By VERNON ROBISON & GABRIELLE SHIOZAWA
Moapa Valley Progress
Much of the Moapa Valley community was saddened last week after learning of the sudden death of a locally-raised young man who was just beginning a two-year mission to serve people in a faraway country.
News spread quickly through the community on Tuesday morning, November 27 that 19 year-old Zane Lamping, of Moapa; who had just departed to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; had died after collapsing at the Church’s Missionary Training Center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Lamping had departed from home less than a week earlier. According to his mother Jill Lamping, he had arrived in South Africa on Wednesday, November 21 and quickly begun to assimilate into the work of training for his missionary service there.
Only five days later, on Monday, November 26, Lamping collapsed while doing some mild exercises at the training center. He was taken to a Johannesburg hospital where he later died.
According to a preliminary autopsy report, the cause of death was an “underlying cardiac abnormality.” But officials said that more detailed testing to confirm that decision will take place in the coming weeks.
The news of Lamping’s death shocked the Moapa Valley community, especially among Zane’s circle of friends and associates at Moapa Valley High School where he attended; and among local Church members.
“I was just grateful that I got the chance to teach him,” commented MVHS English teacher Jared Bushman. “He was enjoyable to teach; as a curious kid and someone who challenged ideas, I gained a lot of respect for him.”
Bushman added that, especially in a small town, teachers and coaches have a special relationship with their students. “We know these are the parents’ kids, but they are our kids, too,” he said. Losing our kids is hard for us; we love them, and we care about them.”
Tanner Johnson was close friends with Zane and is currently serving a mission for the Church in Bolivia. Tanner’s mother Cristine shared the story that, at Tanner’s missionary farewell, Zane approached her and said, “I hate goodbyes!”
At the time, Cristine had simply responded, “Good thing this is just ‘see you later!’”
Zane’s passing last week made that a particularly tender memory, Johnson said.
“I truly believe that this is just a ‘see you later’ until we can embrace him again one day!” Johnson said. “But in the meantime, I have no doubt that Tanner will miss his friend’s laughter, goofiness, and influence. They worked together, served together, prepared for their missions together, had fun together, and were always there for each other! Zane’s smile will be missed in our home.”
Many of Zane’s classmates at MVHS offered similar sentiments.
“Zane was just so genuine and so kind,” said Morgan Aikele. “He made everybody around him happy. There’s nothing better than that.”
Eden Whitmore added, “Zane had a contagious smile and always was enthusiastic! He was a friend to everyone.”
“He was always positive and always knew just what to say to put a smile on anyone’s face,” remarked Easton Dalley. “He was always cracking jokes and making me laugh. He will be deeply missed.”
Wishing to provide support to Zane’s family, more than fifty friends, family and community members gathered on Wednesday evening last week for a candlelight vigil held in the front yard of the Lamping’s home in Moapa. Zane’s family were present and listening while the large group sang songs of peace comfort. Tears were shed, embraces were given, and laughter was shared as attendees related their stories of Zane’s exuberant, fun-loving personality.
This gesture, and many other outreachings of love from the community were deeply appreciated by Lamping family members.
“We are so very grateful for the thoughts and love and prayers of so many in the community,” Jill Lamping said. “We have been so touched by it and we have truly been sustained by the many displays of love for Zane and for our family during this time.”
While the shock of losing her son was a devastating blow, Jill said she took some comfort in the fact that Zane was in a good place making good decisions and doing what he most wanted to do.
“There was never a question, he always knew that he was going on a mission,” Jill said. “So that is where he was meant to be at the time.”
Zane had watched his older brother, Porter recently serve a similar two-year mission for the Church in South Carolina, Jill said. He was excited by his brother’s experiences and the change that he saw take place in Porter, she said.
“He truly couldn’t wait until it was his time to serve,” Jill added. “When he received his mission call to South Africa he knew it was the right place for him. He was completely certain of that.”
Logandale Stake President Brandon Leavitt, who had helped prepare him to serve, said that Zane was truly a standout among his peers. “He was one of the very best!” Leavitt said. “He was always enthusiastic and always smiling. He was full of life and light and energy; and he was just ready. He had great desires to serve the Lord in the mission field.”
Jill recalled that, while growing up, her son was always on the move and never afraid of a challenge. He was a bright student at MVHS and he distinguished himself as a fine athlete in school sports. He ran on a boys’ Cross Country team that made it into the State Championship meet last year. He also excelled in the MVHS Forensics team.
But where he truly shined was on the Pirate swim team, Jill said. Zane was the second MVHS athlete to ever make it to the State Competition in swimming. His older brother, Porter, was the first.
“He was always driven to do what his brother had done, or to surpass it,” Jill said.
She fondly told a story about Zane’s early experiences in swimming competition. As a four year-old, Zane was the youngest swimmer on the Parks and Rec swim team. That summer, he competed in the 8-and-under division at a regional meet at Desert Breeze Aquatic Center in Las Vegas.
Porter competed in the same race and had come in first place. But Zane, being the youngest swimmer in the division took a full four minutes longer than the rest of the pack.
“He came in last place, but he swam the whole thing and didn’t quit,” Jill said.
As he had continued the race, members of the spectating crowd had begun cheering for young Zane for showing such determination. By the time Zane reached the finish, the whole crowd was cheering him on, Jill said.
“As he got out of the pool to all of these cheers, he looked up and asked, ‘Did I win?’” Jill said. “That was just Zane to a T. We told him, ‘Yes, you won!’”
Jill said that Zane was an upbeat force everywhere he went. “He was a real light in our home; the battery pack of our family,” she said.
If Zane sensed that family members were sad or grumpy he always knew how to bring a smile, Jill said.
“He was such a tease,” she added. “He knew what buttons to push to lift your spirits. I think he was just eager that everyone should feel the zest for life that he felt. Before he was done, he had everyone laughing and smiling.”
Most of all, Zane was devoted to being a good missionary for his church, Jill emphasized.
“He really wanted to be a force for good, and he was willing to make sacrifices to do that,” she said.
In the days leading up to his departure, Zane had been packing his suitcase with all of the items he would need for his time far away from home. Jill said that she had gathered a bundle of all of Zane’s favorite treats and snacks to take with him. These were things that would be difficult to find in South Africa, she said.
When Zane was finished packing, he found that his bags came in about five pounds over the required limit. Something had to be left behind.
At that point, Jill noticed that Zane had packed two sets of scriptures: a brand new set which he anticipated using in day-to-day missionary service, plus an older set that he had marked up and annotated over many years of study.
“I told him that he didn’t need to take the older set, he only needed one,” Jill said. “It was falling apart and wouldn’t have stood up to regular use in the field.”
But Zane felt that this older set of scriptures would be important because of all the gathered information that it contained.
In the end, a tough choice was required. And Zane didn’t hesitate long over making it.
“He took out all of the treats and the stuff that I wanted to send with him to keep him comfortable far from home,” Jill said. “Instead he picked the scriptures to take with him. He knew what was most important.”
At the time of the printing of this edition, it was still unclear when Zane’s body would be released by the South African government to be returned home. Thus, funeral services had not yet been scheduled. Information on those arrangements will be posted when available on the Progress website at www.mvprogress.com or on Zane Lamping’s Facebook page which is still open for public view.
Last week, the family also sent a plea out to all of Zane’s friends in the community to visit his Facebook page and post photos that they may have of Zane. Jill explained that a recent problem with an online cloud data storage account had lost a large block of family photos that included Zane.
“When I found out that had happened, I was sad,” Jill said. “But now I am without those photos and my son is gone, so it is just devastating. If anyone has photos of Zane, we’d ask that they just post them on his Facebook page so that we can have them. I would be so grateful.”
