Satuday, October 6th was the General Women's Conference for my church. This year we decided to hold our semi-annual birthday celebration in conjunction with the meeting. We had soup, rolls, salad, and dessert. We opened and offered gifts. Then we sat down to listen to the talks of our church leaders for about an hour and a half. It was an evening spent with women and young women who mean so much to me. It was an evening of hearing words that I needed, and challenges that I needed to be a part of.
I took away 3 messages:
1)With the Savior's grace, I am enough. Our church believes in working out our own salvation. Among the Christian community, this sets us apart. We are often accused of not believing in Grace. It's an outright lie. While I believe that my choices will dictate the the reward I am given in the after life, I am ever aware of the loving gift that Jesus Christ gave me when he bled in Gethsemane and died on the cross. Because of Him, and only through Him, will I have the opportunity to ask forgiveness and be resurrected. Because of Him, I receive strength, courage to try again. I have had a relationship with Jesus since a very young age. My first memories of knowing Him and believing Him are right around 6 and 7 years old. Some will say it is because of the home I was raised in. While that is true to an extent, the memories that I experience in my mind have nothing to do with what I was taught from my parents. It was things I read at a young age, on my own. It was feelings I experienced when my parents were not present. They were not "brainwashed" teachings. They were feelings, ideas that my very own 6 & 7 year-old mind and heart understood. I can honestly say Jesus was my first friend! And I love Him!
2) Be Kind. I believe in kindness. I appreciate when others are kind to me. My favorite Primary song goes like this:
I want to be kind to everyone,
for that is right you see.
So I say to myself, "Remember this!
Kindness begins with me!"
Am I perfect at it? No! I am an opinionated person. A lot of times I say things too hastily and don't think them through. They come out wrong, and unintentionally unkind. I am often apologizing for offending. Luckily, most who are at the victims in those moments know me well enough that I would never want to be unkind and are quick to forgive. Being kind is all I can offer this world, I try not to squander those opportunities.
3) You are enough! We live in a society where it becomes easy to compare yourself to others. i often tell friends that as a youth, I was quite confident and happy to be me. It wasn't until my mid-thirties that I struggled with who I was. I was always comparing myself to others, wondering if I was enough. I started to focus on wanting to be me, and who I knew I was. I still struggle. I'm not sure why. This message is always a great reminder for me!
At the end of the Conference, President Nelson challenged us to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. I'm in Jacob, so I better get moving!! I'm taking his challenge even though i hate reading!! Reading anything this quickly will challenge me!
I believe the church has great things in store, especially for the women! I am so grateful to be a part of it!
The next day we prepared our family for the all day experience that General Conference is in the home!! We were equipped with Conference Bingo, candy markers, and donuts. It's lots of listening, but we try to make it fun. I had the older kids do Conference Bingo a little different this time, hoping they'd get more out of it specifically for them. I gave them general ideas, but they put in the specifics they wanted to hear about. An example, I asked them to write down three things they wanted to hear about. then as they heard something in reference to that topic that fulfilled that square, they could mark it. They got to gauge it. They all participated and marked things off.
We also went to my sister's house for the afternoon session. It's the first year I have been with my side of the family. It was a nice change. My brother Jeff and his family was there. Also, my cousins, Kiesrty, Megan, and Brittany. I'll be honest, with all the catching up we had to do, I didn't listen very well. I'm going to have to read the talks in the Ensign...totally worth it though!!
We all waved to Ryan. a family he was watching Conference with text a picture of him and his companion. They were having a cook off at their home. So we text back a group shot. It's so awesome when people do that!! He'll be home in 4 weeks!!
I am so grateful to be a member of this church. I love that I can gather my family in our home, or with loved ones, and listen to messages of love, hope, and counsel. I love General Conference weekend!!
