Dear missionary, McKay Burrows

He was a sweeper at my school, he vacuumed my classroom and others', various cleaning jobs around the school, and we joked around from time to time. When I heard the news I couldn't wrap my brain around it. I was the saddest person. I was seriously crying about this sad thing. How could the Lord let such a terrible thing happen? A co-worker is in the same ward as the family and reported the mom was just wailing and completely out of sorts, laying on the ground. I kept thinking about my missionary, something like that happening to him, not that it'd be a surprise, living in a third world country and esp. that Matt shared a story about hearing a gun-shot a few doors down and lo and behold it was someone who had taken their own life with a gun-shot to the head. So, anyhoooo, I was just crying and crying all throughout the first week of Feb., b/c I was so upset about the passing away of this boy. I was focused on the "what if" it happened to Matt? You think of picking up your son at the airport like all the other moms and families, at the bottom of the escalator, and -- not for the Burrows. Where's the pick up for your son that comes home in a box? Is he dressed? Is he embalmed? Was he cared for properly? I happen to know, now, that he was cared for, he was dressed in his suit, with his missionary name tag on. I am getting emotional all over again, now, thinking of this boy's body, arriving a week after his untimely death, back home.
BUT!!! let me share some words of Elder Russell M. Nelson that spoke at the funeral:
"At times like this, we are prone to ask questions. We wonder, should these choice young men have been sent to a safer place? But there is no place on earth that is free from risk. My advice for each of us is not to torture ourselves with 'what if' questions. They bring neither clarity nor comfort. Substitute your 'what if' questions with 'because of' declarations."
Reminding the congregation of eternal laws of the gospel, he spoke of the resurrection from temporal death, and the blessing of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Through these eternal laws, individuals can qualify for eternal life and families are able to be together forever.
"As mortals we think of his death as premature. But from McKay's heavenly perspective, death is not premature. It is not premature for one who is prepared to meet God. Death is only premature for one not prepared to meet God. Our existence in this period of mortality allows us to get a body, to develop faith and to prove ourselves.
McKay has done that. ... While here we weep for the loss of this dear young man, on the other side of the veil, there are tears of joy. (He talks about McKay being a missionary and teaching the gospel in the spirit world. He said, those of us that are left behind will experience a trial of our faith.)
more: "We also know that this time of mortality is not a destination in itself. It is but a journey toward our ultimate destiny, which is to return to our Heavenly Father."