Time Out for Women

This last weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Time Out for Women with my mother-in-law, Connie, my sister-in-law, Brenda, and my friend, Miriah Peterson. It was such a wonderful experience, and my spirit felt so uplifted. The theme for this year was Joyful Life. The scripture that they chose was Acts 2:28 - "Thou hast made known to me the WAYS OF LIFE; thou shalt make me FULL OF JOY..." Some of the other scriptures that were associated with the theme are: Psalms 98:4, Acts 8:8, Alma 26:16, and Hebrews 12:12. Friday night and Saturday we had the opportunity to listen to some of our very best....

A lot of the music on Friday night, and some of it on Saturday was provided by Mercy River. They are a new group, who sing contemporary-inspirational music. All three members of the group live in Utah, and their self-titled debut album will be released this spring. I, however, already own a copy (thanks to my wonderful, ever-giving mother-in-law), and I love it!

Our first speaker on Friday night was Wendy Watson Nelson. She was a professor and counselor for marriage and family therapy for 25 years. She is now married to Elder Russell M. Nelson (they were married in April 2006). She spoke to us about the power of questions - either for good or for bad. She said that often times asking a question will help the message linger longer - such as "Do you know how much I love you?". She also talked about how questions can give us new views on old problems. I really appreciated her comments about how we are each writing our own story - we can choose to be the victim, the survivor or the hero. And really, don't we all want to be the hero? She also talked about our need to "bury our weapons of war." Those weapons are our thoughts, feelings and/or actions that are preventing us from becoming closer to someone. Unfortunately, I have a few "weapons" that I need to work on burying - but Sister Nelson gave me hope and encouragement that I can do it!

We also had music from Jenny Oaks Baker. She plays the violin exceptionally well. I'm not a huge fan of the violin either, but her touch was amazing! I do have to say that she is a better violin player than speaker. I couldn't understand half of the songs she said that she was going to play for us. But overall, she had a funny and sweet personality!

We also got to hear from every one's favorite, Sheri Dew - finally! Everyone just really wanted to hear from her, and we were all a little disappointed when she told us that she would have to cut her talk short so that we wouldn't be there all night (I think most of us would have stayed all night just for her!). But, of course, she did beautifully and it didn't even seem like she had to skip anything. I really admired her ability to do still make a smooth flowing talk, even when she had to cut some out! Anyway, Sheri talked to us about our "Influence as Latter-day Women of God." She talked about how we need to be careful who we are choosing to be our role models - and that we should be choosing Eve and Mary as our role models. She made an excellent point that the Plan of Salvation depended upon these two women fulfilling their fore-ordained callings.

Sheri also talked about a few of the well-known women of the world, and that even though they may be doing great and wonderful things, we need to be careful about taking their counsel. We have a Prophet of God to lead and guide us in building up the Kingdom of God - these women are possibly more concerned about building up their own kingdom. I thought this was a great point, as Satan is a very cunning guy! He knows that he has to start out small and quiet so that not too many people will put up a fuss.. and then, he slowly moves in and before we know it we are completely off track! Anyway, her talk was fantastic (of course!).

Most of the music on Saturday was provided by Kenneth Cope. He is so amazing! He has a wonderful voice, and in his little blurb, it says that he is also the bishop of his ward right now! I bet he is a wonderful bishop. His songs are so inspiring, and he seems so humble and kind. It was awesome - I need to check and see what songs I am missing of his and purchase the rest!

Then we heard from Emily Watts about "Mother Guilt." It was a great way to start the day, as she had us all laughing about ourselves. Mother guilt is the guilt that we put on ourselves when things aren't perfect. Emily points out that we really need to remember that if we can't control it, it isn't something to feel guilty about! She talks about the scripture in 2 Nephi 10:23, that talks about free agency. We all love the idea of free agency - until we remember that it also applies to our children! They have a right to choose to be naughty and embarrassing, and it's just the way Heavenly Father set it up! But we CAN choose how we react to them. The one thing I really needed to hear was about our homes. She talked about how our homes may not be perfectly clean and organized, and sometimes it's a little chaotic. But our goal should be to make our home a safe place where the Spirit can abide. That's what really matters.

Then we heard from the great S. Michael Wilcox. I could have listened to him speak all day! He was amazing (as usual)! He has such a great way of applying the scriptures to our lives and making me feel like I understand them! He discussed the "Accents of Wonder" in our lives: creation, healing power of His temples, mercy and forgiveness, wonder of self, the power of His words and His love, and finally, womanhood. He compared women to the Queen in a game of chess. As a boy, Mike said he loved the knights, and would always lead with them - and he always lost. Many years later, he realized that the most powerful piece on the board was the Queen. She can go anywhere and in all directions, and when he started leading with her, he would win. He compared the world using the knights, castles, pawns and the bishops to lead and fight. But the Lord, he leads with his Queens - and He wins every time. Doesn't that just make you shiver?

Saturday afternoon we heard from Chris Stewart, who spoke on the purpose of our life on earth, and the purpose of our being. I loved when he said that the problems we have in this life were specifically chosen for us - it wasn't a random drawing. Heavenly Father knew what would make us grow.

Next we heard from Jason Wright. He wrote Christmas Jars and his newest book is The Wednesday Letters. He spoke about the power of the handwritten letter and how much more meaningful it is than an email or a text message.

Finally we heard from Sharon Larsen. She is the sister of Ardeth Kapp. She had a really great sense of humor and said quite a few things to make us giggle. She talked to us about four things that she had found allowed her to have a heart full of joy: forgiveness, trusting the Lord, letting go of competition and keeping covenants. It was a great talk to remind us of the important things!