Words of Wisdom

Yesterday Sister Beck, the General Relief Society President, came to the new building at BYU-I and spoke to Relief Society women in over 40 stakes.  I was looking forward to it and then got sick this week and had decided not to go, for fear of coughing through the entire thing.  Saturday morning I changed my mind again (I can do that) and decided it would be good to go!  I am so glad I did.  It went from 10:00-12:00.  At first I thought to myself, "That is a long time for one person to speak", but she said it was our meeting and she wanted the sisters to ask questions.  There were two microphones set up and she asked that the questions not be so personal that they couldn't help a big group of us.  She wanted questions that a lot of us could relate to and be worth our time!  She encouraged us to have something in our heart that we wanted to know more about or leave with an answer that we needed personally.

Before the meeting started I had been thinking about how I could manage my time better...wanting to use my time more effectively and for "good things"...not doing things just to pass the time away.  I think because I have been sick this past week I have felt like this week has not been productive and it has been on my mind anyway the last couple of weeks.  I also have been thinking about BALANCE and how the best way is to balance and not focus my time and energy too much on one thing. 

About 3 or 4 questions into this meeting a sister got up and asked a similar question to what my thoughts had been about before coming to this meeting.  I couldn't have been happier!  Sister Beck told us to read 2 Nephi Chapter 9 about BALANCE.  I haven't read it yet, but it is on "my list" to do!
She continued to say that we should not spend our time on stuff that is not satisfying.  We have to 1)set boundaries and 2)prioritize.  She then made a great statement:
"IF WE AREN'T DOING THE ESSENTIAL THINGS THE LORD WANTS US TO DO WE CAN ENTER INTO TEMPTATION."
I loved that quote and think it is so true...our temptations could be anything!  I think TIME is one of Satan's greatest tools to DISTRACT us from becoming who Heavenly Father wants us to be by having us fill our lives up with "busy" things that may not be the BEST things we could be doing with our time.  She said we should put things in these three categories and gave a couple examples for each (there could be numerous things for each category):

1. Essential Things (Scripture study, prayers)
2. Necessary Things (Household tasks or other responsibilities)
3. Nice-to-do Things (Going to the movie)

She said, "We are not lined up with the Lord if we don't do them in this order."  We have to decide which category our "tasks" fall under and then decide what we will do each day.  She reminded us we can never do all we want to do each day as women; however, we can not run away from responsibility either!
Here are a few other quotes that I really liked from this meeting:

• If you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend.
• In our home we should create a climate that is inviting and invites the spirit.  It should feel like the temple.
• Teach my girls that being a mother is their greatest gift that Heavenly Father has given us as women.  Don't let our personal goals and talents overpower the plan Heavenly Father has for you as a mother and wife.
• Get rid of your ISSUES and SERVE!
• We don't have to be worried; we just have to be faithful!
• Having a family is not a lifestyle choice; it is a gospel choice!

I know I saw some of you there that read this blog!  What did you learn?  I am sure we all walked away learning different things depending on what was in our hearts that day!  I would love to hear something you walked away learning!  That is one of my favorite parts of the spirit...it teaches us the things we need at different times in our lives!  I hope the things I learned can help someone else out!  Enjoy your day!