SEEK THE GOOD

Before I begin blogging about my adventures the past few weeks, I wanted to tell you about the unexpected treat I had yesterday.

My friend Michelle called me and and asked if I wanted to take her place at "Time out for Women" in like.....45 minutes. She was going with her sister but wasn't feeling well so I was happy to go in her place. Time Out for women is a 2 day event with inspirational talks and wonderful music. I only went last night....Michelle is better for today's presentation. It was WONDERFUL!! It was held at the Portland Convention Center. The theme was Seek the Good . The speakers were Virginia Pearce who is the daughter of President Gordon B Hinckley. She spoke on forgiveness. I didn't take notes, but one of the things she said was that "We don't get out of bed each morning and think to ourselves....I think I'm going to hurt someone today." But we inevitably do hurt others by our actions or words. We have to remember that others around us don't offend us on purpose....we are all human....we make mistakes. We need to forgive. We may never forget but we can forgive..."Forgiveness is not between you and the other person....it is between you and the Lord"    Jenny Oaks Baker is the daughter of Elder Dallin H Oaks and is one of America's most accomplished classical violinists. She played many songs throughout the evening. Her rendition of Amazing Grace took my breath away. She received 2 standing ovations. She played several Celtic christmas songs from her new album and several disney songs and the most beautiful hymns. I was just in awe of her talent. She told how she was born later in her parents life after her mother struggled with infertility. She was 9 years old when her Dad was called as an apostle and her mother died when she was 22. It reminded me of the time about 25 years ago when I met Elder Oaks after helping to prepare and serve him dinner during a stake conference. He told us how his wife was always after him because he put too much sugar on his oatmeal. When Sister Oaks passed away I felt sad...I felt like I knew her. She resides outside of Washington DC and has 4 children. If you want to hear her there are alot of You Tube videos with her performing alone and with her children. Sheri Dew was the final speaker.  WOW....so good.  She talked about how with all the coverage the church has had because of the Presidential election there are ALOT of misconceptions about women in the church.  A New York Times reporter had made a statement to the effect that the most distinct part of our church is that the women are oppressed.  She proceeded to talk about all the real things the church is distinct for.....A 14 year old boy Joseph Smith had a vision in the sacred grove....we are distinct because we have the gospel of Jesus Christ....we are distinct because we once again have Temples upon the earth....we are distinct because we have the largest womens organization on the earth...and many many more things......NOT because the women are downtrodden and oppressed.  Women in the church are the heads of auxilary groups....women in the church teach doctrine in classes and over the pulpit.....women in the church pray in meetings....we may not hold the priesthood but we have power in the priesthood. We all laughed when she asked us if we felt like we didn't get to participate enough in our church....on the contrary....sometimes we wish we had less to do!  It was just a wonderful talk...I throughly enjoyed my evening and hope I will be a better me because I was uplifted. I pray I will be able to SEEK the GOOD in days to come.