A Perfect Brightness of Hope

Today I went to the Relief Society Conference. (Getting up, getting showered, dressed, beautified, kids fed, babysitter picked up, and kids dressed, husband-less by the way, all by 8:30 this morning was quite an adventure...) Nonetheless, I was really glad I made the effort to go. It really pays to spend 3 hours feeling the spirit and being uplifted. It was a crazy week and I needed something to help me remember how wonderful and happy my life is.
I listened to President Smith encourage us to truly study the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. He reassured me that spiritual growth is not going to come automatically. I have to really work for it, and be patient as my testimony grows over time! He also reminded me of the importance of consistency in my personal study... One part of personal study that I am terrible at! I think the most important thing that I learned from President Smith was the importance of the atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. The atonement of Jesus Christ is the most important part of our time here on Earth. If I want to stay focused on the Savior; if I want my children to have a desire to keep the commandments; if I want to find joy in my marriage; I need to continually study and teach my family about the atonement of Jesus Christ. There was so much more that I learned today, but most of all I want to remember the feelings that I had there! I felt inspired to try a little harder and do a little better. As he spoke I knew that as he bore his testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ, that what he spoke was the truth. (I am hoping that by writing this down I will better be able to remember those feelings forever).
I then listened to President and Sister Ence. The most valuable thing that they taught me was that the only way for my husband and I to become closer to each other, is by drawing closer to the Lord. We will always find happiness in our marriage if we both continually come closer to our Savior.
Last, I attended a class by Sister Jennie Slade. It is because of her class that I am sitting "journaling" my day! She encouraged us to remember to capture our memories and preserve our family history. One way to preserve my family history is to write in a journal. So here is my first goal. To be better at keeping my blog. So I apologize if this all becomes really boring for you all to read! But, I think that writing it all down on a piece of paper every day is never going to happen! She also encouraged us to always have the camera ready! How better to remember the wonderful things in our life than by having pictures of everything! So, I've decided that if I really want to capture what our family is really like, then I need to take more candid photos. Thus, I am ending this post, and starting a new one, which you will see above!!