SUNDAY SWEETNESS . . .

It was my turn to give the Relief Society lesson today (the three of us in the presidency rotate turns on the first Sundays of each month) . . . This was such a hard, stressful week with finishing up school stuff and studying my little butt off for finals, so I had prepared my lesson a few weeks ago, to help be more organized and make it less stressful. I felt really good about what I had prepared (there is no set lesson for these . . . we just try to prayerfully select something that will be of value to the sisters) . . . but that experience with my friend in the convalescent home just STUCK in my mind . . .

So at the very last minute (late last night) I switched, and shared that experience . . . and then talked about service, in general. I shared some other experiences (and scriptures) about service, and how good it is FOR us to be willing to stretch out of our comfort zone and be more aware of and more in tune with the people around us.

Being or becoming more service oriented allows us to be more of a blessing in the lives of the people around us (even if much of the service is just in little tiny things) . . . it helps us be less selfish and self absorbed and wrapped up in our own problems . . . and it helps us be closer to the Savior . . . something which is very important to me . . .

Anyhow, it was really a sweet experience . . . I am SO glad that I switched my lesson to this . . . What started out as a very bad Sunday (I overslept . . . felt sick to my stomach all morning . . . was very late to church . . . forgot an important part of my lesson at home . . . UGH . . . in fact, pretty much everything this morning leading up to my lesson was an absolute disaster) . . . Still, the experience of sharing those thoughts in the actual meeting was really beautiful . . . there was just a very sweet spirit there . . .

I love the sisterhood we share in Relief Society . . . Having so many sisters growing up, I wondered if anything could ever match that closeness and sweetness ever again in my life . . . and the answer is, a wholehearted YES . . . I have MILLIONS of sisters world wide, and I am truly honored to be counted among them . . .