Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
I met
Bill Forrest and Debbie Hutchings when we were students at Brigham
Young University. Bill had returned from his mission. He and Debbie fell
in love and were married in the Oakland California Temple. They
established their home in Mesa, Arizona, and were blessed with five sons
and two daughters. Bill and Debbie taught their children to love the
Lord Jesus Christ as they loved Him. Their son, Elder Daniel Forrest,
currently serving in the Mexico Oaxaca Mission, said, “Every morning
without fail we were there at the table before school reading and
discussing the scriptures.”
Their
daughter Kara, now married with two children of her own, still vividly
remembers her father driving her to early morning activities in high
school. She said, “My dad enjoyed committing quotes, scriptures, and
poems to memory, [and during those early morning drives] we would
practice reciting them.” One of his favorite scriptures was “Remember,
remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the
Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil
shall send forth his mighty winds, … [he] shall have no power over you
to drag you down … because of the rock upon which ye are built.”
40
On
the Friday before Easter Sunday in the year 2000, exactly 10 years ago,
Bill Forrest was serving as bishop of the Estate Groves Ward in
Arizona. On his drive to work, only a mile (1.6 km) from home, his car
was struck by a large gravel truck. Debbie and the children left home
shortly after Bill and unexpectedly came upon the tragic scene. Bill had
not survived the accident. The immortal spirit of this beloved husband
and father had suddenly been taken home to Him who overcame death, the
Son of God, whose glorious Resurrection they were to have celebrated
together that Easter Sunday.
How
did Debbie and her seven children (the youngest only 5) find the
strength they needed? Kara, 15 at the time of her father’s accident,
recently told me: “I am grateful to my [mother and father] for the ways
that they taught me [about the Savior]. They opened the scriptures with
me, prayed with me, and were examples of [the Savior’s] charity, love,
and patience. … Easter [is] a tender time in my life each year as I
reflect on the life, mission, and Resurrection of our Savior and am
reminded of the life of my earthly father.”
Elder
Daniel Forrest said: “I was 10 years old when my father passed away. It
was a tough time. … My mother has always been an example of the
Savior’s teachings. I carry with me my father’s name badge from his
mission to Spain. [Two] of my favorite quotes from my father [are]: ‘Two
men can do anything as long as one of them is the Lord’ and ‘The Savior
must be our foundation. Without that we flounder.’”
(April 2010 General Conference)
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