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Seeing the whole: Why I’m learning to love funerals

My grandma, Mom-el, loved funerals so much that we used to give her a hard time about browsing the obituaries for her next social engagement. It was a joke and something I honestly didn’t understand then, but over five years after her own passing, I think I’m starting to realize why my Mom-el loved funerals so much. When someone we love is gone, we can find joy in remembering the best things about them. Certainly, there are cases that require healing, but little annoyances are cast aside after someone has passed and all we seem to remember are the things we loved about them. I have found that I especially love going to a funeral for someone I admired but didn’t know incredibly well. Such was the case two weeks ago as I attended the memorial service for Ann Crane Santini.

Latter-day Saint Life

Latter-day Saint therapist: 7 principles amazing fathers practice

By Jonathan Decker, LMFT

"In both my personal and professional opinion, my dad got this fatherhood thing pretty much figured out. Allow me to share seven fatherhood lessons that I learned from him (along with a few of my own thoughts)."

Latter-day Saint Life

Latter-day Saint Therapist: 6 Ways Blended Families Can Thrive

By Jonathan Decker, LMFT

For daily gospel-based relationship insights, join Jonathan’s Facebook group. To submit a question click here or schedule a complimentary 15-minute consultation here.

In case you missed it: Top LDS Living articles from this week

By LDS Living

Here’s a snapshot of what you may have missed on LDS Living this week. You can also subscribe to the LDS Living newsletter for daily inspiration right to your inbox.

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How we could benefit from pondering the cross, the significance of the house of Israel, and other topics explored in the latest LDS Living magazine

By Emily Linder

We are thrilled that the stories and messages in the March/April LDS Living magazine are now available. As spring begins and we feel the joy of sunshine and warmer days, the voices in this issue remind us that hope and joy can be found in days of both sunshine and rain.

Latter-day Saint Life

How My Dad's Greatest Failure Helped Me Succeed: 3 Touching Stories

By Lynnae W. Allred

A father can play a vital role in the life of his child. And though they might not achieve all of their biggest goals, the way that they choose to handle their failures and move forward influences how their children face similar situations later in life.

Latter-day Saint Life

5 Vital Ways to Protect Your Marriage

By Gary and Joy Lundberg

The words of President Gordon B. Hinckley ring in our ears and tug at our hearts as we contemplate the battle the adversary is waging against married couples today. He said, “The family is falling apart all over the world. The old ties that bound together father and mother and children are breaking everywhere. We must face this in our own midst. There are too many broken homes among our own. . . . Can we not do better? Of course we can” (“Look to the Future,” Ensign, Nov. 1997, 69).

"There Is a Place for You": How a Single Message of Peace Helped One Woman Combat Depression

By Greyson Gurley

Courtney Rich was jokingly referred to by her family as “president of the happy club," so when she first experienced depression after her parent’' divorce in high school, the depression was thought to be situational. However, it was actually only the beginning of what has now been an 18-year battle with depression.

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Finding valuable gifts in your ancestors’ complicated experiences

By S. Michael Wilcox

Joseph Smith taught that “a welding link … between the fathers and the children …” must be “whole and complete and perfect” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:18). The words welding link suggest a chain. Chains are strong things. They hold under great stress and pressure.

Latter-day Saint Life

What Sister Julie B. Beck Wished Women in the Church Better Understood

By Jamie Armstrong

Sister Julie B. Beck was serving as first counselor in the Young Women general presidency when she was called as general president of the Relief Society in the spring of 2007, succeeding Sister Bonnie D. Parkin. Serving approximately six million women in 170 countries can seem like an insurmountable task, but Sister Beck found strength to continue the Relief Society’s legacy of love and service by studying its history and the lives of her predecessors and by relying on the Atonement. In a 2012 interview with LDS Living, Sister Beck shared some lessons she learned during her time as Relief Society general president. In celebration of the 176th anniversary of the Relief Society, we are sharing them again.