God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again...

I'm sure that most of you have heard of the passing of Bishop Sannar by now. He was a great man, with a great family, who will miss him dearly. Its been a hard few days, and emotionally I'm sure we'll be experiencing quite the roller coaster. But in any time of Crisis, whenever we are faced with things that are just too depraved, too out of place to seem real, we can find peace, comfort, and serenity in the Gospel.

For example, we know that, through the Plan of Salvation, that Bishop will see and be with his family again. They were sealed together, and have the opportunity to live together for eternity. We know, that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the dead shall rise again. That his Resurrection is a gift that will come to all that have ever lived on this earth. That because he lived again, so too shall Bishop Sannar. We know that our Heavenly Father does not leave us alone. And that in any time of trial we can turn to him, that he will never forsake us, or let us endure anything that we cannot handle. We know that death is necessary, and far from the end of things. God has intended for each of us to die, what we may rise to the Resurrection of Eternal life, and that to do so death is necessary. For some it will be much shorter than others. For some it will be in such a way that leaves us asking "why?". We can find comfort in a phrase quoted by President Gordon B. Hinkley: "A righteous man will not die before his time." I don't pretend to know the answers to all the "why" questions, and I don't presume to know why God allowed this to happen at this time, but I do acknowledge that his understanding is infinitely greater than mine, and that whatever plan he proposes, whatever plan he puts in action, I will accept, and follow.

I have received a flood of emails these last couple days, from many of you whom I love. I appreciate them greatly, they were a great help and support to me. I would like to assure all of you that I am alright, both physically and emotionally. I am grieving, as is everyone else in this ward, and stake, but I will do everything I can to make this moment of time in my a life a time of progression, and not simply one of suffering, for myself and all who are around me. I apologize to those who I was not able to respond to. My time is limited, but I promise you that you are not forgotten, and should expect to hear from me soon.

I love and miss you all.