Saturday.

Today I went to the funeral of my friend. She passed away 12 days after her cancer diagnosis. She left behind a husband and 5 children ranging in age from 16 months to 12 years. She was an amazing woman.
Her funeral was incredibly sad and incredibly sweet.
I have never been more grateful for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation.
And tonight at the temple, I was again so moved as we were taught that plan in the beautiful language of God.
How do you ever put into words the enormity of the atonement?
Its great power is what puts families back together who are separated in life.
It is also what helps to heal the broken hearts of the loved ones left behind.
Heavenly Father knew that life would be hard, almost unbearably hard at times, in ways that wouldn't always make sense to us. I found great comfort in this scripture last night:

"(God) has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; He comprehendeth all things, and He is a merciful being,"    Alma 26:35

At the funeral, her sister shared her favorite quote. It encapsulates the woman she was.

“Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.”        Margaret Nadauld

Amen.