a sad day and a prayer.

A very dear friend of mine's nephew ended his fight with cancer last night. He was 10 years old, the same age as Anna, and has spent the last 4 years battling for his life. He fought bravely and even though we do not know this young hero personally we have been following his story and praying for him and his family since the beginning. We are so saddened for their loss, but are so grateful that they have the knowledge of the great plan of salvation. Grateful that they know their son is now in the arms of a very loving Heavenly Father. This young man did not want to think of his death as "dying", but as "passing on". He told his family that he was just going on to another place where he would be a missionary. He was happy to the very end and set a wonderful example of courage and faith for anyone who knew him to follow. I know that even though I never met him I will never forget him. I pray that his family will be able to feel the love of our Savior as they try to piece their lives back together. Some times people mistakenly think that because we know the plan we should not be sad when these tragedies happen. but that is far from the truth. I know they will grieve and it will be hard, unbearably hard at times, but I also know that they can lean on the Savior and with time he will swallow up the sting of death and they can find happiness again. It will take time... a very long time. Will they ever be the same as they were before? No. They will not. They should not. They have been changed forever. They will be stronger they will be better and they have more incentive than most to do their best so that they can return to our Lord and embrace their young missionary again. I will pray today that they will feel peace and love. That they will have the support they need and that they will be able to remember all the happy times. Good-bye young man and thank you for your example.