My dad was named after his father. Dad was the oldest of 10 children. His mother died of breast cancer when he was still a kid, long before I was ever born. But I always felt like I knew his mother because my dad always talked about her. He loved her so much!
His mother was a convert to the church. She was a petite little brunette, 5ft 2 and never weighed more than 100 pounds. Even though she was very small, she had a giant soul. She served in the army, that's where she and my grandpa met. He instantly fell in love with her small figure and feisty southern personality. One day he saw her passing by the army barracks and whistled at her. She turned around with a wink in her eye and flirted, "Well, if you can't howl, don't even bother to whistle!" My grandpa was instantly smitten. He loved to tell that story.
When my dad was one year old, he was sealed to his parents in the Temple. He actually has some memory of that special day as crazy as that might seem for a one-yr-old to remember, but he does. Anyway, I loved the stories my dad would tell me about his mom. It was my way of "getting to know her."
His mother was a convert to the church. She was a petite little brunette, 5ft 2 and never weighed more than 100 pounds. Even though she was very small, she had a giant soul. She served in the army, that's where she and my grandpa met. He instantly fell in love with her small figure and feisty southern personality. One day he saw her passing by the army barracks and whistled at her. She turned around with a wink in her eye and flirted, "Well, if you can't howl, don't even bother to whistle!" My grandpa was instantly smitten. He loved to tell that story.
When my dad was one year old, he was sealed to his parents in the Temple. He actually has some memory of that special day as crazy as that might seem for a one-yr-old to remember, but he does. Anyway, I loved the stories my dad would tell me about his mom. It was my way of "getting to know her."
One day, the day before Memorial Day, when my daughter was two years old, I was doing my hair getting ready for church. I could hear Miriam's cute little voice chattering to herself as she playfully took toothbrushes and pretended they were people. I stopped for a moment to peak around the corner to observe her playing. I stood there for a while just soaking in how adorable she was and how much I loved her. Then I went back to getting ready for church and tuned into KSL radio to a listen to a Church broadcast in honor of the Memorial Day weekend.
I started to think about Memorial Day and remembered how dad always used to take us to his mother's grave every single year as a family. I thought of how long it had been since I had returned. I must have stopped going after I got married. "I should go visit her grave tomorrow", the thought popped into my head... but then I started to rationalize
"I'm too busy tomorrow."
"It's just a grave site, her spirit's not there anyway."
"Besides, why would she care if I visit, she doesn't even know me."
Then I heard a voice speak to my mind and heart, "Oh, I know you! I know you more than you know your little girl in the other room. I know you very, very well." It was then that I caught a vision of a mother's love that extends through generations. I looked again at Miriam who was playing and thought, "That's right. It wouldn't matter if it was her child or her children's children. She's my girl... I'm fully invested in her and all her posterity forever and ever and nothing would or could change that... not even death."
"I'm too busy tomorrow."
"It's just a grave site, her spirit's not there anyway."
"Besides, why would she care if I visit, she doesn't even know me."
Then I heard a voice speak to my mind and heart, "Oh, I know you! I know you more than you know your little girl in the other room. I know you very, very well." It was then that I caught a vision of a mother's love that extends through generations. I looked again at Miriam who was playing and thought, "That's right. It wouldn't matter if it was her child or her children's children. She's my girl... I'm fully invested in her and all her posterity forever and ever and nothing would or could change that... not even death."
The radio continued to play in the background and then I heard the man giving the sermon quote from Malachi and the verse about the Spirit of Elijah, "He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." And I was reminded of my patriarchal blessing where it said, "Their hearts are already turned to you, Alicia. And when yours is sufficiently turned to them, you will have this glorious experience and be a Savior on Mt. Zion." Tears began streaming down my face and I felt the presence of my grandmother so strong as if she were there wrapping her arms around me.
I went to her grave the next day and knelt down as I placed the flowers. I said a prayer and asked for forgiveness for not realizing before how very aware she was of me and for not turning my heart to her sooner. Since then, I have slowly picked away at family search and discovered that out of all my family lines, her's seemed to have the most work waiting to be done. Most of the names I have taken to the Temple have been through her tree. It has been a wonderful experience.
I believe in angels. I believe heaven is closer than we realize.
Joseph F. Smith Taught,
“I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … If this is the case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses, … how much more certain it is … to believe that those who have been faithful, who have gone beyond … can see us better than we can see them; that they know us better than we know them. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; … their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves."
I believe in angels. I believe heaven is closer than we realize.
Joseph F. Smith Taught,
“I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … If this is the case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses, … how much more certain it is … to believe that those who have been faithful, who have gone beyond … can see us better than we can see them; that they know us better than we know them. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; … their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves."
John Taylor also testified,
"God lives, and his eyes are over us, and his angels are round and about us, and they are more interested in us than we are in ourselves, ten thousand times, but we do not know it"
I pray we will have eyes to see beyond the veil of this life, I know it will happen when we turn our hearts to those who have gone before us, who love us so deeply. As we do all we can to make the blessings of the Temple available to them, we will feel their presence more closely in our lives and have their protection.
-Alicia
I pray we will have eyes to see beyond the veil of this life, I know it will happen when we turn our hearts to those who have gone before us, who love us so deeply. As we do all we can to make the blessings of the Temple available to them, we will feel their presence more closely in our lives and have their protection.
-Alicia
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