MICHAEL HALL TODD
Memorial Service – July 25, 2013 – Salt Lake City
By Joe Todd
Michael’s email address name was “captainmidnight.” Captain Midnight was a radio and comic book hero of the air; fighting off villains in the late 1930’s and 40’s – he had an assistant named Ichabod. I liked to call him Captain Midnight. Sometimes when Michael was a little slow to answer the phone I would leave a message from Ichabod to Captain Midnight and he soon would respond on an upnote! - - so today, “Hey Captain Midnight! We all love you!”
The First Question is not only who was Michael Hall Todd but also who is Michael Hall Todd? He was and is a spiritual son of a living Heavenly Father and as such still lives.
The Second Question is What was Michael Hall Todd doing on this earth? He like all of us – Left Heavenly Father’s presence as a Spirit Son of HF and came to earth to obtain a human body and be born of earthly parents - - - Michael like all of us came to gain experience to learn to know right from wrong and learn to become more like Heavenly Father and His first born Son Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father sent Jesus to this earth to be our Savior, to teach us and lead us back to our original home to live with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and our family. - - Families can be forever.
The simple truth of the matter is no one on this earth who ever was, is or will be - - is perfect – except Jesus Christ. WE all fall short of the mark no matter how hard we try and– MHT did try also.
The third question is “Since we all fall short of mark of being perfect, how do we get back home? The answer is through the Atonement – to become “at one with Christ” - -. Because of the atonement, - - the sacrifice & suffering of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and death upon the cross, - - he freed all persons from the effects of both physical death and spiritual death. He paid the price for our sins. He makes up the difference after we do all that we can do. And, then through the Resurrection on the 3rd day, - our savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead and broke the bonds of death for all of us. He gave us all immortality and opened the gate to Eternal Life with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Someday, just like Michael and everyone else who has gone on before us, And those that come after us - - - our life on Earth will end and our physical bodies will die - Sometimes sooner than expected – - sometime later – - sometimes with a long illness- sometimes very unexpectedly – - But for all of us – life on this earth will come to an end - - But our spirits will not die. At the time of physical death, our spirits goes to the spirit world, where we have the opportunity to continue to learn and to progress – at the time of the resurrection the body is reunited with the spirit - So it will be with Michael Todd and all of us. Jesus Christ gave us Immortality, that we may live forever and the opportunity for Eternal life, to live with Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ along with our families.
These are not nice philosophical crutches – not just things we want to be true, not just things we cling to when faced with tragedy - - - they are eternal truths - - -
Who Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are – Who we are, where we came from, what we are doing on this earth, what happens after we leave this earth, the atonement, resurrection, and life after death are all eternal truths we can & must know for ourselves.
They are true - - not because I say so, not simply because we want them to be true because they give us comfort, not because we have read about them, not because someone in authority who we respect and admire says so but because we can earnestly pray to our Heavenly Father about it and know for a surety through the testimony of the Holy Ghost to us individually that these things are true and real. We can know for our selves that these things are true!
--- Remember, James 1:5 & 6 verses in New Testament “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
Even in the midst of a storm we can re confirm the truth - We can know for ourselves beyond any doubt that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.- - - - BUT, we have to sincerely want to know the truth and do something about it – we need to pray and then we need to act in faith taking one step forward at a time – even half an inch is real progress
••As Nephi put it (2Nephi 31:20 in the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ) “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”
However, - sometimes when we become sad or discouraged it seems as if we are in a small row boat paddling in a raging storm with rough seas toward a lighthouse on a distant shore –
When the waves splash over the sides of our row boat and things get tough and we may feel that we are going to be swamped, disoriented, and lost - - - - in those situations the words of a hymn come to my mind – I would like to share a few of the words with you– I once saw a women come to the stand in the Hyde Park Ward, Chicago to make a few remarks, but instead she broke out into melodious song – it was beautiful - to those of you who know me or have sat next to me – fear not – I am not going to sing – just read the words aloud.
The first words are from the hymn - Be Still My Soul – Hymn #124
Be still, my soul:
Thy God doth undertake To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul:
The waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
Be still, my soul:
The hour is hast'ning on When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul:
When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
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Now let me close with a few of the lines from another hymn #284 – these are some of the words that help keep me going.
There is no end to virtue
There is no end to wisdom
There is no end to light
There is no end to union
There is no end to truth
There is no end to glory
There is no end to love
There is no end to being
There is no death above
- - - - - - - - - - -
These things I know – in the name of Jesus Christ – Amen
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