A Widow Draws on the Power of Jesus Christ
Grief affects everyone differently. A mother and son take different paths as they move through the loss of their husband and father to eventually come together in faith.
By Lui Sanft
The bright future of the Makasini family was affected by the unexpected loss of their father. One week after celebrating Thanksgiving in 2015 Hilamani Makasini passed away, leaving his widow Emeline Makasini to take care of their three daughters and one son. Their only son named after his father and called Junior, was Emeline’s strength.
For Junior, the death of his father was devastating and he didn’t know how to cope. His high school football career was turning south, he no longer participated in the local church young men program, and instead grew more and more angry, questioning why his father was taken away. Before long, he was expelled from high school, and spent his time with friends doing drugs, robbing stores, and eventually went to jail.
Emeline, too, struggled with the pain of losing her husband, yet found the feeling of losing her son to drugs nearly unbearable. She turned to the Lord and pleaded for His healing power. She worked long hard hours to meet the needs of the family financially but barely made it from month to month. Even so, she trusted God and faithfully paid her tithes, believing in the promise found in the Bible from the prophet Malachi that God will rebuke the devourer for her sake. She often visited the Temple and poured out her heart to the Lord.
Mother and son were heading in different directions but inseparable in their hearts and their grief. Junior reached the bottom while his mother continued to attend church, feeling stronger day by day, although very concerned for her son. Emeline said, “When Junior came back home, he still hung out with his friends doing drugs. We had to watch him, we thought he was suicidal.” Slowly, Junior started to lose his anger over the death of his father. He also started to see how much his mother loved him and worked very hard to support their entire family.
Junior and Emeline 2022. Image courtesy of Emeline Makasini.
Junior became willing to make the change, so he started to go to church. One day Junior told Emeline, “Mom, I’m going to serve a mission.” She was dumbfounded with shock. Junior worked very hard with the church leadership to prepare. He served a two year mission and returned home with honor. Elder Hilamani Makasini Jr. now serves in the church as a leader in the Young Single Adult congregation.
Emeline Makasini is overjoyed with the changes in her son’s life and strongly testifies that “we can draw on the power of the Lord to overcome any circumstance that we face, because Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much.”
Lui Sanft is an inspector for the City of Fort Worth at Forestry Section. During his free time he enjoys exercising and walking along trails with his wife, loves to read and spend time with his family.