I Am the Precious Adornment that Hangs About the Neck of My Ancestors

At the end of April, our Stake hosted a Women's Conference. I didn't know how bad I needed that spiritual boost until I got it. The keynote speaker was Merilee Webb. She is a petite, animated woman who often conducts youth choirs for conference and other special occassions. Included in her remarks was a polynesian song that she and her friend sang, it was so beautiful, even when I couldn't understand the words. The translation is "I am the precious adornment that hangs about the neck of my ancestors", and she had us repeat that phrase several times. What a powerful statement. Another powerful point she made was that we cannot do one thing to increase or diminish the love that our Heavenly Father bears for us. She said that all self esteem is rooted in our relationship with Him and our Savior, not our kids, not our husbands or parents or the mirror. And then she said "If you don't believe that, you are spending too much time in the world and not enough time with the Lord." I could've listened to her for hours. She was happy, spunky and matter of fact, and not only was I fascinated with the things she said, but my mind was open to new ways to come closer to the Savior. I'm so thankful I was there!

The conference was broken up into 50 minute workshops that the sisters attending could rotate around to. I was asked to present a class on "Who am I to be a Mother of a Stripling Warrior?" I was asked in December to prepare for this class and between then and April I had stress overload with my personal life and with the topic. I am a mother everyday, and have been for 20 some years, and between December and March I could hardly think of anything to say that would be of any worth to anyone. So I kept studying the story of the stripling warriors and their parents and sometime in the 2nd week of April, ideas started to come. I learned more than I was able to teach. I used some really neat videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX6flpUweIQ And http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k (You can copy and paste to see them)and on the whole it was a great experience.