The last few days have been hard. As you know, I received
a phone call from my mission President on Saturday night right after we got into
bed. He informed me that my Aunt Beth
had passed away; this news hit me very differently than I expected. I remember
before my mission talking with my grandma and I received a confirmation in my
heart that I would probably not see Beth when I returned. That was a struggle
for me, hearing of her passing. When I
got off of the phone, I went into our study room in our apartment, I fell to my
knees, and I sincerely thanked my God for the blessing I had of knowing Beth
and recounted and gave thanks for the lessons I have learned from her. How
thankful I am that for the last almost 20 years I have been able to be amongst
an angel, heavenly sent to help our family.
When I was younger, I always wondered what exactly Beth's
purpose was in this life? Knowing that she was not accountable for her actions
or decisions, what role was she sent to play in Heavenly Fathers beautiful
plan? What was predetermined in the pre-mortal life that we were to learn from
Beth? This question was on my mind for years and I still learn from the spirit when
I ask this question to myself. Like I mentioned, because of the earthly position Beth was in, she was not accountable to the sense of sin or condemnation for any decision. We know this because of the truth in the scriptures. In the Book of Mormon, Moroni says, "But little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God." We know Beth was without sin. That means she was among a handful of God’s children that walked this earth without err. Although she still needed the Atonement so she could live again, she always had a special relationship and love in Jesus Christ.
The strongest Angelic quality I have been blessed enough
to see in Beth was her way of showing the Pure love of Christ. We learn from
the scriptures what the pure love of Christ is: 47 But
charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found
possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. The Pure love
of Christ is the Atonement of our Savior. Beth showed countless examples of
that atonement. I noticed that Beth always seeked after the One, like our
Savior did. I remember on multiple occasions when I was having a hard time or
when I may have been pouting in my own selfishness, Beth would always seek me
out and come right up to me, grab my shoulders and shake me! Then she would
laugh, jump pretty much on my lap and hug me. Sometimes she gave me a big kiss
on the cheek. Every time she did this, it lifted my spirit and put me in a
better mood. She loved everyone; she did these kinds of things all the time,
even to strangers. Have you ever seen anyone demonstrate so much compassionate
Christ like Love?
Beth knew who she was. She knew that she was a child of
God--you could see it in her! One evidence of this is the countless times Beth
would sing "I am a Child of God" I will always cherish the times we
were sitting in church when that song would come on. She would be the most
excited person in the world. She would sing that primary song with every breath
she had, as loud as she could because she knew it was true! How beautiful that
singing was! What could be more inspiring and more perfect then someone with her
challenges declaring to the world that she is a Child of our Heavenly Father
and She loved Him perfectly? This was heavenly sent, those primary songs rang
so familiar to her because she had already known them before she even came to
this earth.
Alma 36:22 "Yea, methought I saw, even as
our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless
concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea,
and my soul did long to be there."
The greatest lesson I
learned from Beth took me almost eighteen years to figure out. Beth in her
older years had a hard time walking. Our family enjoys going to all sorts of
events and we would always bring Beth along. After a rodeo, a derby, or a game
of some sort, one of us would usually pick Beth up in our arms and carry her
down the big bleachers. Every time I would do this, Beth would get so excited!
She would yell for everyone in the family to look at her so she could tell them
how much fun she was having. When I would Lift Beth, I thought I was
doing her a favor, in all honesty, when I Lifted Beth, she was actually
Lifting Me. The humility I learned from Beth changed my life. She really
did lift my family through the hard times. She lifted my Grandmother through
the loss of her husband. Beth lifted each of us and carried us in such
passionate and personal ways always putting a smile on our face when we thought
there was no way we could smile. She proved us wrong.
I know this was a large portion of Beth's earthly
mission. To show us the Christ like Love. We may not know until after
this life what the full meaning of her purpose was, but this we do know. Beth
Mitchell fulfilled all that the Father expected of her. She stayed loyal and
true to what she agreed to come down and do for our family. For this we are
grateful! I know with every ounce of me that Beth will live again. She will be
resurrected through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She will be among the
faithful and those who kept the faith that will rise at the morning of the
first resurrection. She will be there, crowned in Celestial Glory. She
still lives! She is still a part of this work in helping all of our brothers
and sisters return to the Father. I guess the real question to ask would be, Are
you going to be counted with her? We would all do well to follow the example of
our sweet Angel Beth.
I also wonder if I could catch some of what the grand
reunion must have been like when Beth did pass away last week. I can only imagine
her excitement and her happiness. I echo the words of Enos before he passed as
recorded in the Book of Mormon.
Enos1:27 "And I soon go to
the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall
rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and
shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will
say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the
mansions of my Father. Amen."
We will miss Beth dearly until we will see her again. We
will see her again--that is my testimony in Christ's name, Amen.
- Elder L. Kaleb Bingham
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