I attended the sweetest funeral yesterday, for my dear Aunt Chris. She’s the wife of my dad’s brother. She passed away peacefully on my grandma’s birthday a week ago. I love going to funerals because I feel the Holy Spirit confirm to me that because of Jesus Christ’s atoning blood and resurrection, I will see these dearly departed people again. I also love funerals because they are mini-family reunions, and a little taste of what heaven will feel like because family and friends are together. Some may think that odd, when a funeral is a time of mourning. Yes, a funeral is a time of mourning because of death and temporary loss, so I do feel sadness, and I cry. It’s also a time of rejoicing in the gifts of the deceased person, a reminder of what we have to look forward to when we are with that person in heaven and their gifts again. I just love hearing the stories family members and friends share about the deceased loved ones when they speak at funerals, talking about the traits and gifts of the person.

The sister of Aunt Chris, Suzie, told the cutest story about Aunt Chris. Aunt Chris had progressive pulmonary fibrosis which made it hard to breathe. She and her family knew that she would be passing to the other side of the veil soon. Aunt Chris and Suzie were not only sisters, but they were BFF. They had many adventures together. Their biggest one was probably going to the Country Living Fair in Columbus OH. After they arrived in Ohio and went to the rental car pickup, the desk person apologized that they wouldn’t be getting a car they expected to rent. The only car left for them was a bright red Ford Mustang. Instead of being disappointed, they were excited! Imagine two cute little old ladies, each barely around 5 feet tall, tooling around OH in a roadster. They had the time of their lives driving through the rolling hills and farmland, going to the fair and checking out antique stores. I wish I could have been there, it sounds so fun!

As Chris slowly declined, sister Suzie realized she would be saying goodbye to her big sister soon. In the hospital, she asked Chris if Chris would send her a sign from heaven when she got there, to let Suzie know that she was there, with their parents who had already passed on, and that she was OK. Chris said she would. Suzie felt so assured by this promise. Knowing her sister, who was a good obedient girl, she knew Chris would get permission in heaven before she sent the sign.

Suzie shared that she got her sign. Last Sunday, she and her daughter and granddaughter went to the cemetery to get ready for the burial. On the way home from the cemetery, she saw a bright red Mustang zoom ahead of her in the next lane. She said that was her sign from sister Chris! I love it! It reminds me of the signs from God that David Boice felt when was has checking out 52 churches in 52 weeks. He saw a cardinal bird that he felt was a sign for him that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the church for him to join. (You can read the story here.) I love the truth of signs. Heavenly Father blesses us with many signs to speak peace and joy to us. I love that he gives universal signs for all of us, and personalized signs just for each of us, because He truly does know us.

If you’d like to learn more about signs, here is a beautiful story of one man’s experience with a physical sign and how it helped him understand the importance of spiritual signs. Here is a basic overview of spiritual signs. Then here are signs of The Second Coming of Jesus Christ. If you want to go even deeper with signs, then propheticappointments.com is the best place to go, and watching the Prophetic Appointments YouTube Channel. You will learn of amazing signs of the constellations in the heavens regarding Christ’s birth. You will also learn of the signs in the heavens of Christ’s Second Coming, including the solar eclipses that happened in 2017 and 2024.

As interesting as all these signs are, the most important sign for me and you to learn about, is a sign we are to develop within us. It is the sign of charity. A person who shows charity shows the sign of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Aunt Chris had charity. Thank you Aunt Chris for your example! Her children, sister, and bishop spoke of how she was always serving. She shared everything she had. She showed up at every funeral, every service project, every event in her congregation, and helped. She took food to the hungry, like fixing a dinner to deliver to her niece and then driving it one way for 45 minutes when her niece was on bedrest during a pregnancy. She went to her grandchildren’s milestones events. She gave money to people. She showed love by doing, not just with words.

As Paul said, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”- 1 Corinthians 13:1-2