“She Is Still Ours,” Liahona, October 2020
She Is Still Ours
My husband and I were going to be sealed, but this sacred ordinance was much bigger than the two of us.
Illustration by Joshua Dennis
After seven years of hoping and waiting for children, my husband and I were finally blessed with a daughter. Alicie was the light of our lives, but she lived for only five months before dying of pneumonia.
That was the hardest experience of my life. Every day I would come home from work and sit and cry. My in-laws often sat with me to give me strength. I kept praying for another child, but none came. I was lost in sadness.
My in-laws started encouraging my husband and me to travel to the Suva Fiji Temple to be sealed. We had never been to the temple, and we decided that this was the best way for us to find hope and healing.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I felt that day! I knew that my husband and I would be sealed together for eternity. This knowledge filled me with gratitude and love. But I hadn’t understood that this sacred ordinance was much bigger than the two of us.
At the temple, I learned that Alicie could be sealed to us. I cried tears of joy as I came to know this sacred doctrine. Our daughter would be ours for all eternity! I testify that God has provided everything we need for happiness in His holy house.
In the years since, my husband and I have been blessed with a son and three adopted children. Yet we can never forget Alicie. Because of the ordinances of the temple, our daughter is a part of our family forever.
When I meet someone who has lost a child, I feel their pain with them. But I also know that this pain is not the end. Through losing Alicie, as well as experiencing other trials, I know that God is there for me. When I get discouraged or complain about things, I know that God is always there.
I know I will see Alicie again, and that truth continues to fill my husband and me with deep joy.