22 Jan 2022, Saturday

22 Jan 2022, Saturday

Prioritized Daily Task

Debbie and I had prayer together.  Later Max and I ate breakfast here at the Hyatt Hotel, visited, and then drove over to the chapel at 243 Hoy Road in Madison before noon.  Friends and family came by to pay their respects.  Max and I mingled with the group.  Dr. Irwin Cronin treated Max (Elder Kimball) when he came to the Gulf States Mission after being sent home sick from the Sweedish Mission and later being reassigned.  Dr. Cronin and Dr. Walker both took care of Elder Kimball to make sure he did not get sick again.  Dr. Walker is deceased and Dr. Cronin does not get out of his home unless it is an emergency or very important.  Irwin and his wife who is deceased were very close to Seeb and Peggy.  Irwin's daughter and her husband brought him.  She was you when Max was here as a missionary but she remembered Elder Kimball.  Irwin had a brother named Jerry that Max and I got to know. Jerry was about our age.  Irwin had a son named Ken.  He married Edda Sue Paterson. hu I think she may have had some interest in Elder Kimball but he was a missionary and did not look at her.  We did not see Jerry and Ken is deceased.  It hurts Irwin to talk about Ken.  Mike Holmes and has brother and sister, Seeb's nephews and niece came.

Funeral services for Peggy Holmes (12 Noon to 2 PM, viewing at Madison Ward Building on Hoy Road, Madison, Mississippi                                      2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (funeral service). I met Bishop Tyler Mitchel of the Madison Ward who conducted the services.  Bishop Nick Joens of the Branson Ward, both wards in the Jackson Mississippi Stake, Mark Richardson is the stake president.  The opening song was Hymn #300, Families Can Be Together Forever.                                                           The first person to speak was Kyla Weems, Seeba's daughter, and Peggy Holmes' granddaughter who gave a talk and gave the Eulogy; she talked about being with her grandmother in heaven.  The next speaker was Tanja Adams, Peggy's daughter.  She cut her talk short and skipped her sister, Dell's, talk that Dell sent her to read.  I cut out parts of my talk as well. 

TALK FOR PEGGY'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS at her funeral Saturday, January 22, 2022

I mentioned things Kyla and Tanja had mentioned about their family being together in heaven and how much their mother had loved them and everyone.

I told them I was honored to be asked by the family to speak at their mother’s funeral, but this honor belongs to the Lord.  It is He who arranged for me through a good friend, no more than a friend, more of a brother, Max Kimball, to meet Seeb, Peggy, and you children (Tanja, Cretia, Dell, and Seeba) and all the family. I asked the Lord when I was requested to speak, that since He had set this up for me, I need Him to give me the words that He would have me to speak that would touch your hearts, inspire and motivate you long after we part, to live each day of your life as if it were your last because one day it will be.  

I have asked the Lord to send his Holy Spirit to be with you, to give you the vision to see, the faith to accept and the courage to always stand up for those things you know in your hearts to be right.                                                        

“THERE IS A STORY ABOUT A YOUNG MOTHER, WE WILL CALL HER PEGGY SET HER FOOT ON THE PATH OF LIFE. ‘IS THE WAY LONG SHE ASKED?’  ‘YES – AND THE WAY IS HARD, AND YOU WILL BE OLD BEFORE YOU REACH THE END OF IT.  BUT THE END WILL BE BETTER THAN THE BEGINNING.’

BUT THE YOUNG MOTHER WAS HAPPY AND WOULD NOT BELIEVE THAT ANYTHING COULD BE BETTER THAN THESE YEARS.  SO, SHE PLAYED WITH HER CHILDREN, AND GATHERED FLOWERS FOR THEM ALONG THE WAY, AND BATHED THEM IN CLEAR STREAMS, AND THE SUN SHOWN ON THEM AND LIFE WAS GOOD.  AND THE YOUNG MOTHER CRIED, ‘NOTHING WILL EVER BE LOVERIER THAN THIS.’

THEN CAME NIGHT, AND STORMS AND THE PATH WAS DARK, AND THE CHILDREN SHOOK WITH FEAR AND COLD. AND THE MOTHER DREW THEM CLOSE AND COVERED THEM WITH HER MANTLE, AND THE CHILDREN SAID, ‘OH, MOTHER, WE ARE NOT AFRAID FOR YOU ARE NEAR AND NO HARM CAN COME.’ AND THE MOTHER SAID, ‘THIS IS BETTER THAN THE BRIGHTNESS OF DAY, FOR I HAVE TAUGHT MY CHILDREN COURAGE.  TODAY I HAVE GIVEN THEM STRENGTH.’

AND THE NEXT DAY CAME STRANGE CLOUDS WHICH DARKENED THE EARTH---CLOUDS OF WAR AND HATE AND EVIL, AND THE CHILDREN GROPED AND STUMBLED, AND THE MOTHER SAID, ‘LOOK UP, LIFT YOUR EYES TO THE LIGHT.’  AND THE CHILDREN LOOKED AND SAW ABOVE THE CLOUDS AN EVERLASTING GLORY, AND IT GUIDED THEM AND BROUGHT THEM BEYOND THE DARKNESS. AND THAT NIGHT, THE MOTHER SAID, ‘THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF ALL FOR I HAVE ‘FOR I HAVE SHOWN MY CHILDREN GOD.’

AND THE DAYS WENT ON, AND THE WEEKS AND THE MONTHS AND THE YEARS, AND THE MOTHER GREW OLD, AND SHE WAS LITTLE AND BENT.  BUT HER CHILDREN WERE TALL AND STRONG AND WALKED WITH COURAGE.  AND WHEN THE WAY WAS HARD, THEY HELPED THEIR MOTHER, AND WHEN THE WAY WAS ROUGH, THEY LIFTED HER, FOR SHE WAS AS LIGHT AS A FEATHER, AND AT LAST, THEY CAME TO A HILL, AND BEYOND THIS HILL THEY COULD SEE A SHINING ROAD AND GOLDEN GATES FLUNG OPEN.

AND THE MOTHER SAID, ‘I HAVE REACHED THE END OF MY JOURNEY.  AND NOW I KNOW THAT THE END IS BETTER THAN THE BEGINNING, FOR MY CHILDREN CAN WALK ALONE, AND THEIR CHILDREN AFTER THEM.’  

PEGGY AND SEEB ARE NOT HERE, YET THEY STILL LOVE ALL OF YOU AND NOTHING YOU CAN DO WILL EVER STOP THEM FROM LOVING YOU.  A PARENT'S LOVE IS THE STRONGEST AND MOST ENDURING LOVE THAT EXISTS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF GOD'S LOVE.  WHEN YOU HAVE DISOBEYED, AND NOT BEEN RESPECTFUL, YOU HAVE CAUSED THEM PAIN, THE HURT IS MORE THAN YOU REALIZE.  BUT THEY HAVE NEVER STOPPED LOVING YOU AND THEIR DESIRE IS THAT YOU ALL BE TOGETHER IN HEAVEN. 

((THEY KNEW THAT 1/3 OF HEAVENLY FATHER'S CHILDREN WERE CAST OUT OF HEAVEN FOR CHOOSING LUCIFER OVER CHRIST.  WE KNEW MANY OF THEM THAT WERE CAST OUT, THEY WERE FRIENDS; WE WERE SAD FOR THEM BECAUSE THEIR PUNISHMENT WAS ALMOST MORE THAN THEY COULD BEAR.  BUT THEY DID NOT WANT TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTION; THEY WANTED TO BLAME SOMEONE ELSE. THEY WERE ANGRY WITH US AND WANTED US TO BE MISERABLE LIKE THEM.)) was left out of the talk,  I was told later by the Holy Spirit to only give this information to just one person and not to everyone else. 

THERE ARE SOME OLD CHURCH SONGS I GREW UP HEARING.  ONE IS "IT TOOK A MIRACLE" (and oh how true that song is) Part of the lyrics, “It took a miracle to put the stars in place.  It took a miracle to hang the world in space.  But when He saved my soul.  Cleansed and made me whole.  It took a miracle of Love And Grace”

ANOTHER, THE CARTER FAMILY MADE FAMOUS, ”WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN?”  THE THIRD ALSO MAKES THE SAME POINT AS OUR OPENING HYMN, "FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER".  “NO EMPTY CHAIRS in Heaven” Look around our family table, every person in his place.

Memorize this happy moment, and each familiar face.

Look around our family circle, feel the love that we all share.

Life is sweet, and so complete with each loved one gathered here.

There are no empty chairs at our table,

No empty feelings inside,

When all those we love are together,

Here side by side.

Time will fly and all too quickly, some will leave to try their wings,

Empty places at our table will tug at our heartstrings.

But the number at our table will increase as children come,

Bringing to our family table, sweet innocence and fun.

We’ll add a few more chairs to our table,

A lot more laughter and love,

As our joy is multiplied daily,

To fill our cup.

When there comes a time for parting, there will be no tears because,

We will set a grander table where all may live in love.

There we’ll wait for all our loved ones, who will come to take their place.

At the feast that lasts forever, in God’s eternal place.

We’ll have no empty chairs at our table,

No empty feelings inside,

When all those we love are together,

There side by side.

May the circle not be broken, may each one return to be,

Safe within this peaceful haven, through all eternity.

We’ll have no empty chairs at our table,

When all are gathered above,

No more empty chairs at our table,

In heaven’s home of love.

Peggy and Seeb want all of you to know how important it is to them to have all of you back with them again in heaven. They do not want Any Empty Chairs at their table, with no one missing.  This is not what Satan and the angels who fell with him want; they want the circle to be broken and your chair to be empty.  I had a friend tell me once, “It is not the sins I dislike that bother me, it is the sins that I like, that have me concerned.” 

To all of you young girls planning to get married, some sooner than others.  I want to share with you a piece of advice.  When you are thinking about the person you are to marry, ask yourself this question, “Does he love the Lord more than me?” If the answer is yes, and then asks yourself, do you love the Lord more than him; then, by all means, say yes, you two should get married.  You men after you are married, remember the example Seeb set, if he could not talk Peggy into something, then she did not have to do it.  He never forced her.  He respected her agency, free will, that Heavenly Father had given her.  Heavenly Father will never force us to do something; we are free to choose but not free to choose the consequences.  Heavenly Father will force no man or woman to heaven.

I loved how much Seeb and Peggy loved and cared about you and they do not want “Any Empty Chairs” at their table in Heaven. 

When a person’s life is over, no one talks about the size of their bank account, what kind of car they drove, or the size of their home, instead they speak of the person, what they became, and the influence they had on their family and others who knew them.   

Council with your family and the Lord on how you can overcome Satan and the challenges you face in this life.  The Lord has made us a promise, it is found in Helaman chapter 5 verse 12 “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”

May the circle not be broken, may each one return, safe in Heaven with your family through all eternity by building and living your life on the Rock of our Redeemer, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, amen.  

After the funeral service at the Madison Ward Max and I drove over to Parkway Memorial cemetery, 1161 Northpark Dr., in Ridgeland for the dedication of Peggy Dolores Stubbs Holmes's grave next to her husband Seeb Emmit Holmes.  Max and I met Alison Taylor and her husband, Jake.  Alison is a registered nurse and finishing school to be a nurse practitioner.  She lived with Seeb and Peggy for two years when she was in school.  Her mother was and is still in prison.  Alison wanted to be baptized but her mother would not give permission and Alison was a minor.  They live at 511 Brighton Trail, in Florance, Mississippi; her phone number is (601) 519-3806.  I was not sure if her husband, Jake, is a member. He is a manager at some manufacturing company in the area.  We talked to him but it was cold and he was shaking and his answer was not direct, so I am not sure if he was a member or not.  She gave me her contact information to have the missionaries teach her again before being baptized.  Max and I stopped at Kroger, filled the car with gas, and bought some food for tomorrow so we do not have to buy any food.  We also stopped and bought some more food at Chic-fil-A.  We had eaten dinner with Tanja, Seeba, and the family at the church.  Seeba wanted us to give her a blessing but with Max being a Sealer in the temple, he couldn't; so Steve, Cretia's husband, assisted me in administering and blessing her.  Max and I came back to our rooms at the Hyatt Palace and returned Dell's phone call.  We had a good visit talking to her.  I called Debbie and Max called his wife, Debbie.  I packed for the drive to Atlanta tomorrow.  Max and I went down to the lobby to check out so we don't have to check out tomorrow but they would not let us, since we are sleeping in the rooms tonight.