Time Out for Women - Sacramento

Sabra, Delayne, Shannon and I got to go to an even sponsored by Deseret Book called Time Out for Women.  Shannon, Delayne, and I drove down to Sacramento and checked-in to our hotel.  We went out for a quick sandwich and then met up with Sabra and a couple of her friends at the Sacramento Convention Center.  We got to listen to Jenny Oaks Baker play her violin.  That lady is AMAZING!!  She was funny and witty.  She has a serious game face when she plays that was a bit distracting, but she was just a terrific performer.  We got to hear from Ardeth Kapp, one of my all-time favorite people.  That lady is just a super star.  One of my favorite things that she said on Friday was that you can't start over and have a new beginning, but you can start from now and make a brand new end.  Love that lady.  Then we got to hear from John Byetheway.  Mac was so jealous that I got to go and listen to him!  He put up a great quote from Sister Hinkley, "Be cheerful.  Don't be a whiner."  He challenged us to pray each morning for the Holy Ghost to be with us and then to picture the Spirit with us.  I'm going to try that and see where it goes.  He also encouraged us to get up and think, "I think I'll be delightful today..."  So, I'm going to try that to.  I like the word delightful.  It just makes me happy. 
At the end of the program, we walked back to our hotel.  Delayne and I found the Safeway for some snacks and then we had a fun time chatting, laughing, and eventually sleeping! 
Saturday morning we got up early and ate at the hotel.  Then we walked back to the Convention Center.  We listed to Mercy River that day.  They were pretty good.  Two of the ladies in the group were pregnant!  One particularly pregnant.  It almost hurt to watch her!!  We heard from Emily Watts first.  She is an editor and writer for Deseret Book.  I met her once a couple of years ago, so I was looking forward to hearing from her.  She is quite funny and I ended up buying one of her books.  She talked about being prayerful in your work.  I liked that.  I think I could pray a lot more than I do and goodness knows I could use the help!!  Then we heard from Amanda Dickson, who is a non-member from Salt Lake City.  She has a morning talk show on the radio there.  Her voice was familiar to me.  She was really a kick.  My favorite idea from her was that whenever anyone yells at a child, they are communicating, "CALM ME DOWN!"  Isn't that true?  Then we heard from a super inspiring woman named Mariama Kallon.  Mariama is from Sierra Leone.  She has an amazing story of survival and hope.  She joined the Church as a teenager and served a mission in Salt Lake City - Temple Square.  She bore powerful witness to the importance of our humanitarian work throughout the world.  One of my favorite things about her, though, was the way she quoted scripture.  Before launching into a well memorized verse (of which there were many!), she would say, "the Lord told me..."  It was really amazing and strong.  I am trying to read scriptures that way now.  I think as I read that the Lord wrote all this down just for me.  It really brings the message home. 
For lunch we went to a nice Chinese restaurant.  I had curry, it wasn't great. 
After lunch, we heard from Jill Manning.  She talked about pornography.  That lady was scary.  I have some ideas on how to get a better hold on the media in our home.  She also went 20 minutes over, so while she had really important things to say, it was a bit tedious.  If you're interested in talking with your family about their media choices and working together to promote wholesome screen time, start with this pledge:  http://deseretbook.com/familypledge.  We'll be working on this once Spencer gets back home.  My favorite idea from her though applies to more than just pornography, she said we must stand up for righteousness and stay put until all danger is gone.  The final speaker of the event was Emily Freeman.  She is one wise woman.  I am going to have to read something by her soon!  She was funny and very spiritual.  I am really in awe of what some women accomplish.  I didn't write down any quotes from her, but that isn't because she didn't say anything great.  Just the opposite.  It's because I was so enthralled with what she was saying that I couldn't stop to write things down.  The big feeling from her in the end was that I am pretty great, the future is good, and we all have hope.  Nice!
I had such a great time.  I feel so rejuvenated.  I haven't felt the Spirit for so long in a LONG time.  I am really thankful that my oh-so-nice parents and brother helped with my kids so I could have some time away.