My sweet Samantha and Maddie made Family Home Evening treat. I am delighted that they work so well together. Such cuties!!
Patience—A Heavenly Virtue
"Sometimes the tables are reversed. A dear and cherished young friend, Wendy Bennion of Salt Lake City, was such an example. Just the day before yesterday, she quietly departed mortality and returned “to that God who gave [her] life” ( Alma 40:11 ). She had struggled for over five long years in her battle with cancer. Ever cheerful, always reaching out to help others, never losing faith, her contagious smile attracted others to her as a magnet attracts metal shavings. While ill and in pain, a friend of hers, feeling downcast with her own situation, visited Wendy. Nancy, Wendy’s mother, knowing Wendy was in extreme pain, felt that perhaps the friend had stayed too long. She asked Wendy, after the friend had left, why she had allowed her to stay so long when she herself was in so much pain. Wendy’s response: “What I was doing for my friend was a lot more important than the pain I was having. If I can help her, then the pain is worth it.” Her attitude was reminiscent of Him who bore the sorrows of the world, who patiently suffered excruciating pain and disappointment, but who, with silent step of His sandaled feet, passed by a man who was blind from birth, restoring his sight. He approached the grieving widow of Nain and raised her son from the dead. He trudged up Calvary’s steep slope, carrying His own cruel cross, undistracted by the constant jeers and taunting that accompanied His every step. For He had an appointment with divine destiny. In a very real way He visits us, each one, with His teachings. He brings cheer and inspires goodness. He gave His precious life that the grave would be deprived of its victory, that death would lose its sting, that life eternal would be our gift.
I
knew Wendy briefly. My first year of High School I went into my
Seminary class and sat in front of a cute curly haired girl. I came to
find out that the year before she had been fighting cancer and had won,
her foot was partially amputated but her spirit was strong and happy.
She radiated love and kindness. I did not get to be around her for
long. Within a few weeks the cancer had returned and she was in and out
of school and the hospital. I thought of her often. I remember the
song "The Test" by Janice Kapp Perry. The singer talks to their friend
who is going through the trial and asks "Why" and then the friend
replies "This life is the test." I sent her a copy of that song and
thanked her for her example to me. Time passed and I heard less and
less of Wendy until I was sitting at home listening to conference when I
heard these words from Pres. Monson. She had struggled and had passed
the test. A true example of a child of God. I will be forever grateful
for Wendy Bennion.
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