An Elect Lady...

Courts grandmother, Norman Jones passed away yesterday. She was such a wonderful, loving, kind person. She had a heart of gold and I am so grateful to have known her. She had one of the strongest testimonies of the Gospel and was always finding ways to share her testimony with us. I am not great at checking my email everyday, so I didn't see this email from her until just a few minutes ago, I am blown away that she sent this letter to her entire family just one day before her passing, what a beautiful gift to leave all of us! I will miss her dearly, I thought of her as my grandma too and loved her so much. I am so grateful for the wonderful example she has been in my life and for all that she has done for Court and I.

Dear Family,
I know you’ve heard this or read it before, but I am impressed that I should remind you of it again. I’m sure you have noticed that the world is getting to be a pretty wicked place. All of the prophecies that have been made up to this date by prophets have been fulfilled, and there are not many left to be fulfilled. That tells us that the second coming is getting closer and we need to be prepared. My one big regret is that I didn’t study the scriptures more diligently when I was young. I have realized that the scriptures I memorized when I was younger I can still quote, but now that I am old, when I try to memorize different ones, it is almost impossible. I’m having too many senior moments and my powers of concentration are not good.

I want to remind you what President Benson told us about 25 years ago. He said, “I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and REGULARLY, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity – the pure love of Christ- will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness.”

These promises - increased love and harmony in the home, greater respect between parent and child, increased spirituality and righteousness - are not idle promises, but exactly what the Prophet Joseph Smith meant when he said the Book of Mormon will help us draw nearer to God. If there was ever a time for us to draw nearer to God it is now. President Benson asked, “Do eternal consequences rest upon our response to this book? Yes, either to our blessing or our condemnation.” You can read all about the Book of Mormon in this month’s Ensign.

I want to tell you that your Dad/Grandpa was here with me a couple of days ago. I was washing the north window in the computer room and had taken three of the windows out and washed the fourth one on both sides. When I tried to push it back in place, it jumped out of the track and I struggled to try to put it back in. My arms were giving out so I said, “Weston, come and help me!” Immediately the window just jumped in to the track and I know I didn’t put it there. Several other times when I tried to do something and was not able to do it, I called on him to help me and he did. I know he is not far away and that gives me comfort. I love you all and hope and pray we will all be together throughout eternity.

Love,
Mom/Grandma

PS. I don’t have the e-mail addresses of some of my grandchildren. I don’t want to leave them out, so will you forward this to them. You can read the names of the ones I have sent this to in the address place.