Sunshine Days are Gone but You Are Our Sunshines

I found this quote in the back of some scriptures at the church last night.

"Happiness is the object and design of our existence and will be the ends thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, righteousness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God."  -The Prophet, Joseph Smith 

This led me to ponder upon the things that make us happy.  As John Denver once sang, "Sunshine makes me happy . . . and makes me smile."  I think family and friends are our sunshine more than anything, so even on a sunless day we can feel warmth in our hearts because of you.  

This is our little sunlight monitor that Cailin sent for Mother's Day.  It has died and we are grieving its perky leaves bouncing up and down and the flower nodding from side to side when the sun shines.  At first I thought there just wasn't enough sun because the skies have been very dark and it has poured rain off and on for the past three days, but the sun actually peeked through for a few moments this morning and the little flower didn't bob!  We will miss its happy dance.  Isn't it interesting how something like this can add joy to a day?  I'm sure part of it is remembering who sent it and the other is a reminder to enjoy the sunshine and spread a little along one's way.  

The plastic pink flower is just one of a number of items we keep in our flat to remind us of beloved family and friends at home.  We have some beautiful cards and notes decorating the place, which brings to mind those of you we love and miss.  There is comfort in them.  There are a few pictures drawn by grandchildren, which certainly put a smile in our hearts and a tug at our hearts.  Even pieces of jewelry I wear each day are connected to gifts from loved ones.  How nice it is to have pieces of all of you to help bridge the gap of thousands of miles!  Ah, happy moments and sunshine in my soul!

This is a clothesline of a new member of the Church we were visiting.  Here you see hanging but a few small pieces of evidence that represent the selfless life of charity she has always lived.  Despite a terrible tragedy going on in her life at the moment, she is still thinking of others.  When I saw these, I started laughing because I knew immediately what she was doing with those items.  She said they needed to dry in the sunshine to help them smell good for the children who would receive them.

As I took the picture of the colorful reconditioned offerings on her clothesline, I swung around and caught a picture of this remarkable woman setting the table for our "tea."  She refused to eat with us because she said the missionaries should be pampered.  It was like being at a fine restaurant, though we felt a little strange eating while she bustled about taking care of us.  She is another one of those sunshine persons I'm writing about today.

It is eternity now, I am in the midst of it, it is about me in the sunshine; I am in it, as the butterfly in the light-laden air.  Nothing has come; it is now.  Now is eternity; now is the immortal life.   -Richard Jeffries

A smile raises our face value, and if you can't smile, let the bottom middle of your mouth droop. 

               -Ben Franklin

A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.