Farewell to Elder L. Tom Perry

This week we bid farewell to our apostle Elder L. Tom Perry. He passed away after a short illness, a rapidly spreading aggressive cancer. He was 92 years old.

At his funeral beautiful words were spoken by other apostles who reminded us what Elder Perry had taught us through his life:

As an apostle, he was a special witness of Christ. I still assume that apostles regularly get the chance to speak directly with Christ, to receive direct guidance from Him. In that sense, Elder Perry's words are for me words that he, in turn, received inspiration from Christ.

Especially his testimony on the enduring commitment of marriage will stay with me. Still during our last general conference in early April – where regarding Elder Perry's health nothing alarming seemed to be going on yet – Elder Perry spoke about a colloquium on marriage that was held at the Vatican and where religious leaders from all over the world gathered.

I can best let Elder Perry himself speak and let him tell what makes marriage so special in our church:

Elder Perry, we love you and we miss you. Enjoy your mission on the other side of the veil and the presence of our Savior Jesus Christ. Till we meet again.