Life and Death

Life is such a beautiful thing.

It's not always a walk in the park, but the trials we face are what make us who we are.
In those times of hardship I have tried to find comfort in my Savior Jesus Christ.
He knows exactly what I am going through, because he has been through it too.
He knows me better then I even know myself.
Isn't that a beautiful and comforting thing?
I am so grateful for that knowledge, and for the relationship I have with my Savior.
Life can also be very unexpected.
On November 20th, 2012, one of my best friends Madeline Rose was killed in a car accident.
It has been the most difficult thing for me to get through in my life.
I don't want to get into all of that right now, that's for another time.
But I would like to share something I heard in church today.
So this past week has been extremely hard for me.
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of her, but just specifically a couple of days ago I just completely broke down.
It's like I almost forgot that she was gone.
It honestly scared me a little bit, and it's been weighing on my mind and heart a lot the past few days.
So then today a man from our stake got up to give a short message.
He said that he felt impressed to tell us this specific experience that he had.
He told us that the week before he attended the funeral of his sweet grandson, Mitchell.
Mitchell was born with Muscular Dystrophy, so they weren't expecting him to live past his teenage years.
(You can read all about his journey here.)
One night he heard his granddaughter, Mitchell's little four year old cousin, saying a prayer.
He heard her little voice tenderly ask Heavenly Father to give Mitchell a hug from her.
From the mouth of babes, right?
Hearing that story brought me to tears thinking about how much I wish I could hug Madeline again.
We can learn so much from little children and their honesty and innocence.
It's humbling to hear things like that.
It was a simple thing she asked for, yet so profound.
I'm so glad that that man listened to the Spirit and shared that beautiful story with us today.
I really needed to hear that.
And I think everyone really needs to hear this song.
It's called Life and Death by Michael Giacchino.
It was originally for the TV show LOST.
In the show when this song plays it's a scene where a man on the island is slowly dying, but at the same time a woman is giving birth to her first child.
It goes back and forth to these people in complete opposite situations.
It's absolutely beautiful.
But I love this song so much, and whenever I hear it I think of Madeline.
It's so beautiful.


C.