Letters of Love - from Lisa

This letter is from Mark's wife Lisa. To avoid the confusion of multiple Lisas in the family my Mom nicknamed Marks wife "Sweet Buns" right when they got married....I have been jealous ever since :)

Hi mom,

I just wanted to tell you that even though it seems like I haven't seen you in awhile, I think about you and pray for you multiple times a day, and am always hoping you are having a good day. I miss you, and hope to be able to come out this weekend. Kam had been having a really hard time with his routine being off with the Christmas break and everything, and was really acting out, but is getting better now that school has started again and I have been really consistent.

I am glad to hear you have some good nurses caring for you now, and mark was proud that you really enjoy the Harry potter books he got you to listen to. I love you, and still so admire you for how you are handling this trial. You are such an example of what a person can do with strong faith in the Lord, and how to put your life in His hands and trust Him with whatever he does with you. You might have already heard this story --I heard it from Mark -- comparing how God molds us into the people he wants us to be like a sculptor chips away at rock or clay to make a sculpture. God chips away at us a piece at a time, and sometimes we say, "ouch, that hurts," and we don't understand what the point of that was, or even what it is he's making in the first place, but we have to understand that he can see what he's making and knows exactly what he's doing. He loves us so much that he is not content to just leave us be and say "that's good enough;" He is going to keep at it and, along with our faith and trust, make us into the most beautiful things we can be. He sees the amazing potential we each have to be great, and helps us, sometimes in ways we don't understand or like at all, to slowly mold into the amazing, beautiful creations he always intended us to be. If we let Him. And you, mom, are letting him, and we can all learn from you. It seems that Heavenly Father is pleased with the beautiful person he's helped you to become by chipping at you all your life (and I know he's taken some pretty big, painful chunks out of you too) because he wants you home soon to be with Him and to give you rest from all the sculpting.

"And it shall come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow" (Alma 40:12). I know you have no doubt in your mind and heart that that is where you are going. We are all going to miss you so much, but we understand, and in large part because of how you have handled this and your example, that this is what is meant to be, and this experience is God's way of molding not only you, but all of us too, into the people we have the potential to become.

Thanks for who you are and for leading our family in the direction toward happiness and peace. Thanks for being a strong, steadfast, faithful mom in raising your family right even when things were very difficult for you and you didn't understand what the point of all your hardship was, but kept putting one foot in front of the other and never let your pain get in the way of raising up a righteous family. This is your legacy to us, and it will be felt for generations, and we are so grateful to you for that example that we will always have close to our hearts. I heart you, and keep holding on.

I'll see you soon.
Love,
Sweet B