Our Significant Contribution: My thoughts on Memorial Day
My thoughts on Memorial Day
This morning I ran across this blog by Daxton Burgon a U.S. Soldier serving in Afghanistan. It’s QUITE a long read… but I kept going, I’m glad I did. In the telling of the story there is much detail about his trek in an IED minefield. I’m not into war movies or blood and gore {and there isn’t any of that in this blog}, but for some reason I felt compelled to keep reading… I’m glad I did, for at the END of this long article, I found a paragraph that was profound and thought provoking… here’s the blog link:
If you’d rather not read the whole article… I get it, my Jan 2017 “roll-over car accident brain” sometimes only lets me read a paragraph or two before my brain gets antsy and I don’t have the concentration anymore… even writing this blog my brain want’s to hit the Trash Icon as I’m not sure I will be able to put here what’s in my heart and why the paragraph in the above blog was so profound to me… so I’m slogging thorough.
As you may or may not be aware of what I do to honor and remember missionaries who died while serving a mission, here’s the long/short of it.
One day while working on Genealogy, Greg {my husband}, came into the room and showed me a website on FindAGrave.com… it was a “Virtual Cemetery” of missionaries who had died while serving. There were perhaps 30 missionaries listed… I thought, WOW, that seems to be a lot!
That sent me on a research project and some anti-Mormon blogs, one of which did contain our son Connor’s name, but also MANY others that were listed in the “Virtual Cemetery” my husband had found. What fascinated me about this man’s blog was that he was positive about missionaries and NEGATIVE about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was heartbroken that Connor’s name was in an anti-Mormon website. I was raised in Ohio and am very familiar with anti-Mormon literature. To some, it weakens their faith and sends them on paths of struggle, questioning and doubt. However, the literature of the past and now the online version of old school anti-Mormon pamphlets doesn’t seem to shake my faith… I just know where it’s coming from and take it at face value… however ONE of the statements this anti-Mormon blogger said resonated with me… it was “Why doesn’t someone do something”. This was in reference to the fact that a database is not available to document these young men and young women… and Senior Missionaries. And OUTLOUD I said to myself: Yea… WHY doesn’t SOMEONE do something???? As quick as it came out of my mouth, I heard a distinct audible voice say… “YOU DO IT!!” Now please understand, I don’t hear voices… not even when I’d LIKE to from the “other side”, and this voice sure wasn’t giving me an option!… I distinctly heard it as if it was some kind of declaration or demand. I felt like I was “called” to do this.
So that’s how Noble And Great Ones began. This link is now the 4th version… the first three were actual FREE blog pages that had so much information over time that I couldn’t {the blog site wouldn’t let me} add more… The first blog had about 200 names, the second went to about 400 then up to a blog with separated names alphabetically and the number climbed to about 800 missionaries who died while serving from 1830 to present {about 2016 at the time}. {Currently the list contains 1018 names from 1830 to Present day.}
Then one day while trying to work on the FREE blog pages I somehow inadvertently DELETED the blog!!!! Yes, I was not happy, I did have documents on my computer in WORD format, but putting them in the blog required hours of fixing paragraphs, tabs and other thinks to make it visually more readable. Finally, my husband said we should just create a REAL website… and yes, this costs us a yearly fee. Now the website Noble And Great Ones exists to honor these precious missionaries called home.
And now to connect my idea of the website to the original military blog early in this blog.
As I have studied and researched and prayed to find out more about each of these missionaries listed in the Noble And Great Ones database… I have come to know a few things… let me list them:
#1. ALL missionaries ARE protected.
#2. God will do with them as He sees fit.
#3. God will magnify them in their calling.
Let me cover #1 first… as the mother of a missionary who died while serving a mission, you might ask WHY I believe “ALL missionaries ARE protected”. As I have studied, researched and prayed about seeking out the names that belong in the database… what I have found is that ALL of the 1018 missionaries listed were serving with their full hearts and minds and WERE NOT doing nefarious or unrighteous things when they were taken home!! They WERE 19ish year old’s and some were just out on Preparation day having fun… others were actually working during the day and some were “taken home” in their sleep.
I actually document injured missionaries as well and they can be found in part of the Noble And Great Ones website… most of these missionaries were protected as well… some were not and may have actually been breaking some mission rules when incidents happened, and by all rights may have died had it not been for their calling as a missionary!
So as a former missionary myself, I am also married to a former missionary, 3 of our 4 sons served missions {1 did not}… I realize that young missionaries sometimes do dumb things… {my goodness don’t get all judgmental minded here}… these are 19 year old’s {now they even begin serving at 18}… and they are not wise to the dangers they get themselves into. You get the picture!
SO… my findings over 5 years of research, study and pondering this website and the lives documented within it… I have come to a sure knowledge that God DOES protect and watch over His missionaries… and contrary to some stating the “safety issues”, not one of the 1018 missionaries were doing mischievous things to put their lives in danger… they WERE being missionaries on God’s errand!
And GOD protects them, sometimes he even brings them HOME to protect them.
#2 God has a plan… I hope all of us understand that, and can give our will over to Him so he can make us into what He needs us to be. He does exactly the same for His precious missionaries!!
#3 God’s plan is to magnify us all… but especially missionaries! I don’t know how many families I have talked to after their missionary passed away that have stated the effects of the missionary’s death had on their friends and family {sure there have been some very shaken by the death}, but for the great majority… they even have turned into a positive motivating effect on the family. In our case, it’s now a goal to again return home to Heavenly Father and to our Precious Connor!!
And now to the paragraph Daxton wrote that prompted this writing:
“I know that one reason people’s lives are taken "prematurely" is because their significant contribution to God’s plan takes place in the Spirit World where they are more empowered to perform service. For others, their deaths may have served the purpose of bringing family and loved ones closer together and nearer to God through faith. Some people may have passed away simply because they exercised their free agency irresponsibly. Less commonly, scriptural text shows evidence of people dying because of their evil rebellion against the works of God. The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to explain why people die. The important thing is to recognize God’s hand in all things, and to know that He preserves our lives because we still have work to complete during our mortal existence. It is up to us to be humbled by our preservation and exercise our free agency to find our individual purposes according to His will.”
Well said Daxton… words that I have never been able {until now} to put on paper… “I know that one reason people’s lives are taken "prematurely" is because their significant contribution to God’s plan takes place in the Spirit World where they are more empowered to perform service.”
In the case of Connor and each of the missionaries documented in Noble And Great Ones, they have brought HONOR to God, and to Christ’s mission. They have strengthened the other missionaries left in their mission to be better and to carry on like their “friend” did. They have strengthened their families to carry on and do better and strive to one day be again in the Presence of the Savior and Father in Heaven… and their beloved missionary! They have strengthened the younger ward members who want to go and serve like their friend did… some mention serving their mission with their deceased missionary friend firmly in their minds and hearts. And their examples shine a light on the whole Church and bring hope to those who are not members who would watch them as they served in their states or in their Countries…
We wonder why we grieve. Most of that grief is based in LOVE and being so grateful for what they’ve accomplished in their short time here on Earth.
Oh that I were an Angel… at least one day when I have gone to the other side, Connor can show me all that he accomplished since he left this earth! No mom will ever be more thrilled to see his accomplishments since he went to serve on the other side of the veil! I’m sure Connor was called home and “empowered to perform service” that only he could do on the other side.
Aw, baby boy… I miss you more than words can say… but like most moms, my desire is for you to be all you can be… and part of that meant that you had to leave us HERE to do a more “empowered” work on the other side!!
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