TOFW: An Amazing Experience

What a wonderful experience!

I know that all of our group who went came home as new women - refreshed, rejuvenated, replenished! It was wonderful - full of truths - which we know - but we needed to hear again or in another way!

Where I have been struggling horribly, I now feel I understand more. I feel I have hope and strength again. And I have come away with a better understanding of how I can help some that I love dearly, where before I felt helplessly lost.

I am grateful for the hand of the Lord. In His way, blessing us, and using those we come in contact with to do just that. I am especially grateful for the Priesthood - it is so real. It's power (the Lord's power) is real! It is amazing. And though promised blessings may not come immediately, they do come - just as they were pronounced - when we need them most!

Some of you know of this amazing experience which I personally had (and I know those with me also had amazing personal experiences). I do not feel I can share it over the internet - it was too special for that. But I can share that a special and much needed blessing given to me only a couple of weeks before was fulfilled. I did indeed come to know and feel the love of friends and family, and especially the love my Savior has for me. That love came in a way in which I was unable to push it back, but had to acknowledge and had to embrace! And with it has come clarity about certain things which have not made sense in my life and of where I am needed and how. I've been waiting for that moment - to lift me back up. And it came!

I'd love to share some of my favorite quotes from the weekend (I hope I got them all right, as I was writing as just about as fast as they were talking) - enjoy! Be uplifted!

Kim Nelson:
"Agreement and understanding are not the same."
"Learn to be complementive, not competitive."
"Love is ALWAYS a gift."
"Because God loves me, he allows me to bless myself and others by my choices."
"I want my artwork to be on God's fridge."

Michael McLean:
"My other use to say 'the only problem with life is that there is no background music.'"
(Speaking of the Lord) "You don't care what He says to you; you just want to know He's there."
"She doesn't know she's an angel."
(Quoting a young woman who lovingly and willing gave up her child for adoption) "When you've been in the darkness for a long time you don't believe you'll ever have that light again. And then it comes, just a little bit, and it's like water in the desert."

Mary Ellen Edmunds:
"There are two things which will rob ourselves of joy: Guilt and Contention."
"Guilt can be a good thing if it moves us to make some changes in our lives."
"The Lord says turn, return, come. Turn around as many times as you need to."
"Her next inspiration came from the Spirit - He really has fabulous ideas!"
"If our hearts are knit together in unity and love, we can feel when someone starts to pull away."
"Let's be kind to each other. Everyone has something."

Camille Fronk Olson:
"God has a way of bringing us down so we can be happier than we have ever been."
"Barrenness is a symbol o what we are without the Lord."
(Speaking of Hannah from the old testiment) "She wanted this child to give back to the Lord."
"If you build upon the rock of the Savior, it is impossible to fall."
"The Lord allows you to drop. When you think you are as low as it gets, He lets you drop again. But then He lifts you up higher than you have have been before."
"I've learned to rely on the Spirit in all things."
"The Lord gives us weakness to be humble."
"There is no joy without the Lord."

Kenneth Cope:
"His name never changes. His name is always Love."
"God put us here to fall, to be broken...but we could not have known joy unless we were broken."
"You are your Father's child and everything that means."
"Christ was all about 'Where should I go today?' There really is no balance...He did what He was suppose to do. He was led and He did it."

Merrilee Boyack:
"Service and Family Service will bring about good character, hard working, kind and loving people."
"Service is our tutorial to become like Christ."
"We CAN minister in little, tiny moments."
"He did not say to be well fed. We are to give it ALL away." (speaking of Christ's love)
"Caring is not enough. It is in response that one is saved."
"Christ suggested we do service because then it becomes our work."
"We will all have different promptings. We don't have to all do the same thing. The point is to do it!"

Jason Wright:
"Write to others. your letters can, will, do have an impact."

Sharon Larsen:
"Joy is our responsibility. We cannot have it without the Savior, but we play a part."
"Life is harder when you're not paying attention."
"As soon as we turn our troubles, trials over to the Lord, we can feel joy."
"The Lord knows what will make us happy."
"It takes FAITH."