On Monday morning, I woke up to find out that my good friend and former work colleague, Sarah Allen, died unexpectedly.
I have known Sarah for a number of years, initially through
"online" apologetics, such as her lengthy response to the CES Letter.
We then met up in person at various meetups, including when FAIR threw me a
small surprise birthday party at their office when I lived in Utah.
Sarah was a very faithful Latter-day Saint who had a firm
testimony of the Gospel that was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. She
was also a very good researcher (and, as anyone who worked at Scripture
Central, editor!) who wanted to ensure that good, faithful scholarship was
accessible to Church members. She also possessed a great sense of humor (e.g.,
like me, she was a fan of Irish and UK comedies, such as Fr. Ted). She will be
greatly missed.
FAIR has shared her funeral details:
Viewing: Sunday, 5:00-7:00 PM (1/18)
Viewing & Funeral: Monday,
10:00 AM viewing, 11:00 AM service (1/19)
Location: Copper Hills Stake
Center, 5176 W Parr Drive, West Jordan, Utah
(All times are in Mountain
Standard Time)
For those of us, like myself, cannot make it in person, you can watch the service on zoom.
To quote from my favorite work
of Mozart (this
is my favorite version I have encountered, and apropos, was sung at a
funeral):
Requiem aeternam dona ets, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat ets.
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam,
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Requiem aeternam dona ets,
Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat ets.
