Heartbreaking News

This week we had a huge shock when we found out that Nosie's baby boy Amram died.  Amram was with Nosie's parents on an outer island (Ebon) because they took him to take care of him for a while.  Nosie teaches school in the daytime and while he was with a babysitter, he got his arm burned badly enough to be in the hospital for a couple of weeks.  Around here, infection can be a real problem, so they kept him in the hospital and Nosie stayed with him sleeping on a cement floor in his room.  Her parents didn't want him to be with a babysitter anymore, so they took him; she was extremely sad about it and was so anxious to get to see him again.  Air Marshall has had one problem after another and hasn't flown for weeks, so Nosie couldn't get there, and they couldn't come here to Majuro; it had been two months and she still hadn't seen him.  We got the news from her Bishop before Nosie knew, and we were devastated. Nosie's parents called her uncle here and told him that Amram got a severe case of  Chickenpox, and because they were on an outer island and the plane wasn't flying, they couldn't get medical help.  He died and they buried him there.
Bishop Enos wanted us all to gather at the church and tell her, but when she came in, I could tell that she knew by her stunned look.  She was standing all alone and I went over and put my arms around her; she wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on me and sobbed.  All I could do was cry with her.
      I had several tender mercies happen that were direct answer to prayer as I tried to help Nosie.  We went to her house several times in the next couple of days to try to comfort her.  One night I silently prayed that I would know what I could do to help her.  I had an impression to ask her about pictures of Amram and I had a clear memory come to mind of me holding Shauna's pictures day and night for weeks.  She didn't have any that could be displayed or held, but she had snapshots on her computer.  I used a thumb drive and copied 6 pictures that I took back to the office and enlarged them.  I cropped them to head and shoulders and made several nice portraits on photo paper. ( I had just been given some photo paper that week before, and we had just fixed the photo printer that week too.)  I put the 6 8X10 pictures in black folders with clear plastic fronts because there were no frames here for photos bigger than 5x7.
     For the first time since I have been here I wished with all my heart that I could paint.  I wanted to paint a picture of Jesus holding a baby boy, but there was no way I could do that.  I have no materials and no time.  I had another strong impression to go look in the side of our front closet.  I was stunned to find some things that I had forgotten about.  The last missionaries who left this apartment gave me a couple of things, a frame and a couple of small pictures.  At least that is what I thought it was, but when I pulled out the stuff, I found a large frame with glass and a magnificent print still in the plastic.  It was a print by Del Parson that I had never seen before.  It was a large beautiful print of the Savior holding a dark haired baby boy in his arms against his cheek.  I was absolutely stunned!  It could have been a picture of Amram.  Sister Davidson obviously got it and didn't use it because it was too small for the frame she had, but that was not a problem for me.  I have done a lot of framing and I knew exactly how to fix it.  I double matted it and got it to fit the frame perfectly.  I even had the tiny nails I needed because I had purchased them a few weeks ago to attach the taps to my shoes.
     The Bishop in Long Island wanted to have a memorial service after church, so we didn't go out to Laura today but attended church in Long Island.  I made a beautiful display table with the new tablecloth that (my) Laura had given me for christmas and the large print of Christ along with the six portraits of Amram; everyone was amazed by it.
     The Bishop asked us what you do in a memorial service about 5 minutes before it started.  Marshallese funerals are really different here, and they had never had a funeral in the church.  I asked him if there was a program and he looked at me with wide eyes, so I explanined having music, prayers and talks.  We pulled a program together in two minutes.  Sister Perkins and I were the speakers. The young missionaries sang "I Need Thee Every Hour"  and a counselor in the Stake Presidency finished the meeting by inviting a non member uncle to talk.  The service was beautiful and went for one hour.  It couldn't have been better if it had been planned. 
      I talked a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and told the experience that I had with my 2nd Great grandmother, Mary Jane Bishop, through the Spirit, as a ministering angel, visiting me and comforting me when Shauna died.  Mary Jane Bishop had six children die before the age of six and she understood my pain.  I tried to give Nosie that same comfort because I understand what she is going through.  This is a huge adversity to have to handle so soon after becoming a member. (We baptised her on Shawn's birthday Oct, 29th. )
     After the funeral we all went to her home where they had a dinner Marshallese style.  I know it will be a rough road for her, but good has come of this already.  An aunt and an uncle seem to be very interested and the young missionaries were talking to them and answering their questions at the dinner.  They had both been strongly effected.
     I truly felt the Lord guiding me these last couple of days; I felt like Nephi, being lead by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things that I should do.  Miraculous things happened and I was privileged to be the instrument that was used.