I lost a friend Sunday night. I had helped teach him the gospel of Jesus Christ with a few sets of sister missionaries, though teaching him really wasn't necessary. He was a self-convert with a powerful testimony. A double amputee with multiple health problems, his was a challenging baptism (by immersion), but went as smooth as silk.
I am sad that he wasn't able to fulfill his dream of going to the temple, since it was the indomitable spirit that exists in Nauvoo and particularly in the temple there that fed his eager soul with the nourishment of truth.
Once he was baptized, he was only able to attend church once before the onslaught of ailments beat him down. He almost immediately came down with a respiratory infection. It kept him gasping for air for months. Then came the diagnosis of colon cancer. Surgery and radiation zapped him of his strength and then with the complication of uncontrollable diabetes and heart failure, he succumbed late Sunday night.
I sorely regret that he passed alone in the hospital, but I celebrate where he is now. Yesterday, as I was pondering our friendship, I felt a sudden relief, like a weight off my shoulders. I could picture him hugging loved ones already there, running on his new legs, and teaching everyone he ran into about the gospel. I smiled. I giggled. I rejoice in the mercy that is shown to each of us as we go through life and into new life.
Here's to you, Larry Dean Lewis. You are in our hearts forever!
I am sad that he wasn't able to fulfill his dream of going to the temple, since it was the indomitable spirit that exists in Nauvoo and particularly in the temple there that fed his eager soul with the nourishment of truth.
Once he was baptized, he was only able to attend church once before the onslaught of ailments beat him down. He almost immediately came down with a respiratory infection. It kept him gasping for air for months. Then came the diagnosis of colon cancer. Surgery and radiation zapped him of his strength and then with the complication of uncontrollable diabetes and heart failure, he succumbed late Sunday night.
I sorely regret that he passed alone in the hospital, but I celebrate where he is now. Yesterday, as I was pondering our friendship, I felt a sudden relief, like a weight off my shoulders. I could picture him hugging loved ones already there, running on his new legs, and teaching everyone he ran into about the gospel. I smiled. I giggled. I rejoice in the mercy that is shown to each of us as we go through life and into new life.
Here's to you, Larry Dean Lewis. You are in our hearts forever!