11/08/2023
TW: Grief and Loss Depiction
"Back in 2005, my husband, Joseph, was deployed to Iraq. He was a military intelligence officer. About two weeks before he was to come home, I saw two soldiers. They asked me, 'Are you Vandella DeMoors? We're here to inform you that your husband, Lieutenant Jospeh David DeMoors has been killed.’
People would say, ‘You know where he is, God’s taking care of him,’ and I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to talk to anybody or do anything. I just wanted to sleep.
I remember one day getting up and being irate, just totally angry. I’d gone up to my bedroom and closed the door, and I just broke down. I cried out to the Lord, ‘Why did you have to take him? Why did he have to go?” I was livid when I said it.
I remember hearing the voice of the Lord and He said, “You can’t keep living like this. He’s not coming back.” At that moment I realized I had three kids to raise. From then on, my focus went from the loss to my children.
I’ve learned through all the loss and all the things that I’ve gone through in life that God loves me, and that He’s aware of what I’m going through. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has helped me to see that God has my back. Through Him, I believe all things are possible. I think through all of this, my relationship with Him has grown tenfold.”