When All the Saints Shall Dwell With God

I found out yesterday that Sister Parry, a good friend of our family, passed away this week. She was nearly 84 years old and was more than ready to move on to be with her husband who passed away over 13 years ago. We met her not long after his death when we were first married in northern Idaho when she moved into our ward. Around the same time that her husband passed away she started losing her vision, and so she was alone and with very limited sight. My wife and I became good friends with her and we loved just sitting and visiting with her. We were amazed at her great faith in the Lord and the love she showed us. You were always uplifted when you went and visited Sister Parry. Though we moved away after only a few years, we kept in touch as best we could over the subsequent decade and were always encouraged and edified by our conversations on the phone with her. Gratefully we were able to visit her twice and I hope that my oldest children will indeed remember this great woman of faith.  

When my oldest daughter was preparing to go to elementary school I wanted to put her into a French immersion program, but she was very resistant and didn’t like speaking French to me. She pushed against us so much that we finally gave in and decided not to do it. I mentioned this to Sister Parry in a conversation on the phone, and soon thereafter she called me back and said, “The Holy Spirit has been working on me all night.” She felt that we were making the wrong decision and she encouraged us to reconsider to make sure that it was right. With that encouragement we fasted and prayed and ultimately decided we would indeed put our daughter (and subsequently all of our other children) in the French immersion school. That has made a huge impact in our lives, and I am so grateful to Sister Parry for her faith in the Lord and willingness to follow the Spirit to bless us. She loved the Lord with all her heart and was faithful to Him until the end.

               As I think about her life, this is the scripture that comes to mind: “And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.” She was filled with meekness and lowliness of heart, she communed each day with the Spirit, and though she was nearly blind and desperately missed her husband she kept up a hope for her eternal future. She was filled with love for all around her and continued in diligence unto prayer. Several years ago her home teacher was convicted of a crime—something related to money—and actually had to spend time in prison. I was amazed at the love she showed him in her conversations to me. She was constantly worried about him and asking me questions if I could find out about him online related to where he was and when he was coming out. She never judged him or spoke ill of him, but she simply worried for him and his family and prayed for him in this difficult time. That’s just who she was: full of love and concern for everyone, and she would share the gospel with all who would listen to her. In her later years she gave away copies of the Book of Mormon to many people who were in her home helping take care of her, such as the Meals on Wheels delivery people. Like Peter she could declare, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16). She spent her final years listening to books, scriptures, conference talks, and BYUtv; praying to her Father in Heaven; and lifting the spirits of anyone who would call or visit. She expressed her desire to read the Bible and asked us last year to get her a jumbo-sized New Testament so she could try to read it with her very limited eyesight. That was our last gift to her and it was a fitting one—the words of the Lord that she loved so much. We will miss her dearly and she will always be remembered in our family for her faith and love for the Lord. She was indeed a saint and now, with her husband, has returned to dwell with God.