Dear Elders and Sisters,
We all know there are times in our life when we need an increased endowment of the Spirit to help us faithfully and successfully endure some of the more serious difficulties and challenges we face. This week has been such a time. In these circumstances I have found the promise given to the Prophet Joseph Smith true for each of us personally. The Lord has promised that if we are “faithful” He will be “with [us] in every time of trouble” (DC 3:7). It is not a promise that our difficulties will go away, but rather a promise that His presence with us will sustain us through our challenges. As you know, this past week we have experienced a great tragedy. One of our missionaries, Sister Bentley, was killed in a serious automobile accident, and her companion, Sister Love sustained serious enough injuries to requires her to return home for healing for an estimated 6 to 8 weeks. It has been a difficult time, yet the promise has been fulfilled again—the Lord has been with us in this time of trouble. There will be an appropriate time for me to share with you some of the evidence of our Heavenly Father’s love and influence in regard to this experience in the days to come. For now I invite us to unite in faith and prayer in behalf of Sister Bentley’s family, and Sister Love and her family. There will be difficult days ahead. I hope a paragraph from a letter I wrote to Sister Bentley’s parents is appropriate to share. It said, “It is with great sadness that we mourn her loss, yet our grief is ‘swallowed up in Christ,’ knowing the ‘sting of death’ is only temporary (Mosiah 16:8). Life is eternal—and so are relationships. That is a message of hope that Sister Bentley has been sharing with the people of New York with great conviction. It is a message that was deep in her heart, and one that I know she would want you to know and feel from her personally… It is my conviction and witness that your daughter has reason to rejoice, having graduated early, and with honors, from this mortal probation.” I know Sister Bentley is fine. Those that are left behind will need our love and support. (Cards and letters may be sent to the following addresses: Brother and Sister Bentley, 8726 E 28th Street, Tucson, AZ 85710. Sister Love, 733 Brisbane Street, Hemet, CA 92545.)
As a show of support to Sister Bentley and our mission, President Roger Killpack, the President of the Arizona Tucson Mission (and father of our own Elder Killpack), has informed me “as a show of respect, support and brotherhood, we will have our missionaries in the greater Tucson area, about 80-90 of them, in attendance to the funeral. We plan on sitting together in the back to show honor and pay tribute. It is our hope that we can represent the missionaries of your mission by doing so.” The funeral will be held at 10:00 a.m. (1:00 p.m. New York time) on Tuesday, September 6th. As appropriate, we invite each of you to take a moment in prayer and reflection.
Sometimes it is hard to understand why things happen the way they do. What a blessing it is to have the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ! “It is a singularly marvelous blessing to have faith in the Savior and a testimony of His teachings. So few in the world have that brilliant light to guide them. The fulness of the restored gospel gives perspective, purpose, and understanding. It allows us to face what otherwise appear to be unjust, unfair, unreasonable challenges in life” (Elder Scott, CR, Oct 1995).
May the Lord bless each of you with the peace and comfort of the Spirit.
We congratulate the following on their baptism this week: Johnny Hillman in Binghamton, taught by Sisters Nelson and Duncan; and Jarod Mowrer in Carthage, taught by Elders Nielson, Stanton and Daniels-Brown.
President Bulloch
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