When Tragedy Strikes the Bishop's Family | An Interview with Jim Hastings

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Jim Hastings is a bishop in Dallas, Texas. He and his wife have been married 23 years and have five children. About three years ago during the time he was serving as bishop, his 19-year-old daughter, Zoe, was kidnapped and murdered. In this interview, he talks about that experience and other experiences dealing with grief and tragedy as a bishop.

Highlights

5:40 Personal background 7:30 Calling as a bishop 10:30 About his daughter, Zoe 14:10 Narrative of his experience with Zoe’s abduction and murder 20:20 Personal reactions through the experience 26:00 The days after 28:35 Previous experience with losing his dad and coming to terms with death 30:30 How he handled the emotional trauma; support and therapy experience 34:30 Support needs from neighbors and ward members 39:00 Forgiveness in a situation like this 44:40 Serving as bishop during this experience 49:35 Gratitude for the tools he was given to handle the experience 52:15 Approaching individuals experiencing trials 54:20 Using a bishop’s checklist for funerals to support and help the family left behind 1:00:00 The Savior can help us make connections between past experience and preparation for future experiences

Links

Troy and John Interview Bishop’s checklist for helping with funerals

8 Comments

David on 15 August 2018 at 3:26 pm

This was an awesome interview.
Could we have a copy of the Bishop’s funeral checklist attached this podcast?

It would be very helpful to everyone to have in assisting people through their loss, even if it’s not pretty. It can be a picture of a used one or a draft version.

Lillian Angelovic on 16 August 2018 at 10:38 am

Adding the checklist now.
David on 16 August 2018 at 3:24 pm

Still don’t see checklist. Am I blind?
Lillian Angelovic on 17 August 2018 at 9:30 am

You’re not blind. It just took me a while to get from “now” to “done”. Whew.

John Bartnett on 21 August 2018 at 3:32 pm

Wow!!! Great interview. This really helps me see how the Lord is there for us especially in our darkest times.

Wendy McKinney on 30 October 2022 at 1:20 pm

Thank you for sharong this difficult story. We are carried by prayers at times like these.

Kyle Quinney on 12 November 2018 at 10:19 pm

It was great to hear Jim’s voice! I served with Jim as his missionary companion in South Africa and I’m so grateful for his testimony and perspectives of life’s difficulties. Thank you, Jim, for sharing those deep, personal experiences with the world. You’re a shining example to all, and especially to me.

Wendy McKinney on 30 October 2022 at 1:22 pm

Thank you for sharing this difficult story. We are carried by prayers at times like these.