At teen’s funeral, President Holland explains why righteous face trials

CASTLE DALE, Utah — “Faith at all times points forward,” said President Jeffrey R. Holland, speaking on the Saturday, Jan. 27, funeral service for a young woman in Emery County, Utah, who died in an accident. 

Take the memories and lessons — “the embers” from the fireplace of life — and with faith sit up for “the guarantees that God has given,” said the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

Kirsten Kate Beagley, 18, died Saturday, Jan. 20, while tubing with friends in Huntington Canyon. President Holland, who didn’t know Kirsten or her family, heard in regards to the accident from news reports and felt strongly he should attend the funeral. He suspected lots of of her peers from Emery High School may be asking, “How and why could this occur?” 

To those young people, and the lots of more attending the funeral, President Holland spoke with deliberateness.  

“Let me encourage all of you to avoid saying ‘what if’ or ‘would have’ or ‘must have’ or ‘could have,’” President Holland said. “In the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will have a good time and look forward and know all is well.” 

President Holland, whose beloved wife, Sister Patricia Holland, died in July after 60 years of marriage, added, “That is what I actually have been asked to do these past six months.” 

It is unattainable to face loss without grief, he said. It is all right to cry and to recollect. It wouldn’t be a fitting tribute to “a sister or a daughter or a friend” to not mourn her temporary loss, he added. “Tears are the worth we pay for love on this world.” 

Loss and grief are a part of the mortal experience, he said. They shouldn’t be a reason to query faith.  

“If anyone on this room thinks that the righteous are going to be spared the identical tribulations and the identical tests that each one the remainder of us will face then we have now not understood the plan of salvation. Sometimes the righteous are called on to set the instance for others.”  

Just look to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, he said. Suffering is “just about all He knew.” 

“We shouldn’t have any scriptures that say He laughed, though we consider He did. We consider He was splendidly well-rounded, with an imposing personality,” said President Holland. “But we do have scriptures that say He wept.” 

God loves broken hearts, President Holland continued. The children of Israel are under covenant to sacrifice, and the righteous sacrifice with a broken heart.  

“Christ died of a broken heart,” said President Holland, adding “I’m an old man, and my heart has been broken recently. The Beagleys are young and wonderful, and their hearts are broken now. And all of us are going to get a probability to point out a suitable sacrifice unto God.” 

A broken heart is healed when it is obtainable to “a Father in Heaven, who restores it and makes all of it perfect.” 

“We get our hearts back,” President Holland said. “We get Kirsten back. We wander away limbs back. We get  the whole lot back, and we get it higher. We are resurrected perfectly.” 

Looking to the capability congregation gathered within the Castle Dale Utah Stake Center, President Holland called funerals “serious business.”  

One shouldn’t think that because something untoward happens that “God doesn’t love you. … Bad things, unlucky things, can occur to good people,” he said. “They are a part of the universal quest for Godhood, and a part of our destiny.” 

So “we are going to share our tears,” he added, and move forward with “confidence within the plan of salvation.” 

“I leave my witness and an apostolic blessing with you that that is the work of Almighty God.” 

Many of those participating within the funeral wore pink in honor of Kirsten, a highschool senior who was a drill team captain and member of her school’s seminary council. 

Also offering funeral remarks were Kirsten’s friends Rinny Leroy and Boston Huntington, who spoke of her smile, contagious laugh and open arms.

Kirsten’s sisters, Clarissa Beagley and Jannika Hills, spoke of the support the family has received because the accident.

Clarissa Beagley said having Kirsten as a sister was “a young mercy,” or a beautiful gift she didn’t even know she needed.

John Doria, Kirsten’s seminary teacher, recalled a recent interaction when Kirsten spoke to him because she was apprehensive about one other student.

A family friend, President Bruce Yost, first counselor within the Castle Dale Utah Stake presidency, spoke of feeling the Savior’s peace. “I’m so thankful we will have peace during this difficult time,” he said.

Kirsten’s parents, Kyle and Janell Beagley, stood on the pulpit together to supply their testimonies and gratitude for all in attendance. “Kirsten’s influence has reached distances and hearts we never expected,” Kyle Beagley said.

He also shared notes the family found on Kirsten’s phone, testifying of the ability of prayer and scripture study and her sure knowledge of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.