January 28, 2019

This week has been full of ups and downs. Sister 'Eliesa and I worked hard and got to see a lot of progress in our area, and with the people. On Saturday night we got a call from Sister 'Eliesa's uncle. She started crying, and even though I don't speak Tongan I knew what he was saying. We both started sobbing. Sister Eliesa's father Viliami passed away. He has been sick for a while, and they both knew when she left that it would probably be the last time they saw each other. That night I felt so deeply the pain of losing someone you love dearly. Sister 'Eliesa is the only companion I have had for longer than six weeks. We have a special bond. We understand each other on a very deep level. I love her because she truly is my sister. That night we just cried on the floor and hugged for a while. I felt so much love for her. I felt the love that Heavenly Father has for her. Through all the sorrow that we felt, there was such a strong feeling of peace. She told me how she is grateful that her father no longer has to suffer, and she knows now he can be reunited in the spirit world with her little brother and someday they all of them will be reunited. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation. I know that we have a loving father in heaven who created a plan for our happiness! He loves us, and his greatest desire is for us to be happy. He wisely allows us to pass through afflictions and trials, because he knows that is how we will best be able to grow. That is the whole purpose of our life here on earth is to learn how to progress and grow. "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." He wants us to be happy because he loves us. Without sorrow though we wouldn't truly have joy. There must be an opposition in all things. We get to experience this life, the good and the bad, and after that it is not over! We have the ability to return to live with our father in heaven! We all get to be resurrected, and we can be with our family once more! Experiencing the death of a loved one is very hard, but it is only that way because we will miss them for this very short duration we have on this earth. The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life. It's okay to have sorrow, it's okay to let ourselves love people with all that we have not fearing that they will one day be gone. Because death is not the end. Because of Jesus Christ the grave has no victory death has no sting. I am so grateful to know this for myself. I know it because I have felt the love that my Savior has for me, and for others. I know that his plan of love is for all of us on the earth. I am so grateful for this gospel and the peace that it brings. I love you all very much! 

Mitakuye Oyasin