Talk from Susan Warner

Talk given by Susan L. Warner, at the funeral on February 14^th, 2009

Patricia H. Nielsen

Loving, Consecrated, and Valiant

I feel humbly grateful on this special day to join with all of you as we celebrate the life of Patricia Haglund Nielsen and the completion of her earthly mission. I feel the Lord’s spirit here today and I pray that I can give voice to the love and gratitude we all feel for Pat and her influence for good in our lives.

I especially want her children and grandchildren to know of the great contributions your mother and grandmother made to Heavenly Father’s kingdom on this earth. We know that Pat’s life did not begin with her birth – nor does it end with her death. We know that she lived with Heavenly Father before she came here. She lived there and loved there with people she knew – so did you. Then Heavenly Father presented a wonderful plan all about earth and eternal salvation for man – and with all of Pat’s enthusiasm, I know she eagerly anticipated receiving a body and the many experiences, challenges, and joys she would have on the earth.

Elder Russell Nelson taught us that even before we came to earth we regarded the returning home as the best part of that long – awaited trip to earth. He said, “Before embarking on any journey, we like to have some assurance of a round-trip ticket. Returning from earth to life in our heavenly home requires passage through – and not around – the doors of death. We were born to die, and we die to live. As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven.” If the Pat I know was just a blossom I can hardly wait to see her in full bloom.

When Pat came to the earth, Heavenly Father not only gave her a strong body – a temple if you will – he also endowed her with many abilities, gifts, and talents. Pat did not bury her talents – or keep them to herself – Oh no, she studied and worked and practiced and developed those gifts and talents and also her testimony so that she could share them with you, her family, and so that she would be prepared to teach and serve others.

Though your mother was omni-competent, she was humble and eager to learn from everyone. She worked very hard to improve her skills and she practiced so that she could teach other leaders, who then took what they learned from her throughout the world.

One of the board members whom Pat taught, is now serving in Puerto Rico. She writes, “Pat’s creative approach to teaching the gospel with music has blessed children around the world. I know, because I have utilized her ideas and methods with children and their leaders in Chile, in Mexico and even in the humble huts of the San Blas Islands. That is only a tiny sampling of the far-reaching ripples of her influence, because I am certain that many other board members have shared the principles and love for music that Pat shared so selflessly with us.

Many others who served on the Primary Board with your mother have echoed that same sentiment as they recounted the ways that she willingly taught them and shared her knowledge and skills. We have wanted you to know of the influence your mother had on all of us who served with her. We have put together a book with personal tributes from some of those whose hearts and lives she touched during her Primary service. As your children and grandchildren come along, this will help you share with them a glimpse of their remarkable grandmother and great-grandmother and her service to Primary children and their leaders throughout the world.

Along with your mother’s knowledge of music and the skills she developed to share that knowledge, she inspired and strengthened all of us with her strong and deep testimony. Her knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ infused everything she did. She listened to the still small voice and she felt the Savior’s love in all the world around her.

Pat knew that music was the best way to teach children the gospel and so she worked diligently to bring the Primary songs to children everywhere. She planned and prayed and worked and worked some more. Now the Children’s Songbook is published in 21 languages and 3 more are in process. Recordings have been made in 10 languages.

To help bring this about, Pat worked with many others, and in doing so she utilized yet another of her talents. As one board member said, in the groups in which she labored “she fostered unity and love.” She lifted, loved, and encouraged us by her memorable ways of expressing confidence in our ability to do whatever we had been called to do. Once when I was facing an overwhelming assignment, she was the first to be on my doorstep to remind me that “the Lord qualifies whom he calls,” and “His spirit whispers that I can.” Her personal life experiences had taught her these truths.

What brought all these and other talents to life was Pat’s gift of prayer. She was never hesitant to pray in faith. She asked for and received divine help. And because of this, the Lord was able to make her an instrument in His hands to accomplish His work in the many places where she served.

Once in a Relief Society lesson the question was asked, “How can we be Saviors on Mount Zion?”

Your dear mother, Kent’s beloved wife, and our sister and dear friend Pat, not only knew the answer to this question, she lived it. She went about doing good. She served not only those she encountered in this life, but those who have passed on. She sought out their names, learned of their lives, and gathered their earthly records, so that they could have the opportunity to receive the sacred ordinances of the temple that had been unavailable to them when they lived on the earth. And because she was a gifted teacher, Pat along with Kent was able to teach others how to search for their ancestors and in her loving way she inspired them to do so.

Last Saturday, when I learned of Pat’s passing from this life into the next, I immediately saw, in my mind’s eye, the happy welcome she must have received as she met in person the many, many people she had known on paper. How warmly they must have greeted her as they rushed to embrace her and thank her for helping them to obtain sacred temple ordinances and blessings!

Yes, Pat remembered the promises she had made to her fathers, her mothers, her sisters and her brothers. But she not only remembered – she did the work. She gathered their records and then made sure the saving ordinances of the gospel were performed on their behalf. And those who haven’t yet accepted those ordinances will meet a valiant servant who will find a way to teach them the gospel. Pat has always said, “The Lord can depend on me.”

As I visited Pat just a few days before her spirit departed her body, I saw a peaceful soul lying on the bed being attended to by you her loving family. I saw a sore on her ear, an ear that had listened to her husband and her children and heard the word of the Lord. She had responded to the calls she heard from the Lord and his servants.

I swabbed her dry lips that had sung the songs of Zion and had not spoken guile but rather had spoken words of hope and cheerfulness and optimism. One board member said, “I do not recall ever hearing a negative or pessimistic comment from her lips.”

I saw a quiet mouth that had been so active in singing to us, had often been filled with infectious laughter, and had formed many words that taught us and encouraged us.

I looked at her once strong hands that had lifted and served children and youth and led us in making music.

I saw the tired arms that were strong when they enveloped us with her love and warm bear hugs.

Pat had worn out her body in service to her eternal brothers and sisters. She had nobly finished her work on this earth. Her spirit was prepared to go on to a more important work.

Joseph Smith said, “The spirits of the just are exalted to a greater and more glorious work: hence they are blessed in their departure to the world of spirits.”

He also said, “…Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison.”

I am certain that Pat will be called on to help the dead speak forth in anthems as they break forth into singing. We can rejoice that she has prepared herself for the even greater good that she has been called to do. She will continue to minister to her eternal family, as she did here. She will continue to learn and grow and teach, but without the pain and physical limitations that she has endured in recent months.

In closing may I share an experience I had sitting on one of the benches at the front of the chapel for the funeral of Elder Archibald. President Monson who was then a counselor in the First Presidency was speaking when he leaned over the pulpit and spoke directly to Sister Archibald and her daughter. He told them with memorable conviction in his voice, that their husband and father would be closer to them from the other side of the veil than he could have ever been to them here because now he had an eternal perspective about their present lives and challenges.

When we remember her warm hugs that said “I love you, and I know you can do it” we must also remember that Pat is not very far away and that she still loves us with an even greater understanding of who we are and the challenges we now face. I know that Pat will still be cheering us on from a more heavenly vantage point.

I know that our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, live and they love us. I know that Patricia Haglund Nielsen also lives and loves us. I know that we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ and that through the prophet Joseph Smith , the priesthood is restored and God has spoken to the earth. His power is here again and he speaks today to us through His living prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

I am grateful to our Savior Jesus Christ for the price he willingly paid so that we might be able to prepare ourselves to live again in His presence in our Heavenly Home. I pray that we will be valiant servants as our dear Pat is and faithfully fulfill our own earthly mission as she did. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.