Two of the 10 children of the late President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Sister Dantzel Nelson, honored and paid tribute to their father during his funeral on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
Laurie N. Marsh and Russell M. Nelson Jr. expressed gratitude for the blessing to have him be “Daddy,” as they called him. And they thanked all those who sustained, helped and supported him through his life and his time as Prophet, including “his dear wife, Wendy,” who was by his side for the last almost 20 years.
When Marsh thinks of her father, she thinks of joy. “Daddy always chose to be happy, and that made him so fun to be around.”
Marsh said President Nelson’s life was a joyful life because he centered it on the Savior, Jesus Christ. Their home had a motto found in Matthew 6:33: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Family prayer, scripture study and home evening were chances to be together, Marsh said. “There are many members in our family, but we had one goal, to be an eternal family.”
Marsh grew up seeing her parents attend the temple together. They had fun family vacations together and fished, hiked and skied.
“We would sit on the ski lift looking at the beautiful surroundings, and he would take a deep breath and say, ‘Girls, the Church is true,’” Marsh said.
Her memories include hearing him whistle, sing and play the organ; popcorn and apples on Sunday nights and singing Handel’s “Messiah” together at Christmas.
“As we grew older and had families of our own, it meant watching our parents love and snuggle our babies when they were born,” Marsh said. President Nelson attended each baptism, set apart the full-time missionaries and sealed the grandchildren to their spouses in the temple.
“I will sorely miss the joy and light that my dad’s physical presence has brought to my life,” Marsh said. “But I know he has great faith in you and in me and will always be cheering each and every one of us on, inviting us to joyfully live with Christ in the center of our lives.”
Russell M. Nelson Jr. said President and Sister Nelson’s posterity numbers more than 300, most of whom were at the funeral. “He made sure that we all felt individually recognized and loved.”
Throughout President Nelson’s long life, “he was constant and consistent in his devotion to God, family and serving others,” Nelson said.
As a ministering companion to his father, Nelson saw how even years later, President Nelson blessed those families to whom he had been previously assigned. “He was still ministering because he loved them.”
Nelson remembered accompanying his father on a three-week assignment to Europe. After about 10 or so days, Nelson felt exhausted — and he was 14 years old. His father was in his 60s and “tireless in his service.”
“President Nelson showed us firsthand that there is no ‘rest’ in his version of the Restoration,” Nelson said, fulfilling the promise President Nelson made in his initial address as Prophet in 2018 where he pledged to serve God and Jesus Christ and the members of the Church “with every remaining breath of my life.”
Finally, his son said he has had the honor of carrying the name of Russell M. Nelson Jr.
“My father and I promised each other we would do our best to honor the name given to us. This has helped me with many decisions and situations in my life,” he said.
He extended that thought to each member of the Church.
“Each of us have taken upon ourselves the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We try to emulate Him and be more like Him and do our best to honor His name.”
