Turn on Your Light

"Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world. . . will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different - in happy ways- from women of the world." - President Spencer W. Kimball

 (quoted by Sister Sharon Eubank in her October 2017 General Conference address Turn on Your Light.)

I want to be one of these women. I want to play an active part in this growth.

A Good Sign

from Walk with Me, April 2017 General Conference

Service with a Smile!

image source

Service (SUR vis)- an act of helpful activity, to help, to aid.

Serving others brings happiness into my life. A couple weeks ago, my girlies and I had the chance to attend the General Women's Session of Conference in the Conference Center.

The talks that night were all about service and serving others. As I've pondered about service and what I can do to serve more, I've had the following thoughts:

1.  Service does not have to be grandiose. It can be small and simple.

Sometimes I forget that as I go about my daily tasks, as routine and mundane as they are, I am serving.  Through every load of laundry, every dish washed, every meal served, every story read, and hug given I am helping or giving aid to my husband and children. 

Just because it is done in your home, day after day, it still counts.  You're still giving service - probably the best, most important service you can possible give.

2. In her talk, He asks us to Be His Hands, Sister Esplin reminded us that "When we reach out in love and service even in the smallest ways, hearts are changed and softened as others feel the love of the Lord."

This got me thinking: 

I, as a mother, have the opportunity to serve my family in small ways everyday. How do I serve them?  It is happily and cheerfully, or is it ornery and with a bad attitude toward? Do I see my "motherly duties" as chores or as opportunities to serve my family? Is my family able to feel the love of the Lord through my service to them? Is contention decreased and hearts softened through my service to them?  I sure hope so.

3. Sister Esplin also said, "We give service when we don't criticize, when we refuse to gossip, when we don't judge, when we smile, when we say thank you, and when we are patient and kind."

As a mother, this is what I strive for:

- to criticize my children less and praise them more.

-to refuse to talk bad about my kids and husband to others

- to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and believe that they're doing the best they can

-to smile especially when I feel like yelling or rolling my eyes

-to thank more, especially for the tiny little things

-to be patient and kind

So I guess what I'm trying to say is to never discount the service you do in your home and for your family no matter how routine, boring, or unimportant it may seem, it's not.

"The most important work service you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home."

My Study of General Conference

I think by now it's safe to say everyone knows of my deep love for General Conference and the words of our Prophets and Church leaders.  I love to study them, ponder them, and try to apply them to my life.

I love hearing how others study the Word of God, so today, I thought I'd share with you how I like to study the conference talks.

I heard somewhere that there are 3 types of learning styles, hearing, reading, and writing.  I use all three to help me learn and retain the conference messages.
I like to start out by listening (hearing) to the talk while reading along in the Ensign (or if the Ensign hasn't arrived yet, a talk printed off lds.org).

While I listen and read, I like to underline, and write down my thoughts.
Sometimes I have to pause the talk when I do this.

Once I've finished listening to the talk all the way through, I read back over it and write down my favorite parts. It may be a scripture, a quote, inspiration I received, or something I want to share with my children or my husband.

This is a mole-skin notebook I picked up at a discount store. It doesn't have to be fancy, any notebook will work.

-OR-

You can make your own, using a 3-ring binder and some paper.

I purchased these printable study notes from The Red Headed Hostess, but you could easily make your own.

What's most important is that you're writing down and recording what you learned and what the Spirit taught you during that particular talk.

Once I've written everything down, I pick a quote from the talk that really stood out to me -something I need to be reminded of, or something I want to work on, maybe it was just something that made me smile - whatever it is, I write it down (or in most cases I type it up - You could also look online, maybe someone's already created a printable of that quote.), and hang it up somewhere I will see it often.

Then I usually blog about it.  You can find those HERE.

How do you study the conference talks?

Pantyhose and Great-Aunt Rose

 Last night for FHE we read and discussed the story President Uchtdorf told during the General Women's session of Conference. You can read it HERE.

Then we played the funnest game yet.

Clint was in charge, and he chose to play Pantyhose Tug-of-War based off this video HERE.

 It was hilarious!!! 

Just Watch THIS!

Afterwards, we robbed a bank.  Just kidding!

If you decide to play this game, do yourself a favor and buy nice, thick pantyhose, not the cheap ones like we did.

Watch, Listen, and Learn

We are so excited to watch General Conference this weekend.

 This morning I put together our Conference Bags!

(You can read more about those HERE.)

We are eager to hear what our latter-day prophets and apostles have to tell us, and also to see who will be called to fill the vacancies of the much loved Elders Scott, Packer, and Perry.

The first session, held last Saturday, was wonderful.  The take-away for me was to remember my divinity and destiny as I serve others.  I also loved President Ucthdorf's talk about choosing a life of happiness and joy.  What a great reminder that I can choose to be miserable and sad or I can choose to be happy!

Spiritually Fed

 This past weekend was two full days of inspiring talks, and messages.  The Spirit was felt and my soul was fed.  I woke up this morning with a renewed desire to be a better mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and disciple of Christ.  I love the way General Conference can do that.  I took pages and pages of notes, and I can't wait to study and ponder each talk again.

We of course had our "Conference Bags". The children look forward to these bags - filled with nothing but their favorite junk food,  These bags have really been a blessing.  They help my children to not only be excited for Conference, but also to sit and listen to the messages.  Not once did Clint or I have to call our children in to watch conference.  They kept track of the time themselves, and when the time came for each session to begin, there they were.  

I am grateful for prophets and apostles on the earth today.  I am grateful for their encouraging words.  I am grateful for their testimonies, and for the directions they give us.  I know life is better when we do what they say.  "Follow the Prophet - He knows the Way"

General Conference -Women's Session

Have you seen this video put out by the Church?

"As you prepare for General Conference, I invite you to ponder questions you need to have answered." - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

Have you written down and are you pondering on the questions you would like answered during the sessions of General Conference?  I have.

"I promise you in [Jesus] name that if you pray with a sincere desire to hear your Heavenly Father's voice in the messages of this conference, you will discover that He has spoken to you to help you, to strengthen you, and to lead you home into His presence." - Elder Robert D. Hales

Last Saturday night was the first session of General Conference.  All three of my girls and I attended this session with my mom and my sister.  (I know my baby is technically not old enough to attend (you're suppose to be 8), but all the girls were going and she was feeling left out so we invited her along.) If you missed it, you can watch the session HERE. 

The Spirit was strong as truth was testimfied about the sacredness and importance of the family.  It was mentioned several times that The Family:  A Proclamation to the World is 20 years old this month.  In her talk, Sister Bonnie Oscarson said:

“The sanctity of the home and the essential purposes of the family are being questioned, criticized, and assaulted on every front . . .Little did we realize then (20 years ago when the Proclamation was read over the pulpit by President Gordon B. Hinckley), how very desperately we would need these basic declarations in today’s world as the criteria by which we could judge each new wind of worldly dogma coming at us from the media, the Internet, scholars, TV and films, and even legislators."

She called on the women of the Church to be defenders of the family and to use The Family:  A Proclamation to the Worlds as “our benchmark for judging the philosophies of the world.”

Boldly Stand Up for the Family.  

Be proud to be a Homemaker.  

Elevate the divine roles of mothers and fathers.

Life

a.  My day was made when I woke up this morning to chocolate on my pillow.  It was undoubtedly left there for me by my oldest.  He knows his mama well.

b.  On the flip side, yesterday I woke up to no internet service - thus no blog post.  I would reset everything and it would work just long enough to get me excited, then it would shut off again.  Living out in the sticks, we only have 2 options for internet one is super slow, the other gives spotty service.  Guess which one I have.

c.  This past weekend was LDS General Conference Weekend.  As always, the talks were incredible.  The topic that stood out to me was PRIORITIZE.  Put prayer, scripture study, Family Home Evening, and the temple first, then fit everything else in.  

d.  This selfie of these three boys was taken at the Priesthood session inside the Conference Center.  Don't they look  handsome.  Thanks Uncle Steve for the tickets.

e.  This year we started a new conference tradition.  After seeing several other families post about putting together a puzzle while they watched the conference sessions, I decided to do the same thing.  Saturday the boys put together half of a 1000 piece puzzle before they left for the Priesthood Session.  While they were gone, my girls helped clean up the family room, including the half completed puzzle.  No worries, Sunday we began again and finished it just before the last session was over.

f.  Saturday night, while the boys were at Conference, I, my sister, her two boys, and my three girls met up for Cafe Rio, ice cream, and playtime/talk time at the park.  While the men are away, the girls will play. . .. 

g.  Today, I'm trying to find the energy to deep clean my house.  You know wash walls, dust ceiling fans and the tops of cabinets, wash windows, wipe mop boards- stuff you don't usually do, but needs to be done.  Wish me luck.  And if anyone wants to help, just come on over.

Happy Fall Y'all!

 Yesterday, September 22, 2014 at precisely 10:29 pm EDT the Northern Hemisphere ushered in the beginning of Autumn.  I love Autumn/Fall.  It's my very favorite season.  For me it marks the beginning of the holidays.  The crisp, cool weather, and beautiful changing leaves just put me in a good mood.  With the beginning of Autumn also means General Conference is just around the corner!  

Time to start putting together the General Conference Bags!  Snack Food HERE WE COME!!!!