Page 59 - Berg_Mortuary_Bishops_Guide

BERG MORTUARY 59
only a day or a year. Perhaps we were not so much concerned whether we should die of disease,
of accident, or of senility. We were willing to take life as it came and as we might organize and
control it, and this without murmur, complaint, or unreasonable demands.

In the face of apparent tragedy we must put our trust in God, knowing that despite our lim-
ited view his purposes will not fail. With all its troubles life offers us the tremendous privilege
to grow in knowledge and wisdom, faith and works, preparing to return and share God’s glory.

UNDERSTANDING DEATH AND RESURRECTION

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff,

(2011), 77-88

When loved ones die and when we contemplate our own mortality, we can find comfort and
assurance in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and in the eternal reality of the resurrection.

FROM THE LIFE OF WILFORD WOODRUFF

In early August 1839, Elder Wilford Woodruff left his home in Montrose, lowa, obeying the
Lord‘s call to serve a mission in the British Isles. He bade farewell to his wife, Phoebe, and his
only child, one-year-old Sarah Emma. At the time, Phoebe was pregnant with Wilford Jr., who
would be born March 22, 1840.

A few months after leaving Montrose, Elder Woodruff was in the eastern United States,
preaching the gospel and preparing for the journey to Great Britain. During this stay he wrote
in his journal of three separate dreams in which he saw his wife. After the first dream he wrote
the following entry in his journal: “l saw Mrs. Woodruff in deep affliction in a dream at Mon-
trose. I did not see Sarah Emma.” His report of the second dream was also short: “l had a
dream during the night and had an interview with Mrs. Woodruff but did not see Sarah

Emma.” The third dream was more detailed: “We rejoiced much at having an interview with
each other, yet our embraces were mixed with sorrow, for after conversing a while about her
domestic affairs, I asked where Sarah Emma was….She said, weeping,… ‘She is dead.’ We sor-
rowed a moment, and l awoke….Is this dream true? Time must determine.”
On July l4, 1840, Elder Woodruff, now in Great Britain, wrote a journal entry commemo-

rating an important day for his family: “Sarah Emma is two years old this day. May the Lord
preserve my wife and children from sickness and death until my return.” Always one to ac-