Yesterday we laid the body of my Aunt Elsie Boonstra to rest. She was a wonderful woman, a great mother, grandmother and aunt. She was a perfect pastor's and missions director's wife to my Uncle Carl, and a blessing to the ladies in the church I was raised in.
She cared about people. When I was young she used to baby sit a couple of boys named Scott and Gregg. Whenever my brother, Steve, and I got to go over and play with our cousin John, Scott and Gregg became the perfect foils for us when we played army. They always got to be the Germans and we always won. They were brave lads! But I remember a day when Scott asked Aunt Elsie what church was about and she sat down with them and in a very tender voice explained to them the Gospel. Later when I was at BBC in Springfield, Steve and I, Steve Gentry, and some others from Denver would hit their house every Monday night to watch football and she dutifully made the thickest, sweetest, gooiest chocolate fudge and popcorn for us.
She always had a smile on her face and a cheery disposition. The first time I came to Springfield I was at their house and went with her to the Post Office. As we were driving through the neighborhood she told me that drivers in Springfield were the worst anywhere. Then she proceeded to pull out on a busy boulevard in front of a truck that blew its horn at us and she cheerfully kept on talking going down the road as if nothing had happened. I was in two missions conferences with my aunt and uncle in Helena and Great Falls, Montana in 2004. I drove up and they flew into Helena, and then I drove them to Great Falls. At the airport Aunt fell on the escalator and dislocated her hip and had a black eye. She was in a wheelchair for the next week during the conferences, but she laughed it off and never complained.
My favorite memory of her is the way she prayed. Many times I heard her start her prayer, "Most Precious Heavenly Father...." One Thanksgiving at their house all the adults were upstairs and us kids were at a table in the basement. Aunt prayed for us before we began to eat and I remember thinking, Why does she always start her prayers that way? Over the years as I grew up it became obvious that she prayed that way because the Father in Heaven was most precious to her. And now she is in His presence enjoying the blessings of heaven for evermore.
