 acres covered with heavy sagebrush growing in excellent soil. That first year they cleared only an acre and a half, on which they planted wheat and alfalfa. The first crop of wheat yielded sixty bushels to the acre.
Their first home was a one-room log cabin, which Orrin built with cottonwood logs he cut on the island east of Menan. As the family grew, Orrin added two rooms to their home. Later, the original log room was taken down and a two-story frame building added on to the two rooms. It was into this home that Hazel was born on November 20, 1894.
In 1906, at a cost of $7,000, the home was completely modernized, including a pressure water system and a telephone, one of the finest homes in the valley. Eighteen months later, on April 27, 1908, when Hazel was fourteen, a fire destroyed the home. I can remember Grandma's telling me about seeing the flames in the distance as she was returning home from school.
That summer Orrin's hair turned white. Discouraged, the family moved their few remaining belongings into the apple cellar and set about rebuilding the house.
Hazel’s mother did a lot of sewing for the neighbors because she had the only sewing machine in the area. She was an artist with a needle, crochet hook, and knitting needle. She was a master gardener and took much pride in her flowers and gardens. The Lee homestead had a fruit orchard, beautiful trees, shrubs, big lawns, flowers everywhere, and always a big vegetable garden whose produce was freely shared by all. From 1892 until 1910 she operated the Leorin post office out of their home. She was long involved in the work of Relief Society. For six years she served as a trustee of the local school district.
Is it any wonder Dorothy and Ruth and Bill and Berniece remember the things they do about their mother, as we've heard in these earlier tributes: her industry, her thrift, her insistence on a job well done, her devotion to duty.
In the years right before World War I, Hazel left the pastoral scenes of her childhood in eastern Idaho and went off to school to attend the Utah Agricultural College in Logan. There she met, became acquainted with, and fell in love with one of the stars of the football team, William B. Batt. They were married in the Logan Temple on October 8, 1914. The next year Dorothy was born, and only weeks later they were off to Idaho, where they would live in various locations throughout southeastern Idaho and northern Utah while Grandpa taught school. Ruth came the following year, 1916. Bill was born in 1921. And Berniece in 1923.
Jackie, as she read Dorothy's tribute, summarized in fine fashion the middle years of Grandma’s life—her severe illness during World War II that nearly cost her her life, her finishing her college degree, her teaching school in Idaho, her mission to New England, Grandpa’s death in the mission field on February 4, 1959, and the lonely years that followed after that.
And then Harry Pledger came into her life. On March 1, 1973, Hazel and Harry were married for time only in the Ogden Temple. Grandma had been a widow for fourteen years. She was 78 years old. They had a good decade of wonderful time together before their advancing years started to catch up with them and their health started to fail them. After the floods in the spring of 1983, which forced them to evacuate their Farmington home, Harry declined until his death on January 13, 1985.
For a second time she buried a husband. A little over two years earlier she had buried her oldest daughter, Dorothy, my mother. She never thought she would live to see the day one of her children would go before she did.
She is survived by three of her four children: Ruth Tovey of Bountiful, Bill Batt of Spokane, and Berniece Palmer of Tooele. And, according to our best calculation, by 26 grandchildren, 104 great-grandchildren, 60 great-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-great-granddaughter. She is also survived by one brother, Perry Lee of Butte, Montana.
There is in the revelations what has been called the "law of the mourner." In it the Lord says, "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die, and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection" (D&C 42:45).
That much of the revelation does not apply in this particular case, but the next verse does: "And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them" (D&C 42:46).
And that does apply to Grandma. She is one who, from everything I understand about the scriptures, qualifies as one who has, to use the Lord’s terminology, "died in me." She has been faithful. She has endured to the end. She has hope of a glorious resurrection. She has died in the Lord. And that is why there is really no sadness, but rather rejoicing, on this occasion.
Grandma turned 99 on November 20 of this year. She was in her 100th year. Imagine the incredible things she witnessed during the century that she lived—from the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk to men walking on the moon, from the days of horse and buggy to modern means of rapid travel and nearly instant communication.
In November 1894, when she was born, Wilford Woodruff was the President of the Church and would be for another four years. The Salt Lake Temple had been dedicated just a year and a half earlier. The Manifesto, which announced the end of plural marriage in the Church, was only four years past. She would be four and a half years old when Lorenzo Snow, the next President of the Church, traveled to St. George, in southern Utah, to receive the revelation on tithing that was depicted in the Church movie The Windows of Heaven. She would be nearly seven years old when President Snow died and Joseph F. Smith became the next President of the Church. She has lived during the administrations of 10 of the 13 Prophets who have presided over the Church.
In November 1894, when she was born, Idaho had been a state less than five years. Statehood for Utah was still a year in the future. Grover Cleveland was the president of the United States (his second time around). William McKinley would be elected in 1896, just before her second birthday, and would lead the country through the Spanish–American War. President McKinley would be assassinated in 1901, just shortly into his second term and during Hazel’s seventh year.
She lived to see the beginning of the fulfillment of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s prophecy on Christmas Day 1832 that "the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations" (D&C 87:2). World War I—that war to end all wars—was raging in Europe during the years Hazel was marrying and beginning her family. A generation later, as World War II erupted, she would see her only son Bill in the uniform of his country. And she lived to witness the incredible world events that all of us have seen, as prophesied by President Spencer W. Kimball, in these closing years of the twentieth century.
A personal note before I close. I inherited from both my grandmother and my mother a love for reading. In one of Shakespeare’s immortal plays, Hamlet wisely implored, "Angels and ministers of grace defend us!" (Hamlet, act 1, scene 4, line 39). Angels and ministers of grace! All of us, I am convinced, both need and in fact receive far more help in our daily lives than we realize from the angels and ministers of grace who surround us—on both sides of the veil.
Grandma was just such an angel and minister of grace in my young life. Our family moved from Oregon to Idaho in the early spring of 1959, just shortly after Grandpa Batt died in the mission field. I was nine years old. And shy. And probably having a difficult time with leaving the people and surroundings that I had been used to. That was the first time I had ever moved, and when we went to church in the old Nampa Second Ward I was put in the wrong Sunday School class. Well, a week or so later, after I discovered that error, I was so embarrassed that I decided I could never go back to church again.
And somehow, it seems incredible to me now, my parents let me persist in my inactivity for several weeks or months, and I shudder to think how different my life could have been had that continued. But then Grandma came to visit. Sunday morning came, and to Grandma it was unthinkable that a nine-year-old grandson of hers would not be in church on Sunday, and so I went and have been ever since. Angels and ministers of grace!
A few years later, when I was 11 and 12, we would go visit Grandma, who then lived next door to the Palmers in Grantsville. I loved to hear Grandma tell of her experiences in the mission field in New England. And to hear her talk about the gospel. She fired in me what has become a life-long love affair with the holy scriptures. It was probably she, more than any other person, who got me to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover when I was only twelve. And how that marvelous book has changed my life. All our lives. Angels and ministers of grace!
Well, in conclusion. Grandma has gone home. I can only imagine how sweet the reunions have been on the other side. What a neat Christmas present!
Elder Orson F. Whitney, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve earlier in this century, once said: "A funeral sermon is not for the benefit of the departed; rather it is for the good of those who remain. The dead, as we call them—though they are no more dead than we are, and are as much alive now as ever—are beyond our reach, just as they are beyond our vision. We cannot add to any¬thing that they have done, nor can we take anything away. They have made their record and are in the keeping of a higher Power. But we can do something to comfort those who mourn, and by acts of kindness lessen human suffering. Our Father in heaven expects this at our hands" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 3).
Hazel has now gone into the spirit world. "And where is this spirit world?" asked Elder Whitney in a funeral sermon he delivered in 1918, when Grandma was a young mother only 24 years old. "Is it off in some distant part of the universe? Do we sail away into space millions of miles in order to get there? No. The spirit world, according to Joseph Smith, is right around us. Our dead friends, as we call them—our departed loved ones—are very near us, so near, the Prophet says, that they are often grieved by what we do and say. To get into the spirit world, we have only to pass out of the body.
"The spirit world, as I understand it, is the spirit of this planet. When God made the earth he made it twice. When he made man he made him twice. When he made the animals, the fishes, and the fowls, he made them twice. When he made the beautiful flowers, such as you see here today, he made them twice. First as spirits and then as bodies, and when the spirits entered their bodies they became souls. This is the teaching of modern revelation; the teaching of Joseph Smith. God made the earth first as a spirit and then gave it a body, and what we call the spirit world is simply the spiritual half of the sphere we dwell in" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 8).
Earth life is a school. "This earth was made for God’s children, his spirit sons and daughters, who take bodies and pass through experiences of joy and sorrow for their development and education, and to demonstrate through time’s vicissitudes that they will be true to God and do all that he requires at their hands.
"When we have done the things that we were sent to do," continued Elder Whitney, "when we have gained all the experience that this life affords, then is the best time to depart. School being out, why not go home? The mission ended, why not return? That is what death means to a Latter-day Saint. The only sad thing about it is parting with the loved ones who go, . . . but it is simply a passing into the spirit world, to await the resurrection, when our bodies and spirits will be reunited—the righteous to enjoy the presence of God.
"If we can be patient and resigned, and by God’s help do his holy will, all will come out well. Trials purify us, educate us, develop us. The great reason why man was placed upon the earth was that he might become more like his Father and God. That is why we are here, children at school. What matters it when school is out and the time comes to go back home?" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 9–11).
We have paid tributes to Hazel today, but the ultimate tribute is the way we live our lives in quiet devotion to the cause of the Master whom she loved and followed. On her 80th birthday, back in 1974, at my invitation Grandma wrote a birthday greeting to all her family. I close with the words that she wrote on that occasion nearly two decades ago:
"As our eightieth year has arrived, there are many lessons we have learned and many, many things we have neglected to do. It is of these procrastinations I would warn you.
"I have had many people ask me, 'When do you think one should start to train a child?' And my answer has always been, 'Before they are born.' We cannot wait until a child is half past seven, depending on the Church to prepare them for baptism.
"All the beauty, value, and wonder of this great privilege should fall upon the parents. The same is true of celestial marriage, a mission, living a clean life, just to mention a few. This should be the very atmosphere of their lives from infancy—not preached or forced upon them, just lived day by day.
"So once again," she continues to write, "do not put off until tomorrow learning the things the Lord would have us do and, in turn, passing this knowledge on to your children, relatives, friends, and 'the stranger within your gates.'
"Pay your tithes and offerings in full. Be diligent in your prayers, and from long experience, I can guarantee that the Lord will bless and guide you beyond your wildest dreams.
"If I have influenced or helped any of you through the years, I am humbly grateful. We love you and pray for you." Signed Grandma Hazel.
God lives. His Son, whose birth we've just celebrated, lives. They send angels and ministers of grace into our lives to bless us everlastingly. Such has been the life of Hazel Jane Lee Batt Pledger. May we, like her, be as the Book of Mormon writer described, "instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good" (Mosiah 27:36–37).
May we go and do likewise, I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Last Friday morning, after learning that Hazel had passed away, I told our children that Grandma had died. Our ten-year-old Eliza, with wisdom far beyond her years, asked, "Is that good or bad?"
"Good," I replied. Very good, indeed. In fact, as I reflected further upon it, I could not think of a single reason why we would consider it bad. Grandma had gone home for Christmas.
Hazel Jane Lee was born November 20, 1894, in Milo, Bonneville County, Idaho, the sixth of eleven children born to Orrin Strong Lee Jr. and Martha Jane White. At the time Milo was known as Leorin, so named after her father or grandfather, both of whom were named Orrin Lee; before that the area was also known as Willow Creek.
Ten years earlier, in 1884, her parents, who had been married not quite two years, came in late November to eastern Idaho, still six years away from statehood. The young couple arrived in Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls), having traveled for 11 days by wagon in cold, bleak weather. They spent the winter with Martha’s sister and her husband in the Willow Creek area.
The next spring they drove around the valley looking for suitable land and finally filed a homestead claim on 160 acres covered with heavy sagebrush growing in excellent soil. That first year they cleared only an acre and a half, on which they planted wheat and alfalfa. The first crop of wheat yielded sixty bushels to the acre.
Their first home was a one-room log cabin, which Orrin built with cottonwood logs he cut on the island east of Menan. As the family grew, Orrin added two rooms to their home. Later, the original log room was taken down and a two-story frame building added on to the two rooms. It was into this home that Hazel was born on November 20, 1894.
In 1906, at a cost of $7,000, the home was completely modernized, including a pressure water system and a telephone, one of the finest homes in the valley. Eighteen months later, on April 27, 1908, when Hazel was fourteen, a fire destroyed the home. I can remember Grandma's telling me about seeing the flames in the distance as she was returning home from school.
That summer Orrin's hair turned white. Discouraged, the family moved their few remaining belongings into the apple cellar and set about rebuilding the house.
Hazel’s mother did a lot of sewing for the neighbors because she had the only sewing machine in the area. She was an artist with a needle, crochet hook, and knitting needle. She was a master gardener and took much pride in her flowers and gardens. The Lee homestead had a fruit orchard, beautiful trees, shrubs, big lawns, flowers everywhere, and always a big vegetable garden whose produce was freely shared by all. From 1892 until 1910 she operated the Leorin post office out of their home. She was long involved in the work of Relief Society. For six years she served as a trustee of the local school district.
Is it any wonder Dorothy and Ruth and Bill and Berniece remember the things they do about their mother, as we've heard in these earlier tributes: her industry, her thrift, her insistence on a job well done, her devotion to duty.
In the years right before World War I, Hazel left the pastoral scenes of her childhood in eastern Idaho and went off to school to attend the Utah Agricultural College in Logan. There she met, became acquainted with, and fell in love with one of the stars of the football team, William B. Batt. They were married in the Logan Temple on October 8, 1914. The next year Dorothy was born, and only weeks later they were off to Idaho, where they would live in various locations throughout southeastern Idaho and northern Utah while Grandpa taught school. Ruth came the following year, 1916. Bill was born in 1921. And Berniece in 1923.
Jackie, as she read Dorothy's tribute, summarized in fine fashion the middle years of Grandma’s life—her severe illness during World War II that nearly cost her her life, her finishing her college degree, her teaching school in Idaho, her mission to New England, Grandpa’s death in the mission field on February 4, 1959, and the lonely years that followed after that.
And then Harry Pledger came into her life. On March 1, 1973, Hazel and Harry were married for time only in the Ogden Temple. Grandma had been a widow for fourteen years. She was 78 years old. They had a good decade of wonderful time together before their advancing years started to catch up with them and their health started to fail them. After the floods in the spring of 1983, which forced them to evacuate their Farmington home, Harry declined until his death on January 13, 1985.
For a second time she buried a husband. A little over two years earlier she had buried her oldest daughter, Dorothy, my mother. She never thought she would live to see the day one of her children would go before she did.
She is survived by three of her four children: Ruth Tovey of Bountiful, Bill Batt of Spokane, and Berniece Palmer of Tooele. And, according to our best calculation, by 26 grandchildren, 104 great-grandchildren, 60 great-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-great-granddaughter. She is also survived by one brother, Perry Lee of Butte, Montana.
There is in the revelations what has been called the "law of the mourner." In it the Lord says, "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die, and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection" (D&C 42:45).
That much of the revelation does not apply in this particular case, but the next verse does: "And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them" (D&C 42:46).
And that does apply to Grandma. She is one who, from everything I understand about the scriptures, qualifies as one who has, to use the Lord’s terminology, "died in me." She has been faithful. She has endured to the end. She has hope of a glorious resurrection. She has died in the Lord. And that is why there is really no sadness, but rather rejoicing, on this occasion.
Grandma turned 99 on November 20 of this year. She was in her 100th year. Imagine the incredible things she witnessed during the century that she lived—from the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk to men walking on the moon, from the days of horse and buggy to modern means of rapid travel and nearly instant communication.
In November 1894, when she was born, Wilford Woodruff was the President of the Church and would be for another four years. The Salt Lake Temple had been dedicated just a year and a half earlier. The Manifesto, which announced the end of plural marriage in the Church, was only four years past. She would be four and a half years old when Lorenzo Snow, the next President of the Church, traveled to St. George, in southern Utah, to receive the revelation on tithing that was depicted in the Church movie The Windows of Heaven. She would be nearly seven years old when President Snow died and Joseph F. Smith became the next President of the Church. She has lived during the administrations of 10 of the 13 Prophets who have presided over the Church.
In November 1894, when she was born, Idaho had been a state less than five years. Statehood for Utah was still a year in the future. Grover Cleveland was the president of the United States (his second time around). William McKinley would be elected in 1896, just before her second birthday, and would lead the country through the Spanish–American War. President McKinley would be assassinated in 1901, just shortly into his second term and during Hazel’s seventh year.
She lived to see the beginning of the fulfillment of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s prophecy on Christmas Day 1832 that "the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations" (D&C 87:2). World War I—that war to end all wars—was raging in Europe during the years Hazel was marrying and beginning her family. A generation later, as World War II erupted, she would see her only son Bill in the uniform of his country. And she lived to witness the incredible world events that all of us have seen, as prophesied by President Spencer W. Kimball, in these closing years of the twentieth century.
A personal note before I close. I inherited from both my grandmother and my mother a love for reading. In one of Shakespeare’s immortal plays, Hamlet wisely implored, "Angels and ministers of grace defend us!" (Hamlet, act 1, scene 4, line 39). Angels and ministers of grace! All of us, I am convinced, both need and in fact receive far more help in our daily lives than we realize from the angels and ministers of grace who surround us—on both sides of the veil.
Grandma was just such an angel and minister of grace in my young life. Our family moved from Oregon to Idaho in the early spring of 1959, just shortly after Grandpa Batt died in the mission field. I was nine years old. And shy. And probably having a difficult time with leaving the people and surroundings that I had been used to. That was the first time I had ever moved, and when we went to church in the old Nampa Second Ward I was put in the wrong Sunday School class. Well, a week or so later, after I discovered that error, I was so embarrassed that I decided I could never go back to church again.
And somehow, it seems incredible to me now, my parents let me persist in my inactivity for several weeks or months, and I shudder to think how different my life could have been had that continued. But then Grandma came to visit. Sunday morning came, and to Grandma it was unthinkable that a nine-year-old grandson of hers would not be in church on Sunday, and so I went and have been ever since. Angels and ministers of grace!
A few years later, when I was 11 and 12, we would go visit Grandma, who then lived next door to the Palmers in Grantsville. I loved to hear Grandma tell of her experiences in the mission field in New England. And to hear her talk about the gospel. She fired in me what has become a life-long love affair with the holy scriptures. It was probably she, more than any other person, who got me to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover when I was only twelve. And how that marvelous book has changed my life. All our lives. Angels and ministers of grace!
Well, in conclusion. Grandma has gone home. I can only imagine how sweet the reunions have been on the other side. What a neat Christmas present!
Elder Orson F. Whitney, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve earlier in this century, once said: "A funeral sermon is not for the benefit of the departed; rather it is for the good of those who remain. The dead, as we call them—though they are no more dead than we are, and are as much alive now as ever—are beyond our reach, just as they are beyond our vision. We cannot add to any¬thing that they have done, nor can we take anything away. They have made their record and are in the keeping of a higher Power. But we can do something to comfort those who mourn, and by acts of kindness lessen human suffering. Our Father in heaven expects this at our hands" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 3).
Hazel has now gone into the spirit world. "And where is this spirit world?" asked Elder Whitney in a funeral sermon he delivered in 1918, when Grandma was a young mother only 24 years old. "Is it off in some distant part of the universe? Do we sail away into space millions of miles in order to get there? No. The spirit world, according to Joseph Smith, is right around us. Our dead friends, as we call them—our departed loved ones—are very near us, so near, the Prophet says, that they are often grieved by what we do and say. To get into the spirit world, we have only to pass out of the body.
"The spirit world, as I understand it, is the spirit of this planet. When God made the earth he made it twice. When he made man he made him twice. When he made the animals, the fishes, and the fowls, he made them twice. When he made the beautiful flowers, such as you see here today, he made them twice. First as spirits and then as bodies, and when the spirits entered their bodies they became souls. This is the teaching of modern revelation; the teaching of Joseph Smith. God made the earth first as a spirit and then gave it a body, and what we call the spirit world is simply the spiritual half of the sphere we dwell in" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 8).
Earth life is a school. "This earth was made for God’s children, his spirit sons and daughters, who take bodies and pass through experiences of joy and sorrow for their development and education, and to demonstrate through time’s vicissitudes that they will be true to God and do all that he requires at their hands.
"When we have done the things that we were sent to do," continued Elder Whitney, "when we have gained all the experience that this life affords, then is the best time to depart. School being out, why not go home? The mission ended, why not return? That is what death means to a Latter-day Saint. The only sad thing about it is parting with the loved ones who go, . . . but it is simply a passing into the spirit world, to await the resurrection, when our bodies and spirits will be reunited—the righteous to enjoy the presence of God.
"If we can be patient and resigned, and by God’s help do his holy will, all will come out well. Trials purify us, educate us, develop us. The great reason why man was placed upon the earth was that he might become more like his Father and God. That is why we are here, children at school. What matters it when school is out and the time comes to go back home?" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, 9–11).
We have paid tributes to Hazel today, but the ultimate tribute is the way we live our lives in quiet devotion to the cause of the Master whom she loved and followed. On her 80th birthday, back in 1974, at my invitation Grandma wrote a birthday greeting to all her family. I close with the words that she wrote on that occasion nearly two decades ago:
"As our eightieth year has arrived, there are many lessons we have learned and many, many things we have neglected to do. It is of these procrastinations I would warn you.
"I have had many people ask me, 'When do you think one should start to train a child?' And my answer has always been, 'Before they are born.' We cannot wait until a child is half past seven, depending on the Church to prepare them for baptism.
"All the beauty, value, and wonder of this great privilege should fall upon the parents. The same is true of celestial marriage, a mission, living a clean life, just to mention a few. This should be the very atmosphere of their lives from infancy—not preached or forced upon them, just lived day by day.
"So once again," she continues to write, "do not put off until tomorrow learning the things the Lord would have us do and, in turn, passing this knowledge on to your children, relatives, friends, and 'the stranger within your gates.'
"Pay your tithes and offerings in full. Be diligent in your prayers, and from long experience, I can guarantee that the Lord will bless and guide you beyond your wildest dreams.
"If I have influenced or helped any of you through the years, I am humbly grateful. We love you and pray for you." Signed Grandma Hazel.
God lives. His Son, whose birth we've just celebrated, lives. They send angels and ministers of grace into our lives to bless us everlastingly. Such has been the life of Hazel Jane Lee Batt Pledger. May we, like her, be as the Book of Mormon writer described, "instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good" (Mosiah 27:36–37).
May we go and do likewise, I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
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