“When My Friend Died,” Liahona, July 2017
Youth
When My Friend Died
The author lives in Utah, USA.
During my junior year in high school, my friend had a brain aneurism and passed away the next day. Although I was a member of the Church, I still struggled. I had been taught my entire life that I could turn to Heavenly Father and the Savior for anything, but I never had to go through something like this before.
I cried for hours, trying to find something—anything—to give me peace. The night after her passing, I turned to the hymnbook. As I flipped through the pages, I landed on “Abide with Me; ’Tis Eventide” (Hymns, no. 165). The third verse stuck out to me:
Abide with me; ’tis eventide,
And lone will be the night
If I cannot commune with thee,
Nor find in thee my light.
The darkness of the world, I fear,
Would in my home abide.
O Savior, stay this night with me;
Behold, ’tis eventide.
This verse filled me with so much peace. I knew then that not only could the Savior stay that night with me but that He also knew exactly how I was feeling. I know that the love I felt through the hymn not only got me through that night but has also gotten me through many other trials I’ve endured.