The Consolation that Elder Soares Found After the Loss of His Children

On Tuesday, November 12, 2024, Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met with missionaries in Paris, France, for a devotional.

In his speech, he shared a memory of his experience as a young father and advised the missionaries to trust in Jesus Christ now to prepare and find joy throughout their lives.

In a video clip from his talk, Elder Soares recounted how he and his wife, Sister Rosana Soares, wanted to have children when they were first married:

After five years of medical treatments and all kinds of things we went through, we finally had our first child and almost lost him. 

He was born a little premature, but we were blessed with good medical support, and he survived.

She shared that the two children she had later were also born prematurely, but did not survive.

These losses were heartbreaking for the young parents. Elder Soares recalls feeling deep grief as he buried his second child alone while his wife recovered in the hospital.

However, that day he received a clear and personal impression from the Lord that gave him comfort throughout his life. He reflected:

I remember walking through the cemetery grounds with our little boy to be buried and asking the Lord, ‘How can I bear this? Help me!’

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Everything will be okay. ’ That day, I heard the voice of the Lord telling me very clearly, ‘Just keep your joy, my son. Everything will be okay in your life. Persevere.

That impression gave Elder Soares the strength to carry on. He returned to the hospital to care for his wife.

Years later, they were blessed with two more children.

We felt the promises of the Savior Jesus Christ to us. I felt such great joy in my heart, a joy I cannot describe. As Ammon said, how thankful we are for this gospel! How blessed we are by Jesus Christ!