Grandma Gorman

Recently during the Thanksgiving break, Jen, Rudy and I went down to southern California to visit Jen’s family. The day after Thanksgiving, Jen’s brother needed a ride to the LAX airport for an early morning flight. Since we were downtown, Jen and I planned to have some fun in the area after leaving the airport.
This being the first time that I had been to California as a married man, I felt a desire to visit places that were important to my family during this time when I have started my own family. Jen and I visited Inglewood, the area of L.A. just east of LAX where my mother grew up. My grandmother, Merle Gorman, was buried there in the Inglewood cemetery. She died in 1975 when my mom was only fifteen.
I’m not going to lie, my grandmother had a difficult life as a result of her disobeying the commandments of God. For example, she was addicted to cigarettes, which caused my mother to be born prematurely and ultimately resulted in her early death from lung cancer at age 53. Her life was very influential to me growing up because she made the word of wisdom and other commandments personal for me.

  Merle Gorman’s grave

I have only been to her grave one other time when I was fifteen. I was interested in returning so I could show my new wife to my grandma. It was a spiritual experience for me and I felt that Jen was approved of.
In addition to visiting my grandmother’s grave, we also visited the grave of her parents and my great-grandparents, Siney and Helena Lewis. Their parents were Mormon pioneers who had travelled from Kentucky to Nauvoo and later to Vernal, UT to be with the saints. Their parents had helped to build the Vernal Tabernacle, which is now the Vernal Temple. Siney and Helena eventually came to California, where my grandma was born. They passed away in the 1950’s before my mother was even born.

Siney and Helena Lewis’ graves

While standing before their graves, Jen made a very interesting comment that has resonated with me ever since. She said that it was interesting to see that while they had a daughter that apostatized and went against the commandments of God, my great-grandparents were still blessed with a righteous posterity that included Jen and me. Their ancestors had sacrificed everything they had for God, and yet they had died never seeing their daughter repent. Yet their sacrifices were not forgotten and within one generation their family has returned to the church and done much good in the world.
It reminded me of when Lehi passed away in the Book of Mormon, and his sons’ families were living wickedly. How tragic that must have felt, and yet there was likely some solace and peace from the knowledge that one day his sons’ families would repent and receive the blessings of God. 2 Nephi 1:17; 4:9.
All of this shows God’s great love for us and that he will honor his promises to us. He will give us opportunities to repent, and he will bless us greatly if we do.