The day before President Joy D. Jones spoke in the women’s session of the October 2017 general conference, she attended the funeral for her oldest son, Trevor, who had passed away after a battle with cancer.
Though the Primary General President didn’t speak about the loss of her son in her conference talk, the news of her loss spread on social media. People shared how they felt the tremendous strength of her testimony as she spoke from the Conference Center pulpit on the worth of a soul.
On a recent episode of the Latter-day Saint Women podcast, President Jones shares a powerful testimony of life after death. She says that after his passing, she was trying to decide if she was experiencing grief. So she looked up the definition of grief and it talked about loss.
“I thought, ‘I’m so sad and I miss my son, but I cannot feel grief because I have not lost him,’” she says.
Since Trevor knew he was going to pass away, he had time to prepare his family and friends— especially his wife and five children—for their temporary separation. He would explain where he was going and would say that they weren’t talking about a funeral, but rather a graduation. President Jones recalled her granddaughter saying, “Grandma, I’m so excited. Daddy’s going to be the best guardian angel ever.”
President Jones testifies that she has felt the influence of a ministering angel from across the veil blessing her family.
“He’s still a part of our lives. He’s not gone. He’s still with us,” she says.
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She also explains that getting to the point of peace is a process, and it requires patience.
“We all go through these experiences in different ways,” she says. “We had three years to prepare. That's very different from finding out that someone you love just passed quickly and unexpectedly. But I would just say to be patient with yourself. Be patient if you're not feeling that peace as quickly as you think you should. It's not something that's wrong with you, and it's all part of the process. We each go through these experiences in different ways and for different purposes. But His love, His perfect love, is available to every one of us always.”
Listen to the full episode from Latter-day Saint Women where President Jones shares other ways we can turn to Heavenly Father amid life’s challenges.
