A Memorial Day Goodbye

On Memorial Day, we had the privilege and honor of attending the funeral for Sister Joyce Forman.  She was one of "our missionaries" as she shared in the ARC which was part of our zone when we served in the Headquarters Mission. She is a remarkable woman and I feel so blessed to have known her and to be loved by her.

I have spoken about her in the blog from time to time.  She had her 90th birthday during the time we were her zone leaders and we organized a special birthday celebration in her honor at that time.  She was actually interviewed by Deseret News and they had a write up about her at that time (which included a picture of the zone that I provided.)  She served in the Church History Library for about 15 years as a service missionary despite having cancer much of that time.  When we became her zone leaders was during Covid.  She was actually living in Reno, NV area with a son because of needing special treatment and care for the cancer which had been diagnosed in December of 2019.

Except on days when she was receiving treatments or a the rare vacation for family events, she was at the library every morning, often the first one there and usually every day.  Her son was very reluctant when she determined she was ready to return to her apartment on 2nd Street and back to the library, but she was determined.  She was alive and she wanted to serve God for the rest of her life however long.

This was a quote she said often--She planned to die with her boots on, and she did.

One particular skill I was in awe about Sister Forman is that she had memorized so many poems in her lifetime and she could recall and share them with almost no effort.  I shared in the blog how she had been asked to give the closing prayer in a zone devotional where we had shared our trip to Jerusalem.  She stood and asked if she could share a poem before she prayed.  Of course we said yes and it was perfect.  I actually printed the poem in the blog.  The poem said the same message that we tried to share--you don't have to go to the Holy Land to receive a witness that Jesus is our Savior.

She was loving and she always made you feel better after you interacted with her.  We were so glad that she was there the day that we visited the library in February.  That was the last time we saw her but we were able to exchange hugs and thank yous.

Hopefully you meet many "Sister Formans" in your lives--who radiate love and energy and testimony of Jesus in the things that they do.

Til we meet again, Sister Forman.....you did it!