Jocelyn the elder

My parents chose to honor my grandmother when they named me after her. Perhaps they hoped that I would grow to emulate her strength and persistence.

As a teenager I thought it was great to distinguish between the two of us as Alma and his father did in the Book of Mormon with the subtitle: younger and elder. I signed my correspondences as Jocelyn the younger and addressed my grandma as Jocelyn the elder.

At that time, I thought the parallel between the prophets of old and my relationship with my grandmother was only in the difference in age and the similarity in names. Little did I know that how much my life would parallel Alma the younger's journey while my grandmother would remain as an anchor like Alma the elder.

I left the faith of my mothers and went about with my own version of the son's of Mosiah. I know that Jocelyn the elder cried on her knees, much like Alma the elder did, for her granddaughter to have a change of heart and return to the fold.

I'm grateful that her prayers were answered. While an angel of the Lord didn't appear to me, I had my own Alma the younger experience as

"I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my" grandmother teach unto the children "concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!"
(Alma 36:17-20).

I'm grateful for the faithfulness of my elder, who as Alma the elder, taught her children in righteousness and labored in prayer for their sake. I'm grateful for her example that will stay with me all the days of my life.

This blog is dedicated to telling and sharing her stories of laughter and love. It isn't a family dinner without Grandma starting a story by saying, "That reminds me..."