What I Learned

I was very lucky to be able to attend Women's Conference at BYU with my friend Cynthia. I went last year with friends for just one day and knew I wanted to go again. It was great to be able go for both days and we even stayed down there at the Travel Lodge (next year we'll make reservations earlier to stay at a Marriott property because we noticed they have a shuttle that takes you to campus).
I took lots of notes in my journal and want to share some of what I learned:

• I went to a class called "Seeking After True Beauty" and Julene Judd was one of the presenters. Just before she started her talk she had her daughter Sarah sing a really beautiful song about virtue. One of the lines in the song has really stayed with me and i've thought about it a lot ever since. It was: "I didn't come to earth to compromise." Just think about it. Its my new motto.
• Sister Julie Beck, the general RS president, gave an amazing talk in the opening session. I took so many notes and couldn't possibly share all of them. The main things I took away from her talk were: "A woman is like a lionness at a gate in her home." "What's important to the woman of the home is what WILL happen." And then she talked about priorities - "When our priorities are out of order, we LOSE power. She talked about this order of priorities - 1 essential things, 2 - necessary things, and 3 - nice to do things. "To walk with the Lord we have to have these priorities in order." The last thing she talked about was a special assignment she gave us. She asked us to get a blue copy of the Book of Mormon and write in the front of the book "Who am I?" "What are my responsibilities in the House of Israel" and "How do I fulfill my responsibilities?" After writing those questions, then read the book of Mormon with those questions in mind and keep a journal about what you learn during that scripture study.
• One speaker shared how she has her children memorize the definition of integrity.
• "If we are faithful, all of our losses will be made up" - Joseph Smith
• One of the classes I went to was titled "Lessons of Faith and Courage from Emma Smith" The first speaker was Katherine Nelson and she is the actress who played Emma in the recent Emma movie and the Joseph Smith movie. She talked about how she came to audition for the role and the experience of making the movie. It was very touching to listen to her.
• One last quote from Elder Dallin H Oaks, the closing speaker of the conference. He said in relation to service, "its amazing how much you can get done if you don't worry about who gets the credit."

Its a a great gift to attend Women's Conference and I look forward to going again next year. Come with me :)