10 years ago today..........

So many people have asked about today. Where were you when the world stopped turning? We all know what it means. As I sit here watching the memorials and glued to the tv, I am taken back to that morning 10 years ago today. The sky was just as blue as it was that morning all those years ago. So peaceful and time does heal wounds, but I will never forget. As now I have three little girls, I will tell them of the things that happened that fall morning. The heroes who ran into the buildings to save people. The heroes on the plane who would not let those men hit their target. The innocent people who lost their lives. I will let them know of the strength of those who have carried on. Even in our darkest days the Lord was there. He was there to bless all of us and to help us know he was still there for us.

Today I am at home with Katy. I sit and watch and remember. I so wish that I could be at church with Steven and my girls. He was asked to talk in sacrament meeting today. Steven asked me yesterday what he should talk on and my reply was simple. Talk about 9/11. He sat and wrote a beautiful talk today. I am sure that many will be touched. His words are simple, but yet so powerful. The comfort that all of us look for, but yet they are the words that we need to hear. To take pause and to remember.

I am sure that Steve will not be too happy that I am putting this on here, but I think it is something that we could all use on this day. Here is his talk:

Today is a somber day for those of us living here in the United States. There are many within the sound of my voice that may not have been old enough or even born to remember. It was around this time ten years ago I found myself dressed for work, but glued to the television. There was some big news stories being covered, and my morning ritual usually consisted of watching the last few minutes of the news before heading to work. It was only about 7:50 in the morning, so I had a few minutes before I had to leave, so thought I would watch to see what the excitement was. Within minutes after sitting down to see what was going on, in view, live on camera, I watched a plane hit the second tower at the WTC, quickly followed by an explosion of fire. I thought I was watching a movie at first, news anchors were in shock, and soon thereafter, America, we, came to the realization that America was being attacked.

Carolyn Beug was living in California with her husband and their three children, whom she called her “little bunnies.” When her twin daughters received scholarships to design school in Rhode Island, she booked airline tickets to take them to school and settle them in before their first semester of college began. She invited her mother, Mary Alice Wahlstrom of Utah, to join them for the trip.

Carolyn and Mary Alice were aboard Flight 11 on their way home when it was hijacked and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

For several weeks, Brady Howell and his wife, Liz, had been planning a trip from Washington D.C. to Brady’s native Idaho, USA, so that they could spend some time with family. They were to leave on Thursday, September 13.

But two days before that, Brady was killed in the attack on the United States Pentagon. Carson, Brady’s brother commented:

“I know that millions of people have suffered the loss of a loved one. Eventually, we all go through that experience. … I would tell [others] … that there are people who love them and care about them and want to support them and that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings hope. You can overcome it. That is a message that I would like to share—that hope isn’t lost, and life does go on.”

These are two stories, specifically of Latter-day Saint families, but there are thousands of other stories and I am imagine that many of you also have your own that may be running through your mind as I share these brief experiences with you.

In the April 2011 general conference, Elder Russell M. Nelson taught this:

“We live in a time of turmoil. Earthquakes and tsunamis wreak devastation, governments collapse, economic stresses are severe, the family is under attack, and divorce rates are rising. We have great cause for concern. But we do not need to let our fears displace our faith. We can combat those fears by strengthening our faith.”
“It is true. We live to die, and we die to live again. From an eternal perspective, the only death that is truly premature is the death of one who is not prepared to meet God.”

9 days after the attacks of 10 years ago, with feelings of fear for the life of my new wife of only 9 months, and finding myself looking in the skies every time a plane flew by, I found myself in the parking lot at work, sitting in my black Chevy truck. I had just received a call from Alicia that it was “time” and I sat there thinking about what it would be like to become a father and the responsibilities that would accompany it. How could I possibly be comfortable with bringing a child into a world that was now filled with war and turmoil, fear of terrorists, and one in which the adversary seems to reign without a care for any of us who have been placed upon this earth to experience mortality.

I offered up a prayer that I would be ready for what was about to occur, not realizing that the answers I sought would come in a much different way than I imagined in my mind. The evening came and went as my wife and I waited in the hospital for the return of our son from Atlanta for an emergency surgery that was not successful. I remember sitting there and Alicia’s mother came in to speak with us after a rough night sleep where neither one of us really “slept”. She grabbed Alicia by the face ever so gently and let her know she loved her and spoke of “faith” and staying strong and remembering what we know about life after death. It was this moment that reminded me of the counsel Elder Nelson gave in the same talk in April Conference. He spoke to the parents about teaching faith. He said:

“Start with your children. You parents bear the primary responsibility to strengthen their faith. Let them feel your faith, even when sore trials come upon you. Let your faith be focused on our loving Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach that faith with deep conviction. Teach each precious boy or girl that he or she is a child of God, created in His image, with a sacred purpose and potential. Each is born with challenges to overcome and faith to be developed.

Teach of faith in God’s plan of salvation. Teach that our sojourn in mortality is a period of probation, a time of trial and testing to see if we will do whatever the Lord commands us to do”

I wept as I watched a loving mother follow this counsel of teaching faith to a daughter that shortly thereafter, would hold with tenderness her first-born son, only to and watch him slip away beyond the veil to await a reunion that will someday come to our family.

Brothers and Sisters, as the signs of the times present themselves in the form of tornadoes, earthquakes in diverse places, the seas leaping beyond their bounds, wars, rumors of wars, bad moral decisions by leaders and celebrities. But let us remember what our beloved prophet has said:

“I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments.”

May be remember the counsel from a living prophet. Let us believe the Savior when he says that we need not be frightened or troubled as wicked men fulfill the less than desired prophecies as foretold by the prophets, for the prophecies must be fulfilled before His coming. On this day I hope with solemnity that we remember those who gave their lives innocently, and also to those that have given their lives for the past ten years in defending faith & righteousness and the many who continue to hold up their own “Titles of Liberty” in their own ways. May we hold up our own Title of Liberty of the restored gospel and move forward with faith, love, and hope, recognizing that the branch of the fig tree is yet tender, the leaves are beginning to show, and summer is nigh.

**This is one of those talks that I will hold dear to my heart. I am so thankful for my husband and family. May we all never forget.