Let me share with you the true
account of one sister, Ellen Yates, from Grantsville, Utah. Early in October,
10 years ago, she kissed her husband,
Leon, goodbye as he left to go to work in Salt Lake. This would be the last time
she would see Leon alive. He had a head-on collision with
a young man 20 years of age who was late for his
first job and had tried to pass a slower
vehicle, resulting in a head-on collision that
killed them both instantly. Sister Yates said after
two compassionate highway patrolmen told her the news, she
plunged into shock and grief. She records, "As I tried to look
ahead in life, all I could see was darkness and pain." It turned out that her husband's
best friend was the bishop of the young man's ward. The bishop called Sister
Yates and told her that the young man's
mother, Jolayne Willmore, wanted to talk with her. She remembers being shocked
because "I was so centered on my grief and pain
that I had not even thought about the young
man and his family. I suddenly realized
that here was a mother who was in as much
or more pain than I was. I quickly gave my
permission for a visit." When Brother and Sister
Willmore arrived, they expressed
their great sorrow that their son was
responsible for Leon's death and presented her with
a picture of the Savior holding a little
girl in His arms. Sister Yates says, "When
times become too hard to bear, I look at this picture and
remember that Christ knows me personally. He knows my loneliness
and my trials." One scripture that comforts
Sister Yates is "Wherefore, be of good cheer,
and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you,
and will stand by you." Each October, Sister Yates and
Sister Willmore--both of whom are here together in this
session of conference--go together to the temple and
offer thanks to Christ for His Atonement, for the
plan of salvation, for eternal families and the
covenants that bind together husbands and wives and families
on both sides of the veil. Sister Yates concludes,
"Through this trial, I have felt the love
of my Father in Heaven and my Savior in
greater abundance than I have ever felt before." She testifies that there
is no grief, no pain, no sickness so great that
the Atonement of Christ and the love of
Christ cannot heal. What a wonderful example
of love and forgiveness these two sisters
have demonstrated. It has allowed the
Atonement of Jesus Christ to be efficacious
in their lives.