She’s Gone, She’s There - The Great Plan - Zone Conferences

I’ve known about Heavenly Father’s Great Plan of Salvation since I was wearing diapers, and my mother was teaching our family about it using her flannel board, complete with the sun, moon, and stars as visual aids. As a child, I took the great truths of the plan for granted. Yet over the years, I have come to appreciate the deep doctrine this plan contains and have realized that it is not known or understood by many people. As missionaries, we have the privilege of teaching God’s plan to the people here in northern California.

Inspired by our daily scripture study and Preach My Gospel, President Quinn and I decided to train on the Great Plan of Salvation for zone conferences this week. We started out our teaching at zone conference by testing our missionaries to make sure they understood that God presented only one plan, not two, as is sometimes misunderstood. I’m happy to report that all of our missionaries knew there is only one plan.

As we trained on the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement, we also discussed the Resurrection and life after death. This was a particularly tender subject, as President Quinn’s mother had just passed away. I shared with the missionaries how, last Tuesday, we were able to FaceTime with the Quinn family as they stood around our sweet mother, Joan Quinn’s bed to say goodbye. We knew she would be gone within hours. We ended the call to rejoin our missionaries’ at the farewell dinner. Later that evening, the words “She’s gone” were texted to President Quinn’s phone. Even though we were expecting it, those words still stung. My heart sank, and I felt empty as tears slid down my cheeks.

Then, just a few minutes later, we looked at each other, smiled, and said, “She’s there!” We began talking about how she is now with Dad. She had often spoken of how excited she was to see him again! We smiled and spoke about how we wished we could witness the beautiful reunion between them. We knew she was also excited to see her parents, siblings, and friends once again. We thought about how she is no longer confined to her wheelchair, but is back to her fun, spunky self. As we talked, sorrow slowly turned into joy.

I am so grateful to know where my mother-in-law is. Understanding God’s plan of salvation has been such a beautiful blessing this week. This knowledge has brought us great peace. It was a sweet experience to bear testimony at zone conference to all of our missionaries.

President Quinn and I were able to fly to Utah for a couple of days to attend the viewing and funeral. Our five children were also able to fly in for the funeral. The celebration of my mother-in-law’s life was wonderful as family and friends gathered from all over the country to honor a woman whose life was filled with family, faith, service, hard work and adventure. Memories, love and testimonies of our Savior Jesus Christ were shared. She will be greatly missed, What a blessing to know we will see her again!

*Our children: Chase Quinn, Katie Anderson, President & Sister Quinn, Hannah Francis, Natalie Boswell, and Melissa Black at the funeral of Joan Donaldson Quinn*

*President Quinn putting a rose on his mother’s casket*

As I write this, I have a very tender heart. I am sitting by my own mother’s bedside as she is, at the age 92, dying. She has also lived a full, faithful and beautiful life. Because of the funeral I get to be here with her this weekend. It is a miracle that I can be here with her at this time to tell her I love her and thank her for teaching me the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord is so good!

Announcing the #30 prompt for our Coming to Know Him journals! So exciting!! ❤️

It’s February! Enjoy the unusual fair sunny weather while you can! Here are a few more photos from the week.

She’s Gone, She’s There - The Great Plan - Zone Conferences

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