Maxfield Joys

My sweet little niece passed away last Wednesday night. Layne and I were able to attend the funeral in southern Utah while my wonderful mother-in-law came to stay with the kids so we didn't have to travel so far with all of them.



Even though we all knew this was coming, it was still a very sad, hard day. Mariahnna looked absolutely perfect and beautiful at the viewing. Their bishop spoke at the funeral and Layne and I both really liked what he said. He told the story of Jesus and raising Lazarus from the dead. What he pointed out was that at seeing Lazarus dead, Jesus himself groaned and mourned the loss of his friend. The bishop said that he felt like part of the reason he had to witness that was so he could understand how hard it is to watch someone you love die. He went on to remind us all that it is okay to grieve and mourn the loss of a loved one.




My dad also bore his testimony that Mariahnna is guaranteed the glory of the Celestial Kingdom as she kept her first and second estate. He reminded us that we all need to live worthy and do a little better so that we can be there with her too. It was such a nice, but emotional service.



At the cemetery, Audrey took the 6 boys, all in their white shirts and ties, and gave them each a pink balloon to release into the sky. It was sweet. One of the twins had written a letter to Mariahnna that he read and Mason had written a poem that Jason read for everyone. They were both very sweet.




Mariahnna touched many in her short life. She gave my little family the opportunity to pray for her and make the plan of salvation real to us. My kids are so young that when I told her she had passed away, Kennedy matter-of-factly said, "Now she's with Heavenly Father." Matthew said, "Mom, she'll be resurrected now." They keep asking when she will be coming back to earth. Oh to have the simple faith of a child.



I cannot imagine how hard it would be to lose a child, but I was reminded of the scripture in Psalms 55:22 "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee..." Our Heavenly Father doesn't expect us to do hard things like this alone; He is there to help us.