I had a brilliant idea tonight...or so I thought. I emerged from the bedroom with a huge piece of white paper and announced to the girls that I was going to draw something amazing for them. Gwen and Aubrie quickly stopped what they were doing and joined me in the living room. With purple sharpie in hand, I started my diagram of Heavenly Father's Great Plan of Happiness. Things were going really well until we arrived at the three kingdoms of heaven. My little princesses are quite familiar with the concept of kingdoms, so their curiosity was really piqued at this point.

I pointed out that the only people who live with Heavenly Father and Jesus forever are those who enter the celestial kingdom. Gwen wanted to know what people have to do to get there. I kept it simple and basic - you love Jesus and Heavenly Father so much that you always try your best to make good choices and follow Them. She was beaming with a smile as she exclaimed, "I love Jesus! I make good choices!" Then I explained the terrestrial kingdom - people who love Jesus, but only enough to follow some of His commandments. Finally I mentioned the telestial kingdom - people who do not love Jesus and who spend their lives making bad choices. I emphasized once more that the only people who see Heavenly Father and are able to live forever with Him and with Jesus are those in the celestial kingdom.

Gwen's happy countenance quickly changed. She became very upset and angry. She blurted out something like, "I guess Heavenly Father is mean, and He doesn't love me when I make bad choices." I told her she was being silly and that Heavenly Father does love her. Learning about His plan was supposed to make us happy, not angry. Aubrie was completely unphased by Gwen's attitude and began drawing cute little circles of her own. She pointed to each one, saying, "This is for people with good choices. This is for people with really bad choices."

The illustrated Doctrine and Covenants Stories book was lying just a few feet away from us, so I reached over and turned to Chapter 26 - The Three Kingdoms of Heaven. I started reading it and showing the girls the pictures. Gwen interrupted, "Please stop reading that. I don't want to hear it. It's too sad." I ignored her and continued on. She became more agitated and again told me to stop. I figured she was just being grumpy and difficult so I kept reading. Suddenly she burst into tears and plead urgently, "Don't talk about that any more! I don't like it! It makes me too sad!" She climbed up on my lap and just sobbed for a while. She didn't want to tell me why the story made her sad.

I quickly put Aubrie to bed and headed into Gwen's room. I sat down beside her and asked why she was feeling sad. She answered so sincerely, "I make bad choices sometimes, so Heavenly Father can't love me." This heartfelt concern from my precious 4-year-old opened the door to an unforgettable conversation. We talked about the perfect love of our Father in Heaven and of His Son. We talked about what life would be like without Jesus and His atonement. I told Gwen about a time in my life when I felt I had made so many bad choices that God could never love me again. I explained that this is Satan's greatest lie - the one thing he wants all of Heavenly Father's children to believe. We talked about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We talked about this beautiful earth created for us and why we are here.

I felt the Spirit as I shared my testimony informally with Gwen. I watched as gospel truths calmed and comforted her little, distressed spirit. Our time together ended with me singing "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus." As I let every word of that meaningful primary song soak into my heart and mind, I watched Gwen snuggle her teddy tightly, close her eyes, and peacefully drift off to sleep.