Monday, October 12, 2009

Time Out for Women

It was wonderful! Marvelous! Spiritual, relaxing, fun, great, and pretty much every other great emphatic word you can think of.

{Ruth and I in our fancy hotel room}

I tried to pick a favorite part, but I just can't. Each presenter was just as great as the next. Every talk was filled with thoughtful inspiration meant just for me. Every talk made me laugh out loud at one point or another.

The only thing that could have been better was the drive down there. It took 4 hours. It was supposed to take 2. And the hotel never delivered our room-service breakfast. But other than those two grips I have nothing negative to say about the entire weekend.

{The great city-view from our hotel room}

Some great tidbits:

God called us all together at the great Family Home Evening in the sky and said "You're all going to Earth. Half of you get to have the Priesthood and the other half of you get to have babies. ... Men, you choose first." - Michael McLean

Work on thriving instead of just surviving - DeAnne Flynn

Don't compare yourself to others - you'll always end up comparing your weakest weakness to their strongest strength. - Brent Top

If you saw a mother in a store treating her daughter the way you treat yourself, how would that make you feel? - Kim Nelson

I'm not suggesting you wear rose colored glasses (when looking at yourself). But don't wear garbage colored ones either! Try clear! See yourself as you really are. - Kim Nelson

Don't make your loved ones guess how you feel about God's sweet assurances in life. - Mary Ellen Edmunds.
Hillary Weeks singing new words to the song "I believe I can fly" as the anthem for young mothers everywhere. There's no video on YouTube for me to connect you to, but it was even better than the "Bedtime and Naptime" one.

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It was all wonderful. The best part for me was the feeling in the room. Mary Ellen Edmunds said she thought it was "a feeling of goodness". I just know it was amazing. I was in a huge room, filled with 1400 women. I didn't know more than 5 of them. But we moved like one entity. We laughed at the same moments, we cried at the same moments. I don't know them - but I love them. I felt bonded to them. My sister was sitting next to me, but the whole room was also filled with my sisters. I felt love. It was amazing.

4 comments:

angela michelle said...

i like the brent top quote--i think that's true!

Mom said...

What beautiful girls I have. So sweet to think about you together!

Elieson Family said...

I'm so glad it was a wonderful time - and thanks for putting so many of those quotes up there. I appreciate your point of view and insights more than you think.
That is a great view from the hotel room too!!
Are you getting any of the books? Do you recommend any of them for me?

Ruthie said...

It was wonderful! And I would have picked pretty much the same favorite quotes. Thank you Stephanie!