Monday, August 5, 2013

Blessings

On June 13, 2013 my Grandma and Grandpa Walker passed away in a head on  collision. Below I have posted their obituary from the Lethbridge Herald.

Tom & Marlyn Wilson (My mom's Dad and step mom) Gina Jackson (my Mom) Mrs. & Mr. Adam Bruce Jackson (my Dad) Jay Jackson (my Dad's Dad) and Morris & Mary Ann Walker (My Mom's Step Dad and Mom)

WALKER
MORRIS AND MARY ANN WALKER passed away suddenly, near Raymond on Thursday, June 13th, 2013.
Morris Glen Walker was born to Faye and Elsie Walker on April 26, 1944 in Raymond. He served an LDS mission in Japan & obtained a degree in Computer Science as well as studied Architectural Design & Drafting. Morris worked as a Journeyman Carpenter for most of his career. Morris had a great sense of humour, and enjoyed photography and spending time with his family.
Mary Ann Walker was born to George & Alberta Dudley on February 15th, 1937 in Magrath. Mary Ann attended BYU for two years. She loved to read, spend time at Waterton and St. Mary’s River and visit with her extensive family, especially the children and babies!
Morris & Mary Ann were married in the Cardston Alberta Temple April 2, 1980.
Morris and Mary Ann are survived by their children: Brian (Elizabeth) Walker; Diana Trimble; Cynthia Badarm – Takayla, Montana; Cordelle Badarm: Matayus; Tricia (Kevin) Nicol – Kyle, Jordan, Olivia; Gina (Bruce) Jackson – Jana (Shane) Adam, Christina (Patrick) Foote- Mikala, Jay , Talia (Jace) Kellogg-Lilly, Brandon, Kaylee, Sam, Matt, Amanda, Richard, Julia, Colton; Craig Wilson- Justin (Bonnie) Willson-Grace, Megan Wilson; Rick (Irene) Wilson- Amy(Skyler) VanWagoner, Tyler Wilson
They are also survived by Morris’ siblings: Eleanor (Gerry Johanson), Gail (Don) Quinton. Mary Ann’s siblings: Gaylon (Pat) Dudley, Mona (Earl) Smith, Dana (Raeldon) Barker, Jon (Melissa) Dudley, David (Sharon) Dudley, Grant Dudley, Brent (Regina) Dudley, Patricia (Guy) Lewis, Lori (Terry) Lyons. They are also survived by many nieces and nephews, and extensive extended family.
They are predeceased by their parents, as well as Morris’ Brother, Gary Walker & Mary Ann’s Sister, Janet Christensen.
Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday, June 18th at 2:00 p.m. at the Raymond Stake Centre, 2nd North, 200 West, Bishop Jim Steed officiating. Friends may meet the family on Monday evening, June 17, 2013 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m, or prior to the funeral service from 12:45 – 1:45 p.m.
Interment to follow in the Temple Hill Cemetery, Raymond.
Christensen Salmon Generations Funeral Home Ltd.
703-13 Street North
Lethbridge, AB   T1H 2T2
Phone: (403) 382-3601
Fax: (403) 320-1492
Email:  condolences@generationsfh.ca
Sign guest book:  www.generationsfh.ca

I miss them so much and I have been having a hard time with their passing. On Friday I was having a particularly hard time when I happened to come across this talk that I wrote in December. I literally felt like this was gods way of wrapping his arms of love and mercy around me.   



In the summer of 2008 Christian and Stephanie Nielson, parents of 4, were in a plane crash. Christian obtained severe burns over 30 % of his body and Stephanie was on the brink of death with burns over 80 % of her body.
Stephanie had been an avid blogger and this is what her sister wrote to let her readers know.
Hey Nie Readers,                                

c jane (Nie's sister) here, as some of you might have heard, Stephanie (Nie) and Christian were in a private airplane crash on Saturday evening. They are both being treated for serious injuries locally. The doctors told us that we are in for months of recovery.

Stephanie was in the hospital for the next five months, three of them she spent in a coma.
After she came out of the coma she had to re learn how to do everything. It was months before she could get out of bed and walk. It was just as long before she was able to look at herself in the mirror. Even after she went home from the hospital, she could not do many things on her own like bathe, prepare meals or care for her children. 


When Shane and I were on our honeymoon, I picked up the book "Heaven Is Here", written by Stephanie Nielson about her experience through her horrific trial. One of the reasons that I was drawn to the book was the fact that her father was Shane's mission president. I thought that it would give me insights into the kind of man that her father was, and the things that Shane may have learned from him as a missionary. The book did do that for me, and much more. As I read the book, and became acquainted with Stephanie and her family. I learned about a very beautiful woman who had to endure great trial and learn how to live her entire life again. When you hear about people going through things like this, you wonder, how did they make it? how did they get through this? Stephanie attributes her recovery and successes completely to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As Elder Holland is a personal friend of their family, he wrote a talk with them in mind, in which he said:


"When lonely, cold, hard times come, we have to endure. We have to continue. We have to persist...Keep knocking on that door. Keep pleading. In the meantime, know that God hears your cries, and knows your distress. He is your Father, and you are His child."


I love this quote from Elder Holland because it applies to each one of us as we go through life. We endure many trials. The way to get through them is to continue to persist. To keep knocking on that door. To keep praying to a Father who loves us. I know he hears and answers our prayers. These are the things that have been on my mind, as we've come to the end of 2012, and welcome in a new year.
For Christmas this year, Shane and I went to Alberta. We had the opportunity to go to the temple and see my youngest brother sealed to our family. I am the oldest of twelve children, my youngest brother is three. All of the kids in my family were there. Also there were my grandparents, my husband, two brother-in-laws, and aunts and uncles. When the sealing was complete my dad had all of us gather around the alter in the temple and look into the mirrors. As we looked, he said, "our family goes forever, and if you look way, way back, you can see great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents." Then we turned around and he said, "and in this mirror, maybe you can see the generations that are to come." He said to Colton, "perhaps you could see a daughter." The Spirit was so strong. Having that experience was a testimony to me of the sealing power. I know that we will have a forever-family. I know in order to do that, we must keep the covenants we have made. I believe that the best way to do this, is to focus on Christ.  That's what Stephanie Nielson did to get through the biggest trial of her life. That's what each of us must do to get through every single day.
Another thing that I did for Christmas this year was to make miniature stockings for each person in my family for the Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve, I handed out the stockings, and read portions of the section on Christlike Attributes in Preach My Gospel, which are faith, hope, charity and love, virtue, knowledge, patience, humility, diligence, and obedience. As part of this new tradition, we each took a few minutes, and pondered and chose one of these attributes to work on and develop, to give as a gift to Christ to celebrate his birth. We then wrote that attribute down and slipped it into our stocking to review next year at Christmas.
Now, as we enter into the new year, it is a time to reflect on the lessons that we have learned, and to set goals to better ourselves. I would encourage each of you to set your goals centered around Christ, because he is the only way.  Something Stephanie Nielson always says is, "this is my new life." She feels like a different person, but she is still the same person, trying to figure out how to do things a little differently. I love that: this is my new life. Everyday our lives can be a little bit better, and more centered on Christ. One of my favorite novels as a young girl was  Anne of Green Gables. Something she would say is, "tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it." Every day is a new start. Every day we have the opportunity to be more like our Savior. 3 Nephi 12:16 says, "Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven." I know that as we set our New Year's Resolutions, it's often a series of things to helps us be better in some way. I know that as we let our light shine, as we put Christ first in our lives, as we focus our attention on becoming more like Christ, we will not only succeed in our temporal goals, but our spiritual goals as well, and glorify our Father who is in heaven. We will also find an added measure of peace and happiness in our lives.