Knowing that Mom had requested that each of her 9 children speak at her funeral we met together as a family to discuss how we could best honor our mother.
Immediately all her many virtues came to mind and we recalled Dad often quoting Proverbs 31, "Who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies." The chapter proceeds to mentions the various virtues of such a rare and priceless woman. We realized quickly that it really did describe our mother. Virtue being defined as, "The conformity of ones life and conduct to moral and ethical principles."
This chapter is the thread of each of our comments today, for Mother was a virtuous woman, and that code of conduct came from her great love and understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ which gave her answers to some of life's most frequently asked and most important questions.
Who am I? and where did I really come from? what is my destiny?
Mom knew, that like each of us, that she was a beloved spirit daughter of heavenly parents with emphasis on the word parents for as the 3rd verse in the opening song testifies:
In the heaves are parents single
No the thought makes reason stare
Truth is reason truth eternal
tells me I've a mother there
if we are God's children, He our father, we have a mother there.
That helped Mom, as it can each of us, understand why we are here.
First, to obtain a physical body, but also, as stated in the Family Proclamation, "to gain earthly experience to progress towards perfection." I love how this was explained in one single sentence in my daughter's Patriarchal Blessing, "You (being a daughter of God) have come to earth to develop the attributes and qualities of your Heavenly Mother." Isn't that beautiful! That statement helped me, as it did my mother, better understand this statement, also in the Proclamation on the Family, "Gender (male or female) is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." In other words, she was female in the premortal world, just as she was female now, and her gender was an essential part of her eternal purpose. Which purpose has to do with Motherhood.
Again, in the Proclamation to the Family, "Each of us is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents and, as such, each of us has a divine nature and destiny,"
In the heaves are parents single
No the thought makes reason stare
Truth is reason truth eternal
tells me I've a mother there
As women, it has everything to do with Motherhood. For all of us it has everything to do with parenthood.
QUOTING PRESIDENT McKAY:
The Lord has told us that it is the duty of every husband and wife to obey the command given to Adam to multiply and replenish the earth, so that the legions of choice spirits waiting for their tabernacles of flesh may come here and move forward under God's great design to become perfect souls, for without these fleshly tabernacles they cannot progress to their God-planned destiny
As women, we have, what President Hinckley Benson called, a divine role, this bearing and rearing of children, further stating,
The greatest job that any mother will ever do will be in nurturing, teaching, lifting, encouraging, and rearing her children in righteousness and truth to help lead them back, to their Father in Heavenly, and to their eternal home.
Motherhood thus becomes a holy calling, a sacred dedication for carrying out the Lord's plans, a consecration of time and devotion to family. As we do this we also develop those attribute and qualities that our Heavenly Mother has developed.
How do we do that? Just as our dear mother did. As President Kimbal said,
You learn to do by doing, you learn to be by being. Motherhood is an art to be developed through practice. This art isn’t easy to learn, but learn you can, because as you strive the Lord will bless you with growth, patience, wider understanding, and loving warmth for your family’s special needs.
Then he adds, "this God-given role is vital to your own exaltation and to the salvation and exaltation of your family."
I look at my mother's life, and I see that development, that becoming, that virtuous woman, whose price is far above rubies because she devoted her life to that most sacred of all callings, Mother.
Then I shared this little experience:
I took Mom for a ride up in the canyon to see the beautiful fall colors. The altitude was affecting her heart and making it hard for her to get enough oxygen. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. Along the way, she turned to me and said, “How would you be if I died?” I could tell that she was serious, but for the most part I thought, “You’re not dying Mom. We’ve all been down this road with you lots of times.” I just replied, “Happy for you, but sad for me.” The look in her eye told me it was the wrong answer. The dear sweet mother in her was filled with concern for ME! She thought she was dying and was worried about me. “Would I be alright?”
That is what I think I’ll miss the most, being “mothered.” No one else can fill that role. No one cares with a pure unselfish love like a mother does. How sweet it was to have that in my life for so long. How blessed to call her mine!