Not Lost to the Savior

Illustration by Allen Garns, with permission to depict Del Parson’s painting The Lost Lamb

A family member and her husband recently decided to leave the Church, along with their young children. The news was heart-wrenching for our family. Over the next few weeks, we tried to find our new normal.

The days following their announcement were filled with anguish, tears, and heartfelt prayers to our Heavenly Father. One of the immediate answers to my prayers was that I needed to worship in the temple every week. As a student and working wife and mother, I found that answer daunting, but I determined to be as obedient to the prompting as possible.

One evening after a particularly difficult shift at work, I felt strongly that I needed to go to the temple that night. I asked my son to accompany me to do initiatory work.

When we arrived at the temple, we went our separate ways. As I did proxy work for several sisters and listened to their promised blessings, I was overcome with emotion. I could not get our wandering family members off my mind.

After I finished, I got dressed, headed to the waiting room, and sat down. Soon, however, I felt that I needed to switch seats so I could see my son when he came out of the men’s dressing room.

I moved but felt unsettled in every spot I sat—until I finally sat on a couch facing the wall near the temple entrance. I had just picked up the scriptures, trying to soothe my troubled heart, when I glanced up toward the wall.

There, I saw an almost life-size painting of the Savior holding a little lamb in His arms. The Spirit suddenly reminded me that while my beloved family members felt lost to me, they were not lost to our Savior.

“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

“And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing” (Luke 15:4–5).

We continue to love and pray for those who have wandered. But when sadness washes over me, I remember this experience, hoping that someday, those who are lost will find their way back with help from a loving Savior.