TOFW 2012

Several years ago I went to my first Time Out For Women event. I have to admit that at the time I thought it was wonderful, but I wasn't hooked yet. I think becoming a mother and finding it harder to strike a balance between being "mom" and being "me" has made me appreciate these events even more. I now need to find a 12 step program and acknowledge that I have a problem. I am addicted to Time Out For Women!

I know that I am not alone in feeling like I am not being enough in any particular area. I don't like it, but I am coming to accept that although there are a million wonderful things I could be doing with my time I need to look at what season of life I am in and not make myself feel guilty for the things I simply just can't do right now. I think that right about the time I really figure this out I will be dead though, so don't get your hopes too high;) This year's event was amazing and just what I needed to lift my spirits and give me a boost. I am going to be sharing my highlights here so if you really don't care it won't hurt my feelings at all if you just skip the rest...

#1- Sherrie Dew! 2 Ne. 28:30 says "for unto him that receiveth I will give more." It is important for us to give, but it is also important to RECEIVE!

#2- Virginia Pearce! She spoke about forgiveness in a way that I have never thought about it before. 

• "Life is an adventure in forgiveness." (Norman Cousins) 
• Forgiveness comes and is activated by desire.
• Extending forgiveness is a way of healing the breach in our relationship with the Savior. The Savior extends forgiveness to all. Forgiving another who has hurt us does not mean that we have to mend that relationship, but harboring an unforgiving heart damages our relationship with the Savior and we must mend that.
• We need to keep a place in our heart for forgiveness and when it comes let it in. (James E. Faust)
• How do we know that we've forgiven the perpetrator? When we desire the welfare of that person.
• Isaiah 61 says that we will receive the garment of praise for the heaviness.
• Alma 60 tells the story of Moroni and Pahoran. Moroni believed that Pahoran was withholding aid from them and it was due to great wickedness on Pahoran's part--which turned out to be wrong. He was pretty harsh in his reprimand of Pahoran. The miracle of forgiveness in this story is that Pahoran extends immediate forgiveness and does not react to Moroni's accusations. We too should refuse to take offense.
• We should focus on healing wounds caused by us rather than getting healing for our own wounds.
• We cannot separate our repentance from forgiveness.
• Boyd K. Packer taught that we all make mistakes that we cannot repair on our own. We then go on to feel guilt, etc. and that is when the atonement comes into play.
• We need to recognize and acknowledge hurt feelings.
• Neal A Maxwell taught that we must allow others to move forward too. We need to not allow the past to define others.
• Consider what our family relationships would be if we never infused forgiveness into them!
• Sometimes we have a hard time forgiving our family members for not being what we expect them to be.
• The atonement redeems us individually and redeems relationships.

#3- Jenny Oaks Baker! I got to watch my friends have the courage to dance up and down the aisles and I found my new favorite Christmas music:)

#4-Sherrie Dew

• We know whose church we bleong to and what that means.
• Loyalty is not blind obedience.
• We sustain the prophets and remain loyal to the Lord's church.
• How does the Lord feel about women? The world's greatest champion of women is the Lord, Jesus Christ. (James Talmadge)
• We celebrate Eve and honor her courage and wisdom.
• What do we get as women in the church? We get everything!!!
• Pure womanhood+ pure priesthood= exaltation
• Women have just as much ability to access priesthood power (different than priesthood authority.)

#5- Dessert at Shari's Food at Denny's

        Oh my what an adventure we had trying to get something to eat after the Friday night event! We decided to head over to Shari's for pie. Long story short we were there for over an hour before we saw any food (horrible service) and when it did come orders were wrong and the stuff that should have been hot was definitely not. So we walked out and got some wonderful service and yummy food at Denny's instead!

#6- Girl's Overnighter!

        I was lucky enough to spend the night in a hotel with some of my girlfriends and it was so much fun! We stayed up way too late talking and had to get up way too early, but it was totally worth it:) It's amazing how restful a couple of hours of sleep can be when they are not interrupted by a toddler's foot in your back!

#7- Mary Ellen Edmunds

• Goodness brings joy and peace--not pride.
• Goodness is a choice. We can choose to do good continually.
• What motivates us to do better? If we are good out of fear of punishment or desire for reward we are a sorry lot indeed. (Einstein)
• It is my desire to accomplish great things, but it's better for me to do small things daily as though they were great. (Helen Keller)
• Don't try to be different. Being good is different enough!
• Goodness is contagious!
• Light is more powerful than darkness. Good is more powerful than evil.
• Goodness leads to godliness.
• Look for the good in others during life--don't wait for the funeral!
• Don't hesitate to say something kind.
• The more we look for the good the less we see the bad things.
• You were born good. You are a child of God. Recognize your own goodness!
• God placed us here to succeed. No one is foreordained to fail/be bad.
• Goodness can only happen because of and through Jesus Christ.
• We have to be good enough to be comfortable with goodness.

#8- Hillary Weeks!!! We get to spend eternity knowing our children as adults. It is our gift and privilege to know them as children. We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become.

#9- Deanne Flynn

• What do you forget to remember? #1 Remember to listen carefully. #2 Remember to look forward. #3 Remember to laugh often. #4 Remember to love deeply.
• If we can learn to laugh at it, we can live with it.
• We create the weather in our homes as mothers.

#10- John Hilton II

• Do I say to those in my life "depart from me?"
• Neal A Maxwell taught us that questions teach us more. 
• Focused on 5 questions from the Book of Mormon
• 1) How is it that ye have forgotten? Heavenly Father never forgets us. The Lord never forgets us.
• 2) Knowest thou the condescension of God? -->Are you familiar with Christ's grace and willingness to help you? Jacob 4:7 God shows us our weaknesses so we can recognize His grace.
• 3) Have ye inquired of the Lord?
• 4) Why should my heart weep? Smiling can make a big difference! What do we notice?
• 5) What shall I do? It's in the doing that the gospel gets from our head into our hearts.
• You gain a testimony by living principles of the gospel--not by breaking them.
• 3 Ne. 28:1 What is is that ye desire of me?

#11- Wendy Ulrich

• When the Lord calls us to repent it is an invitation of love.
• If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing it badly...or while we get better rather than not doing it at all.
• Satan is called "the accuser." Even when God shows us our weaknesses he does it with hope.
• When seeking forgiveness or apologizing:
• #1- Responsibility: this is what I did and why it is wrong.
• #2- Empathy: acknowledge their feelings
• #3- Fix it!
• (1) In 7 words or less, express what we did wrong
• (2) In 10 words or less express empathy.
• An apology doesn't have to be perfect to be effective if our hearts are in the right place
• The only part of the past that is still alive is the story we tell ourselves. When we are willing to do things to make corrections we have the ability to change the past.
• "By union of feeling we gain power with God." Joseph Smite
• Colossians 3:23--And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily.

#12- Laurel Christiansen

• We are all in various stages of waiting. What are you waiting for?
• While waiting, remember:
• #1 Feel your feet. Be where your feet are. Mormon 5:23 you are in the hands of God. Take the focus off what you are waiting for.
• #2 Trust the math. Doc. & Cov. 82- the Lord is bound. Doc. & Cov. 130:20-21 obtain blessings based on obedience. He. 4:16 come boldly and find grace to help. Stop worrying about what you can't control and put the focus on what you can control.
• #3 Live "as if..." 
• God keeps His promises. God's promises were set in motion long ago. The Lord's time frame for your life has been in place this whole time and it still is.
• Living as if allows us to eliminate the worry.
• Approach your life as if God's promised blessings are already decided and are coming.
• #4 God waits too. What if God is waiting for us to be ready to receive? What if God has something better for you and it's just not ready yet?
• God is anxiously waiting for the chance to fulfill your dreams and answer your prayers!
• Pray! Boldly ask Him for things that you need.
• Get up and run!!
• Pray. Dream. Believe.

#13- Lasting memories with women that I love and had the privilige to get to know better.

#14- Coming home to my wonderful family with a renewed sense of strength and purpose!

#15- Planning for next year in Tacoma, Washington!!!!!