Thursday, March 26, 2009

Last weeks lesson (not another one!)

Last Sunday in Relief Society our lesson was on President Uchtdorf's talk, Happiness, Your Heritage. First off I loved this talk I was in the conference center with my mom when he gave it. Plus the talk he gave in Saturday Morning Conference started where he left off. Everyone should read them.
So my lessons learned:
  • The Lord knows our weariness, but happiness is our heritage, and if we accept his path we can be happy.
  • We have a fundamental need to create. Since sunday I have thought on this point a lot. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but how true that is. I like to sew, I don't think I'm very good at it, I am embarrassed to let other sewers see what I've made but I still like to. Since the advent of a second in my posterity, I sometimes don't get to it for a few weeks. When that happens, I start to go crazy, and tell my husband you have to watch the kids, I need to go make something. Although I also do other things, right now my passion is beading bracelets for my baby. I think my husband thinks I have gone overboard. He is probably right, but a girl needs her glam.
  • In RS I raised my hand, and said something to that effect. I can't really remember, but it had to do with these paragraphs,
    You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.”

    You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us....

    What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. ... Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.

    I think I said something to the effect of, I love to sew but I am terrible at it, I can't cut a straight line even with a rotary cutter, I just barely learned how to sew a straight line last year, and I've been sewing since I'm 8. I can't read a pattern for the life of me. For the longest time I thought all these things made me a bad sewer, but my mother has a different opinion. She thinks the opposite. She calls me a free spirit cutter, and is always impressed when I make something without a pattern. We need to realize that what we deem as perfection is not usually perfection, since we are viewing it with imperfect eyes.
  • I also said it took me years to figure this out, I think I only realized this two years ago. Just because the girl sitting next to you is pretty does not make you ugly. I thought for the longest time it was an either or. You are either better the the person or not, but that's not the way life works. There isn't just one pretty girl in the room, or just one talented sewer or just one smart person. (Actually I might have shared that thought two weeks ago. I know I'm that annoying person that always has my hand raised.) If we measure ourselves against someone else we will always come up short.
  • Last thought of the talk, I love that he says,
    Being compassionate is another great work of our Heavenly Father and a fundamental characteristic of who we are as a people. We are commanded to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” Disciples of Christ throughout all ages of the world have been distinguished by their compassion. Those who follow the Savior “mourn with those that mourn . . . and comfort those that stand in need of comfort."
    I loved that part, because I don't consider myself a compassionate person, but there is hope for me!
  • Then he basically says work will cure all weariness. I have found that so true. The other day I was on the verge of a mommy meltdown, but I had chores to do, so I sucked it up and did them, two hours later I was happy as clam playing with my children.

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