There and Back Again: Week 24 Great Plan of Happiness, Life and Death

This week a friend of mine passed away. She was the mother of the friend I went to Jr. Prom with. She had 7 talented kids! She was the Elementary Music Teacher for Sequoia elementary in Pleasant Hill. She was a woman who WORKED hard, PLAYED hard, and was very spiritual and musical. Her kids were amazing. When I was attending the Winter and Spring concerts of my younger siblings, I would see hundreds of kids, well behaved, singing GREAT songs from the bleachers in the auditorium while she was down on the floor with the audience, playing the piano, standing up and singing along and directing with head motions. It was fantastic, hilarious, impressive, etc. I never dreamed of being THAT music teacher, or being any kind of music teacher except maybe a private music teacher after my "real" job was done for the day. ( I had been teaching piano since I was 15). Life is funny with it's twists and turns, I went from being a Chemist to a teacher, and suddenly one day, just to help out for a year, at the request of a friend, I started teaching music part time at Windsor Creek Elementary. I was in a learning curve, building the plane while I was flying it and suddenly I knew what to do...Nada Fluckiger came to mind and she continued to inspire my program for 15 years.

RIP Nada, I love you. Thank you for your example. The world is a better place because you came to it. I have a another friend who is about to have their fourth child...any day now actually. People are coming to and going from this planet every second. WHY do they come? Where do they come from? What are they supposed to do here? Why do they go? WHERE do they go to? Where did YOU come from? Why are you here? Where are you going? All those questions can be answered when you study God's Great Plan of Happiness for you. When I was teaching my children the answers to these questions so they would know what they were supposed to be doing here and what they were supposed to be caring about, I started drawing pictures for them. They were very young at the time I started and I felt pictures would be more useful than a bunch of blah blah blah. As they asked questions and we studied them out together in the scriptures and from conference talks by real prophets and apostles I started collecting and categorizing the information until, ten years later I hired a REAL illustrator and published the information in a book.

My friend Amy Jensen of Accent Printing helped with the layout and printed the books. They are amazing! She does such a great job. The first edition sold out, the second edition is now available and is being sold in a local bookstore here in Nauvoo. https://ebornbooks.com/locations/ Or you can contact me if you want one.

What I love about The Great Plan of Happiness is that it keeps my life's ups and down, pains and joys, fears and courageous moments in perspective: Centered on Jesus Christ. I have peace knowing God does have a plan. As chaotic as life appears (especially when I engage in the news!) God really is in control. I have a work He wants me to do and it's not hard for me and the Lord. I have no fear of death because I know what's next and that those I leave behind WILL be OK. I trust that no matter what happens to me or others (and believe me, BAD things happen to innocent and good people all the time) God can heal it and use it for our growth to become who we need to become for the next adventure after this Earth Life Test. Abraham 3:25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. Will I be loyal to Christ even when things are unfair, painful, easy, boring, etc?

Here's a super simplified comic that outlines the Great Plan of Happiness. If you want to know more...you know how to find me! I love you, and more importantly our Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit LOVE you and they are all working together for YOUR good!!! Elder Cullen and I had the opportunity to attend several Easter Season Devotionals, Firesides, and Events these past two weeks. It's been wonderful. Here are some pictures of the Easter Art and Music Festival. Finally Here are some photos I took on the banks of the Mississippi. The Sun was setting in front of me, the moon was already high in the sky and it was a magical moment!