We all stayed in the dorms Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, returning home Saturday afternoon. It's been two years since I stayed in the dorms the whole time. It was such a nice "break" and to get a chance to "recharge" spiritually and physically (although late nights and early mornings didn't help much in that area!) and to spend time as "sisters".
I haven't really had a chance to sit down and look through my notes and kind of synthesize and summarize things for my own benefit, so I'm going to do that here. Feel free to skip over this post, or scroll through it. (I'll try to make it clear the different classes/speakers). The theme of the conference was "Choose Ye This Day to Serve the Lord" (Moses 6:33-34).
The conference was all day Thursday and all day Friday.
Thursday morning's opening session was presented by Julie Beck, the Relief Society General President (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). Her talk was entitled
"Choose Ye This Day to Serve the Lord,". Here are some of the main points from her talk:
* She feels an urgency to strengthen and lift our wards and the world.
* As we know and understand our convents, this will help the world.
* We are in it for the long haul and the world will be okay.
She focused on three things:
1) What it means to choose to serve the Lord.
She shared that her father passed away only about 10 days before. During the quiet moments before he died, he shared things that were important to him. He asked her, "What is your mission? Why are we on earth?"
Taking care of our posterity takes precedence over ALL OTHER THINGS!
She shared about Rebekah from the Old Testament. She knew who she was, she knew her responsibilities, knew how to get revelation, understood the blessings of the Priesthood. We are just as important as Rebekah. We are each pivotal in our families. When we choose our mission, we have POWER.
2) What is the spirit?
* Power to KNOW and Do our Father's will.
Sis. Beck invited us to go to the temple and PAY ATTENTION to what is happening. How we do things, the words, who is giving blessings to whom.
* The ability to seek and act upon Revelation is the most important skill we can develop!* Without this, we won't be able to navigate this life.
3) How do we choose to walk with the Lord?
As we know our responsibilities and complete them. As we increase our faith and personal righteousness we will have stronger families and homes.
We are like lionesses at the gate of our homes. We guard that gate. What we believe to be important to us, will be important to members of our home. The things we care about will happen - whether it's missionary work, service, tithing, sacrament meeting attendance, etc.
We need to prioritize, because we lose power when things are out of order.
There are three categorizes to use when prioritizing:
1) Essential: eternal significance like: taking time to ponder/fast
* keeping and making covenants with the Lord
* Attending the temple frequently
* Sharing the Gospel
2) Necessary: things with our home and family - create an environment where the spirit can dwell. We MAKE a home.
* Creating a house of order
* cooking meals - and teaching our children how to cook
* Teaching children to pray, having FHE, etc.
* being a comfort to our husbands - being kind and supportive. We need to value the IMPORTANT things and not ask him to provide us with the things we don't NEED.
* Becoming self-reliant
* smiling - being happy
3) Nice to do: these are the hobbies, crafts and other things that are nice, but these things won't save us.
To walk with the Lord we need to know what is essential. When our priorities are in order it is amazing how many "nice to do" thing we can get done. We can't do all things all the time. As mothers, we often have to work three shifts: day, swing and graveyard! The most important shift where we need to be "at the top of our game" is the swing / afternoon shift (3:30 - 6pm). We need to safeguard this time with our children. This is a time when they may be the most teachable and loveable. We need to prioritize our time and strengthen our family.
She shared a story of an older woman that wanted to do/make something, but she didn't know what she could do, because she was feeble and getting older. Her daughter suggested she just start putting quilt squares together, just focusing on one square at a time. Her daughter then helped her put all the squares together and they made a quilt. We just need to "do one square at a time and have others help us put it together."
She emphasized the importance of visiting teaching and said that is will "save us in times to come."
Sis. Beck gave us an assignment to buy a new copy of the Book of Mormon and to read and write answers to these three questions inside the blank pages of the book:
1) Who am I?
2) What are my responsibilities?
3) How do I fulfill my responsibilities?
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2) "Passing the Heritage of Relief Society from Heart to Heart" Emily Larson Featherstone, Carole Stephen (moderator), Kristin Theurer Stone.
I went to this class because of my calling in the Relief Society Presidency. The main ideas I got from this class are: * Love is not necessarily a characteristic we need to develop, but part of who we are to become
* Are we holding onto Relief Society with "both hands" - cherishing it?
* We need to pray specifically, using names of each sister in our ward. Mentally go through your ward and think of each home and the sisters living there - think about them, their needs, struggles and hardships.
* involve new young sisters - we all have something to offer and we all have something to learn from others.
* How the women of the church treat the things of God will influence her children.
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3) "Fostering Moral Discipline and Discipleship" Vickie Lee, Lindsey Brinton
The first speaker shared ideas of how to teach children at different stages about moral discipline. She shared the three ideas from Elder Bednar about 1) Express love and show it, 2) Bear testimony and live it and 3) Be consistent in teaching.
She emphasized the need to teach children in their first 8 years these principles.
When the children are small, pray with them, read scriptures daily and have Family Home Evening.
Early Youth age (8 - 12) teach them to keep commitments (Sabbath Day Holy), etc.
Teenagers: have each one carry a "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet with them always (small in wallet/purse, large one in scriptures) and read it with them. Invite them to pray about important decisions and support them in the answers they receive. Encourage and support them in attending seminary and institute - and make the sacrifices to do so.
Yourself: kneel together in prayer as a couple, personal and couple scripture study.
Identify the spirit for your children
Give your children lots of opportunities to choose and make mistakes before they are 8. They will learn from these.
Strengthen discipleship through service - our children can serve along side of us.
Teach children to work: cook, clean, mend, do all chores
Teach children early to share
Support your children in all church programs: Faith in God, Boys Scouts, all church activities
Balance all this with fun.
The Second speaker, Lindsey Brinton was the 2008 Junior Miss winner. She graduated from West High School and is currently studying Biochemical Engineering at Harvard.
They shared a clip from KSL "Footprints of Faith" series that she was featured in. (Click HERE for a short news video clip about her winning the Junior Miss pageant.)
Here talk was probable one of my favorites. I felt the spirit so strong. She is an amazing young woman with such strong and high standards. She talked about modesty and how it is a principle of obedience.
She focuses her talk on three areas:
1) As mothers our examples are essential - my children must know that I know. I need to find a time for scripture study, prayers morning and night. We need to keep the standards to be able to teach and be that example for our children.
2) We can't make exemptions to the commandments for our children.
She shared some experiences of making the decision early on to ALWAYS wear modest clothes - didn't matter if it was prom, for a beauty pageant, photo shoot, or anything. She told moms to encourage our sons to encourage modesty. Help them tell the Young Women around them that they appreciate when they dress modestly. She shared a note a young man wrote to her after he took her to a prom and thanked her for helping him, by being modest.
"You need to be strong when you are the last one to take a stand."
Our children need to have shields of their own - we can protect and fight all the battles for them.
3) Know WHY obeying commandments are important (because Heavenly Father LOVES us).
The Lord's warning are for our own good.
Rationalize is "Rational" "lies"
EACH commandment is there for a reason.
She also talked about the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet again and how she would consult it for everything.
She performed a "Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" on the piano for us at the end. She was AMAZING!
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4) "O Lord...I will trust in Thee Forever"
Kimberly K Welling, Jack R. Christianson
The first speaker shared her story and experience of struggling 7 years with infertility and then later, she was able to have 3 children. Later, her husband, at the age of 35 was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's Disease. He retired a few years ago, but ironically, because they didn't have children for 7 years, they were both able to work and save money, which has now allowed both of them to be home with their kids, for now.
No matter the situations or challenges we face, we can trust in the Lord - He knows what is best.
Jack Christianson's talk was amazing. The spirit, again was so strong. He and his wife were recently called to be Mission Presidents in the Rochester, New York mission.
The most powerful part of his talk, for me, was the story he shared of adopting a little baby boy. They had four daughters, and then adopted a boy about 20 years ago. When the baby was about 6 months old, the laws at the time allowed the baby to be taken from them (The baby was part African American/part Native American).
When the day came for the lawyer to come take the baby, he had lectured his wife and four daughters that there wouldn't be a scene, there wouldn't be any tears until after the man left. The lawyer showed up at their home and literally picked the baby out of Bro. Christianson's arms - and Bro. Christianson said he broke down on the floor and wept - he completely lost it. One of his daughters, upon seeing this - went to the Lawyer (who was also their Stake President) and punched him in the stomach and told him "You can't take my baby brother!" The lawyer stared crying and he handed the baby back to them, went out to his car and cried. His wife was with him, so he sent her into the house to get the baby. When they finally got the baby and drove away, Bro. Christianson said he literally felt like he was going to die. There was a hole in his heart for 20 years, that was never filled.
The amazing part of the story is that they were reunited with their "son" this past Christmas after not knowing anything about him for 20 years. He was an amazing story - trusting in the Lord even though we don't know the end.
He shared a quote I love (who Bro. Christians explained is often attributed to Majorie Pay Hinkley, but was written by Nadine Hobby - a neighbor of their that wrote quotes and poems down, of which they have a copy).
"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed some-one's garden.
I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."
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5) Thursday Afternoon General Session:
"Coming Together and Sustaining Each Other in Righteous Choices" Renata Forste
I really enjoyed this talk. I used a lot of her words, scriptures and message in the Relief Society Presidency message that I gave the next Sunday. She is a professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at BYU, so she quoted and used current media, trends and research to share some of her ideas, but all with a spiritual undertone.
Some of the ideas she shared are"
* We speak the same testimony - which is what unifies us with each other.
* Testimony crosses all boundaries.
* The Lord doesn't expect us to be exactly the same.
* She shared Mosiah 18:21 And he commanded them that there should be no acontention one with another, but that they should look forward with bone eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts cknit together in unity and in love one towards another.
* She shared that the media messages to women are that we are "not good enough". We aren't victims of our socialization, we need to choose the messages that are helpful.
* As individuals we have different talents and gifts, we all excel at something. Together we form a perfect, united community - we can do all that the Lord commands us.
* Our uniqueness can bind us together or pull us apart.
* With the help of personal revelation we can prioritize our time and make choices. We won't make the same choices, we need to support and sustain each other in our individual righteous choices.
* When we receive PERSONAL revelation and act on it, we can know it is what the Lord wants US to do.
* Our difference should be our bond - there are greater resources to draw from.
* What can we gain by coming together if we have nothing unique to bring to the table?
* We are not to think that our choices are more righteous than anothers' choices.
* We shouldn't lack confidence in ourselves
* We shouldn't wrongly judge others
* Pride and lack of confidence are both signs that we are unduly focused on ourselves.
* We all need help from others, especially the Lord - He knows what we are capable of.
* Humility is necessary
* Women need to appreciate themselves for who they are
* As women, our work is often in the background and less visible - this does NOT mean that it is less valuable or essential to the Lord's plan.
* Relief Society should be our sanctuary - where we lovingly support one another.
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Thursday evening they always have a huge service event, this year was called "Scatter Sunshine". They had service projects galore that you could help with. They had humanitarian kits, making stuffed dolls for children, sewing, coloring, - everything you can imagine. It is just amazing and inspiring to see thousands of women together in huge gymnasiums all doing something to give service. You definitely feel like you are apart of something MUCH bigger than yourself.
Also, throughout the conference, they had special "service learning rooms" where they broadcast a session and you can go in and do different service projects while you listen. There were also "take and make" projects where you could sew, knit or crochet projects while you were listening to a talk. It was so neat just to see women busy with these different projects throughout the two days. It makes me feel that every little amount of service we give DOES make a difference, no matter how small, when combined with others' efforts, it really does feel like we can change the world!
After the Service event they have an amazing concert put on by Shadow Mountain Music. With performers Hillary Weeks, Mercy River, Michael McLean, Alex Boye, and some others - (I don't have the program in front of me, so I don't remember!) Anyway - again, it was an amazing, fun, entertaining and spiritual evening.
I'll write my Friday experience / notes in another post.....
