There were several good speakers, but the main speaker was Emily Freeman (an author and "famous" church speaker--Michelle recently posted notes from her) and she was fabulous. One of the great benefits of having a seasoned speaker is that they have confidence and are able to speak without apology and without bringing attention to themselves the way many insecure speakers do with self-deprecation and apologies for their weaknesses. I understand why people feel this way, but I feel like if you've been asked to speak somewhere it is for a reason and you should own that and take on the confidence the Lord has entrusted you with so that rather than drawing attention to yourself you can deliver your message. Enough said.
Anyway, she was clearly inspired and delivered a beautiful message about remembering the Savior through Commitment, Sanctification and Consecration. I took so many notes that I'm not sure how to post them, so I'm going to try to relate a story she told that had me doing the ugly cry.
She told us how 6 years ago for Christmas, she and her husband decided they were going to take their children to the store so each of them could choose a picture of the Savior to have framed in their bedroom. She said their kids took this very seriously and that it took a couple weeks for them all to find the picture that meant the most to them. She said her son, who was 13 at the time, really wanted a picture of Peter trying to walk on water toward the Savior, but that they couldn't find it. Eventually she found that picture in a book and cut it out and framed it for her son. Then each of the children wrote "I am a disciple of Christ" under the picture in the frame (I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this idea).
Fast forward 6 years later and her son is the only missionary in the MTC preparing to serve in Croatia. The time came for him to fly there all by himself and as he did she was worried that he would get lost or have trouble along the way. He had to change planes in Paris and somehow got stuck in the wrong section of the airport for 45 minutes and almost missed his flight. (This had me in tears thinking of Landon in 6 years, what is in store for him?) Fortunately, he got on the right plane and flew to Croatia where his Mission President met him at the airport...phew!
Later in a Zone Conference the Mission President was relating the story of going to pick her son up at the airport and likened him to Peter walking on water toward the Savior because of his great faith! Isn't that a beautiful story?
She also talked about how many of our stories/trials are in process so we don't know how they're going to end but that it's all part of our journey here on Earth and that by remembering the Savior always and exercising faith we will eventually see what we are supposed to learn from those experiences.
**Thoughts??**
Comment Window Tidbit: I got ANOTHER calling today! Now I'm on the Relief Society Activity Committee too.
13 comments:
This is excellent. It's definitely inspiring to see this picture and to think of walking with more faith through the trials I'm dealing with now - and certainly with more cheerfulness!
Wow! I love this story, and I LOVE the idea of letting the kids pick their favorite picture of the Savior for their room with "I am a disciple of Christ" under the picture.
Great thoughts!
And great story about the lipstick teeth :)It happens to everyone at one point of another, right!?
Love that idea.. amazing story. funny about the lipstick!
I love that story and I love her idea to let the kids pick a picture of Christ that means something to them. I bought a Greg Olson picture of Christ and a little boy that hangs in my living room. I bought it because when Luke was two, he saw it in a store and said "Jesus loves Luke." I knew I had to have it for my home. I hope he still thinks that when he looks at it.
I knew Emily when she lived in our stake here in Draper. She is awesome! She was our stake YW's president when i became our ward yw president. She really helped me find my role and helped me navigate through some tough situations in the beginning. I was so impressed with her unwavering testimony that Heavenly Father will take care of everything if we just do our best. Love her!
She sounds like a great speaker and that's a great story. I love that you have a category of posts for The Ugly Cry!
I know just what you mean about speakers who have confidence vs. those who don't. She is definitely a good speaker.
I love this story and I find myself thinking about Max going on a mission in just a few short years all the time now.
I like her idea of letting each child choose the picture, so meaningful that way.
Wow, this post just hit me right between the eyes like David's rock did to Goliath (but in a good way). My "word" for this year is "walk on the water, too" and I'm focusing on when Peter walked on the water. Also, when I read that her son is serving in Croatia, my heart was so happy b/c I served in Slovenija and those2 countries are in the same mission. It's a wonderful place to serve and I got to go back and visit my mission in October. Thanks for sharing!
You have THREE callings now?!!!
I love this idea and I am so going to do this!!! I already know what photo I need for our missionary boy! Thanks for this thought!
I, too, would be doing the ugly cry about that story of Peter and Christ! How fantastic!
Can't wait to read more of your thoughts about this speaker!
I have never heard her, not living in the 'mother land', but I love her from michelle's notes! I am usually the embarrassed kind of speaker though I hope I don't let it show too often. actually, I am never asked to speak, but yesterday was my first day as the Primary chorister and it had me nervous. Not sure why.
This is such a great story and makes me get knots in my stomach thinking that will be Blake in 4 years. I love the idea of each kid picking a picture.
reminds me of the line my Bishop told me,
Don't be fooled into thinking that your life is not turning out exactly the way you want it to.
"One of the great benefits of having a seasoned speaker is that they have confidence and are able to speak without apology and without bringing attention to themselves the way many insecure speakers do with self-deprecation and apologies for their weaknesses. I understand why people feel this way, but I feel like if you've been asked to speak somewhere it is for a reason and you should own that and take on the confidence the Lord has entrusted you with so that rather than drawing attention to yourself you can deliver your message."
I concur. I really, really concur. Well said.
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