It was through news reports that President Jeffrey R. Holland heard about the death of 18-year-old Kirsten Kate Beagley. Kirsten had passed away in an accident while tubing with friends. And while President Holland didn’t know her or her family, Church News says that he “felt strongly he should attend the funeral.”
While reading Church News’s coverage of Kirsten’s funeral, I could only imagine the emotions that must have filled the chapel. Kirsten seemed like an incredible person. The article says her friends and family spoke of “her smile, contagious laugh, and open arms.”
She was her high school drill team captain and a member of her school’s seminary council. Her dad shared notes they’d found on her phone, testifying of the Book of Mormon and prayer. Her sisters called her a “tender mercy.”
I also never met Kirsten, but I feel as if I miss her too.
President Holland also spoke at the funeral and his words are almost too beautiful. Here are the portions of what he said that touched me the most:
“Christ died of a broken heart. … I am an old man, and my heart has been broken recently. The Beagleys are young and wonderful, and their hearts are broken now. And all of us are going to get a chance to show an acceptable sacrifice unto God.”
A broken heart is healed when it is offered to “a Father in Heaven, who restores it and makes it all perfect.”
“We get our hearts back. We get Kirsten back. We get lost limbs back. We get everything back, and we get it better. We are resurrected perfectly.”
“Let me encourage all of you to avoid saying ‘what if’ or ‘would have’ or ‘should have’ or ‘could have.’... In the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can celebrate and look forward and know all is well.”
“Tears are the price we pay for love in this world.”
“We do not have any scriptures that say [Jesus Christ] He laughed, though we believe He did. We believe He was wonderfully well-rounded, with a majestic personality. But we do have scriptures that say He wept.”
Our hearts and prayers are with the Beagley family. Find the full article about Kirsten’s funeral at Church News.
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