Help with funeral program?

[changed]

A dear sister that I had been visit teaching passed away yesterday morning. They have asked me to give the closing prayer and put together the program for the service. Have any of you ever put together a program for a funeral? Anyone have a template for one? It will be a short service at the cemetery…

She was an elderly lady who had downs syndrome. She lived her life as a 4 year old child. Her sister took care of her and loved her to the end, even though her sister had crippling diabetes. They were in the process of trying to find another home – the sister with diabetes is at the end of her life too, was just hanging on to make sure Dona was ok and would be taken care of… they had a really hard time finding a place, I guess Dona was suposed to pass away at home with her sister.

because she lived her life as a 4 year old, I wanted to get a scripture in there about children, something about becoming as a child to enter the kingdom of heaven, any ideas? I thought possibly Mark 10, is there anything better? Anyone know a good picture of Jesus with a bunch of children that could be used?

Mark 10
And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them
and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased,
and said unto them,
Suffer the little children to come unto me,
and forbid them not:
for of such is the kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you,
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child,
he shall not enter therein.
And he took them up in his arms,
put his hands upon them,
and blessed them.

Also wanted to put something in there for Nona, thought of Isaiah 35:

Isaiah CHAPTER 35 - The Day of Restoration.
THE wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart,
Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come
He will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb sing:
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion
with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads:
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

As it talks about handicapped people being made whole etc…
Does anyone know where to get some good picts of flowers? “blossom as a rose” pict? Can you paste links?

I want it to be a really special program. They are really special people.
Thanks.

[changed]

OK, I’m crying. You know, I been to a few funerals, people trying to look back on only the good parts of their life, everyone trying to talk themselves into believing that the person made it into the arms of their savior, but there is always unspoken doubt you know? This time there is no doubt. She lived her life as an innocent child, there is no question in anyone’s mind where she is right now. I guess she was not the handicapped one after all, it is the rest of us who are imperfect, not her. She lived an innocent life with no sin, she is in the arms of Her savior, in the arms of her Parents, with no regrets and nothing to distance her from anyone. She lived as a humble innocent angel, you know the general conference talk about angels among us? She was and is an angel. I’m not crying because she is gone, I’m crying out of awe for who she was and is. Might we all have lived the innocent life of a child as she did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin;
11 And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins.
12 But little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world;


19 And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.
20 And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.
21 And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.
22 And when he had done this he wept again;
23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.
24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.
25 And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children.

[applepansy]

The counsel we received when planning our son's funeral (and I know there is counsel from the general authorities somewhere, just can't find it at the moment) is that funerals should be similar to a Sacrament Meeting without the sacrament.

There is another difference, the obituary is read. Most funerals I've been to, the talks have been about the deceased, but Brigham Young (can't find reference right now. My mom called and read it to me and I didn't write down where she found it in her extensive library) counseled that the Plan of Salvation should be preached at funerals.

I hope my two cents is helpful in some way.

People afflicted with Down's Syndrome are the most loving and caring people I've ever met. they are truly angels here on earth.

I'm sorry for your loss,

applepansy

[SundaeSarah]

You'll probably want to have the grave dedicated. For my first husband's funeral, the Stake President did it, and gave a short talk about the purpose of life, etc. My husband, too, died after a long time with a severe brain injury, so he was diminished in his capacity to understand many things. His sister spoke at the funeral and a friend from the Ward that often took him fishing. Since you're having only a graveside service you might consider having a few people tell what she meant to them in their lives or what she taught them and have each of them place a flower on the casket after their thoughts are spoken. I like the scriptures you've chosen. You might want to sing I Am A Child of God too. It's simple and sweet and very touching.

[Hemidakota]

Originally Posted by changed

A dear sister that I had been visit teaching passed away yesterday morning. They have asked me to give the closing prayer and put together the program for the service. Have any of you ever put together a program for a funeral? Anyone have a template for one? It will be a short service at the cemetery…

She was an elderly lady who had downs syndrome. She lived her life as a 4 year old child. Her sister took care of her and loved her to the end, even though her sister had crippling diabetes. They were in the process of trying to find another home – the sister with diabetes is at the end of her life too, was just hanging on to make sure Dona was ok and would be taken care of… they had a really hard time finding a place, I guess Dona was suposed to pass away at home with her sister.

because she lived her life as a 4 year old, I wanted to get a scripture in there about children, something about becoming as a child to enter the kingdom of heaven, any ideas? I thought possibly Mark 10, is there anything better? Anyone know a good picture of Jesus with a bunch of children that could be used?

Mark 10
And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them
and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased,
and said unto them,
Suffer the little children to come unto me,
and forbid them not:
for of such is the kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you,
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child,
he shall not enter therein.
And he took them up in his arms,
put his hands upon them,
and blessed them.

Also wanted to put something in there for Nona, thought of Isaiah 35:

Isaiah CHAPTER 35 - The Day of Restoration.
THE wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart,
Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come
He will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb sing:
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion
with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads:
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

As it talks about handicapped people being made whole etc…
Does anyone know where to get some good picts of flowers? “blossom as a rose” pict? Can you paste links?

I want it to be a really special program. They are really special people.
Thanks.

I commend you for taking on this commitment for this dear sister. If you have a problem in hosting a funeral, see your Bishop. He has the outline on how it is conducted. If you still have a problem, I would be glad to send an outline to you.

If it was me, I would search out her life journey highlights that may add some information for other in attendance. It is always interesting to see what others had accomplished since birth.

Good luck...

[Hemidakota]

Originally Posted by changed

OK, I’m crying. You know, I been to a few funerals, people trying to look back on only the good parts of their life, everyone trying to talk themselves into believing that the person made it into the arms of their savior, but there is always unspoken doubt you know? This time there is no doubt. She lived her life as an innocent child, there is no question in anyone’s mind where she is right now. I guess she was not the handicapped one after all, it is the rest of us who are imperfect, not her. She lived an innocent life with no sin, she is in the arms of Her savior, in the arms of her Parents, with no regrets and nothing to distance her from anyone. She lived as a humble innocent angel, you know the general conference talk about angels among us? She was and is an angel. I’m not crying because she is gone, I’m crying out of awe for who she was and is. Might we all have lived the innocent life of a child as she did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin;
11 And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins.
12 But little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world;


19 And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.
20 And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.
21 And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.
22 And when he had done this he wept again;
23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.
24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.
25 And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children.

If she is endowed, temple sealed, and live a devoted life the best she could, then yes, she will reside in the state until she is ready to receive the fullness of the Godhead or the Celestial Kingdom.

[SkyWishes]

Those scriptures are truly beautiful, thank you for sharing and bless that lady. I don't know why our Father makes it so that some of us have different challegnes than others. Each of our challenges makes us who we are and we all have a lesson to learn in this life, tho perhaps some of us have less to learn here. The meek shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.

[changed]

Thanks everyone. The Bishop is going to do the dedicatory prayer, RS pres singing "Each Life That Touches Us for Good" HTers / VTers saying some things... we ordered some flowers... a really simple service, but I think it will be special. Thanks again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

The funeral was today, I think it went well. Rainy day, the weather was appropriate... Thanks again.