A Little Motivation

Today my friend Rachel called and invited me to go to the Stake Women's conference with her, it was a husband and wife one and neither of our men were available. So I recruited my favorite neighbor, Morgan, to babysit and off on a date I went.
The speaker was Sister Chieko N. Okazaki. She was so cute and happy and fun to listen to. Her main message was finding joy in the gospel, and in life. And I needed to hear it.
I am going to try to give a brief outline of the talk because I really enjoyed it, and if it is on here I will remember it more often :) But I didn't take anything to write with so I am going off memory.
At the beginning the first thing to catch my attention was the scripture Moses 5:10 "...In this life I shall have joy.." That was a little hard for me to swallow at first considering how down I have been lately. But I want to find joy, I know I am happy, so I tuned in good.
She mentioned 4 main things that will help us with our happiness. First, knowing that we are literally the sons and daughters of God, and that he knows our name. The first thing the Lord said to Joseph wasn't, "What is it, boy?" He called him by name. She also told a cute story about a boy who's family name was Howard. When he was 4 years old his parents took him to Sunday School and when they said the Lord's Prayer, instead of "hollowed" be Thy name, he heard "Howard" be Thy name. And when his Grandfather died, his mom told him that he had gone to heaven. So he thought that when he was praying, he was talking to his grandfather. And he was very excited to know that he was part of such a powerful domain, "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power forever, amen." Of course when she told the whole story it was better, but I thought it was hilarious. The story has a very real fact to it though. We are that closely related to him, and he does know us individually.
Second, we can have joy in being led by the Holy Ghost. We need to listen to that whisper in our minds more often. I know I need to do better. In the past when I have called someone when prompted to or acted in the moment when I have felt it, I did get a feeling of satisfaction and joy. I trailed off during this part of the talk, mostly thinking of the times lately that I haven't acted, and recommitting to start doing better.
Third, have a good sense of humor. This was my favorite. I know we all need one, and sometimes we just take ourselves, and others, too seriously. She told many fun stories, shared some letters to God from kids and read a cute Anyway Poem by Mother Teresa. She also read some words from a lady in her nineties of what she would do differently, and the one I remember best is that she would "eat more ice cream and less beans". Here's another cute quote, I don't remember who from, "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly". Anyway, I know I get too worried everyday about all the things I want to do better. I stress that I have so little time, my kids are growing way to fast and there are so many things that I am just not doing for them that I want to! Ahhh! So I need to hear the "relax and laugh a little" more often. I just need to stop for a few moments sometimes to recollect myself and decide what is most important to deal with at the moment.
Fourth, Rejoice in life and those around you. This one hit me hard too because that has been my big struggle lately. I just feel so lost as a mom these days and wonder if I'm not doing more harm than good. But I love my family. Thankfully from talking to some friends I have realized I'm not alone in these feelings. This will pass I know, I just hope it will go quickly. Everything Has it's Time, is another poem she read. Good to remember that life goes on.
Anyway, I hope this hasn't been entirely boring to all of you. It was a good meeting and I am glad I went.

"Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." President Gordon B. Hinckley