♥ Joylin Smith

I love you sweet sister and can't wait til I can hug you again!



Joylin's Life Sketch
{I know this is long, and it's only a fraction of the sketch we gave, but I want this in my journal to share and remember forever}
Mom wrote in her journal Wednesday, Oct. 24, 1979, “I have been uncomfortable with this pregnancy and have developed a fear of this delivery for some reason. I don’t have the confidence in myself that I had last time with Rick’s home delivery. It is a horrible feeling to want something to happen soon and quickly and at the same time wish it would never have to happen. Steve gave me a beautiful husband’s blessing before he went to work. Tears flowed and I felt such a great love for him.

Friday, Oct 25
It finally happened. I had contractions all day Wednesday but just every half hour. They started to get closer together. We called the midwife at 12:30am. Steve helped me through labor. I couldn’t have made it on my own without him. About an hour and a half later our beautiful baby girl was born.

She cried and cried with a tummy full of amniotic fluid and she spit up most of the night. She weighed 6 lb 5 oz and was 19” long. She looks like dad, has Reed’s nose and Rick’s eyes.

Her five older brothers were ecstatic to find out they had a baby sister. They made a sign that said “It’s a Boy”, so they crossed out the “Boy” and put “Girl”! We woke Kent up at 3 to come see her and surprised the other boys in the morning. Kent thinks she will be a good basketball player because of her long fingers. She has long toes, too and seems perfect in every way.”

Mom and Dad were going to have her blessed Nov. 4 when she was just 10 days old, but her umbilical cord had fallen off when she was 8 days old and it was still bleeding. They took her to see Dr. Leavitt. He tried for two hours to stop the bleeding with stitches and compresses. Eventually he sent them to Good Samaritan hospital. For ten days she was in infant ICU in an incubator with monitors, receiving antibiotics for staph infection in her blood. They discovered her heart problems during that ten-day hospital stay.

The test results showed the left side of her heart was too small along with the pulmonary valve and arteries. The right was too large. The holes between the chambers did not close. She would be examined regularly, have endless doctor’s appointment, and emergency hospital stays.

Joylin was given her inspired name and a blessing on Dec. 2. “She was beautiful and the blessing matched.”

At 9 months she couldn’t raise her head from the floor and would pass out when she cried. She had her first surgery, a shunt that went from her lungs to her heart so she could get more oxygen into her blood. The results were incredible. Dad talks about how the results were almost immediate. She had a close to normal childhood after that.

She took her first steps at 15-1/2 months old. She had her 1st open heart surgery at just 2 years of age. It took 5 hours. They tried to make the pulmonary valve more effective. At nine years of age, her cardiologist said she was doing fine and she could wait to have more evaluations and checkups when she was full grown. So she didn’t have anymore heart evaluations until she was preparing to serve a mission for the church at age 21.

Joy like school and loved music. She graduated from Mesa High School in 1998. She took some classes at Mesa Community College. Her favorite one was Bowling. She bought her own shoes and ball with the holes drilled to fit her skinny fingers. She loved horses and has many collections of them. She loved the Phoenix Suns. She was a die hard fan. Her enthusiasm and passion for the Suns players is something that we will never forget. Steve Nash is definitely her favorite player of all-time. She had some great experiences at some ballgames.

She was so amazing and loved doing lots of things even though it was harder for her than most. She loved to take the boat out on the lake. Our family had a boat before her mission. It got stolen and she really wanted us to have another one, so she split the cost to get a new boat. The name chosen for her boat is “Our Joy Ride”. She loved to drive the boat. But because she was so small she had to sit on two cushions to be high enough and have help with the stiff throttle. She’d wear a cap so her hair would stay back, roll up her sleeves so she could get a little tan, and loved every minute of each boating trip especially when family and friends went.

Donna: “She liked going to concerts. One time she and Mom went to see Donny Osmond. Joy and I shared a love for Keith Urban. We went to see him twice. We’ve also seen Kenny Chesney, Lady Antabellum, and Billy Ray Cirus. Joy had so much fun at these concerts. She would get surprisingly rowdy and loud. Dancing. Singing. Cheering. We always had a blast.”

Joylin started working at the Doughnut Peddler, our family bakery, in its early stages of the 1990’s. She absolutely loved working at the restaurant Peddlers. She loved talking with the customers and other employees. Her dad lists her occupation as “customer relations”. She did THAT more than “work”.
Donna: “Joy was a great help to me at the office. I have fond memories of working late with her into all hours of the night. I loved having Joy there. She would let me vent. She was perfect at listening without judging.”

She liked to play games, especially table games. She recently played a TON of yatzee. Almost EVERY night they played.

Joy LOVED people. She loved her relatives: grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. She has a cousin, Donny, that has been her very best friend for lots of years. They would sometimes talk for hours on the phone. He could always cheer her up.

Joy has more friends than anyone I know. She has some amazing friends who sincerely saw her for who she was on the inside. Everyone that met her could feel her innocent, sincere love, and cherished her cheerfulness and upbeat personality. She loved the Ogdens. She loved the Fort girls. She loved the Robson boys. She loved everyone in her Singles Ward. She loved everyone she worked with. She loved all her doctors and nurses. I know she loved everyone here. That’s one thing that was amazing about Joy. EVERYONE was her favorite. Everyone was the BEST.

She also made many friends on her mission, to Baton Rouge Louisiana. Especially her companion, Sister Lisa Walton. She said the people in the south were so nice. She told us of a time when she was feeling home sick and couldn’t sleep, so her companion sang her a song until she was able to fall asleep. She loved pulling pranks on the elders. As we went back and read through some of her mission journal it was so sweet to see her say that everyone was the best. Anyone she wrote about she’d say, “they are the best”. She had the desire in her heart to teach and touch people’s hearts, to let them know of the truthfulness of the gospel and of her love for Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.

My poor parents had to start off their family by raising 5 crazy boys. Luckily, Heavenly Father then blessed them with 4 sweet girls. Being the first girl after five boys had its challenges for Joy. But, for the most part, while growing up our brothers treated her very well, stood up for her and protected her. As for the girls, we were almost like a whole other family. Donna was always very helpful with Joy and with her twin baby sisters.

Joy has always been a daddy’s girl. When she was little, she and our dad would lie down together in front of the television and watch Johnny Carson until she fell asleep. They read books, played games, laughed, cried, and prayed together. He has always been there for her when he needed to be. Comforting her, cheering her up, and giving her blessings. But we all agree she was also a Mama’s girl. For 31 years, Mom has devoted her life and given her all to Joy. She took her to every doctor’s appointment and massaged away her aches and pains. They helped each other through hard times. Mom suffered along side with Joy through many long sleepless nights, but we never heard a complaint. Mom was truly her best friend. Joy loved her mom and dad so much.

Nine years ago she had her 2nd open-heart surgery. This time it took 12 hours. The surgeon said he almost “lost her”. Apparently they had to do measures to revive her heart again. Mom says she will never forget when the doctor described to them with tears in his eyes how when he held her heart in his hands and instead of feeling like a normal strong muscle it felt soft & mushy. …And anyone who knew Joylin knows she had the softest heart in whole world. He put in a new pulmonary valve and patched one open hole at that time. After her open-heart surgery, Mom stayed with her almost every day and night until she came home 40 days later. She did not recover like she should have because she couldn’t or wouldn’t eat – not the hospital food or food we brought in. She said nothing tasted good to her and even the smell of food made her nauseous most of the time. After 30 days of not eating and the staff saying she would start eating when she got hungry enough, mom finally convinced them they needed to put in a feeding tube, so they fed her through a pic line. She came home 10 days later having the liquid fed through a tube for another 10 days until she could tolerate food again. Going that long without nourishment caused damage to her body that she never recovered from. Her liver problems worsened and she collected fluid from it into her abdomen cavity which had to be drained off on a regular basis. She had a catheter put into her abdomen so she could have the fluid drained off at home but she got infection from it and then her kidneys stopped working. She was on dialysis for over five years. She has suffered from osteoporosis, gallbladder stones, fluid in her lungs, swelling, muscle cramps, headaches, dizziness, and swelling. But when asked how she was doing it was either “good”, “fine”, or lately she’d answer, “I’ve been better, but okay, I guess”. And always followed with a “how are you?” She was always more concerned about others than herself.

Her beautiful spirit was evident even as a young child. She was always honest and truthful. She was soft hearted and cheerful. She required a lot yet was willing to try to do things for others.
Amy: “A few months ago I felt impressed to take Joy to get some pictures taken. We had so much fun together. I took her to get a couple new outfits and get her hair and make up done. She was absolutely beautiful. She giggled a lot and doesn’t love to get all girly, but she was so sweet and let me take her around town for a photo shoot. She was exhausted by the end of the day. But those pictures & memory we will all cherish forever.”

Joy and her brother Rick received their Patriarchal blessings on the same day, May 29, 1994. That was a very choice experience. It was prophetic in nature because it truly fits her. She was promised that she would be able to touch people’s hearts through love and help them to know of the goodness of their Father in Heaven. It says, “The Lord wants you to know that He will sustain you in the difficulties and problems that come to you in life and that if you will be optimistic and enthusiastic you will find the beautiful love that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has for you as well as your Heavenly Father. I bless you to know that your life is very important, that there will be times you will need to call upon your faith and courage. There will be times of joy and happiness.

May you know, Joylin, that you do have an important mission to perform while here upon this earth. He will sustain you. He will help you.

I bless you that you will have the necessary health and strength to perform the mission that you have while here upon the earth. You can then be assured that all of the good things that are promised to the children of our Heavenly Father will be yours. You will have opportunities to enjoy the good things.

I bless you that you will be able to find the joy and happiness that comes from life. May you find in your heart the sweetness and the beauty of feeling of love from those with whom you associate and giving it back to others, then you will be prepared to be exalted with your loved ones in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom.” signed, Jay F. Turley, Patriarch, Mesa Arizona South Stake

Sherry: “I feel so blessed and spoiled and will always cherish the memory of Joylin’s last night on Earth. I was able to spend Joy’s last night with her. I was able to sleep in her big comfy bed with her. She was in great pain and was sick to her stomach. She took morphine for the pain but it only helped some. I had to go home at about 5 a.m. to get my kids ready for school, while Mom continued to watch after her. As I said goodbye to her, I said, “I’m so sorry you have to go thru all of this.” She responded, “I’m just glad no one else has to.” She is so amazingly strong and sweet. At about 8 a.m. she knew that time was probably short, so she called the family to gather together. Our brothers laid their hands on her head and gave her the sweetest blessing. She passed away peacefully just minutes later, surrounded by her whole family. Soft beautiful spiritual music filled the room and the spirit felt was overwhelming. The veil was thinner than ever and she was finally at peace. Our hearts ache and we miss her deeply. In D&C 42:45 it says, “And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them.” We feel so much peace because we know she is loving every minute free of pain. Because our Savior died at Calvary, death has no hold upon any one of us. Joy will live again, whole and well, and for her that beautiful day, the day she dreamt about, is here and now. We know that the spirit world is not far away. We know that we will be able to get to wrap our arms around her once again and get our Joy Hugs that we already miss. It has been a very special time as we were able to witness one who was so ready to graduate from this life.”

She was determined to set a good example for everyone, especially her family. The week before she passed away she bore her testimony to us several times. She expressed how “she knows with all her heart that God does live. That Jesus is our Redeemer. She expressed her gratitude for the blessings she received because of the prayers on her behalf. She said she was grateful for the health and strength she had and for the time she has had in this world. She expressed also her love and gratitude for the bishopric and their willingness to run to her aid and give her wonderful late night blessings. She bore testimony of the wonderful Plan of Salvation and for the opportunity to be together forever. She often bore testimony that she knew that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and restored the Gospel through vision and revelation directly from heaven. She knew the Book of Mormon to be true words through prophets from heaven. She said she hopes things aren’t too tough for us who are still alive. She hopes we all make good choices so our family can be together forever. She said,” I know things will be good for me. I will have a perfect body. I hope to be a worthy daughter of Heavenly Father. I am so excited to hug my brother Reed and tell him how much we love and miss him. I am so excited to be resurrected. I will be able to do all the things I haven’t been able to do. This sickness will be gone. I am so happy to be a missionary again. She said maybe she will be bowling up there and be able to score above 80 points! I am excited to have a family, husband, and kids. I don’t know why I am sick, just that it was meant to be. Heavenly Father doesn’t give us trials we can’t handle. You need faith. I knew it wouldn’t last forever. I understand. Even though it stinks to not be like everyone else and be limited and be in pain. I have felt inspired that it’s time. I’ve had that feeling that it’s ok. I’ts time. I was praying not to be in pain anymore. Then Bishop came over and gave me a blessing. I know the power of the priesthood is true. If you believe and have faith. I have a testimony of the priesthood and the men who hold the keys. Then I just knew this was going to be the end. I know that if we call upon Him in our prayers and study His words and obey His commandments, we will find peace that we’ve never known. I love everyone and thank everyone who has been a part of my life. She said, Don’t be discouraged cause it won’t last long. “

She was so overwhelmed by the love and support that was been given her since her last visit to St. Joseph’s hospital. It was very exciting to at times have standing room only in her home for hours. Sometimes Mom and Dad just had to go to bed before everyone left and Joy loved it and soaked it all up. One night she told Dad that she knew people liked her but she didn’t know THIS much. That adrenalin rush made her feel emotionally and physically better. Such a nice tribute to her character and a beautiful way to celebrate her life while she could witness and participate in it. Thank you all so much.

We will miss her faith-filled smile and everything that makes her marvelously unique. The last 2 weeks Joylin was so at peace and enjoyed every minute she could and looked forward to the next visitor no matter how tired or uncomfortable she might be. Many came hoping to lift her spirit and left having been lifted by her. It was an incredible send off for an angel that brought Joy to us all.