This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Young Women's Session of the April 2003 Conference.
A senior couple in our ward gave their mission farewell talks last Sunday. It was one of several missions for the man (I think he said nine! Including several service missions from home), but the first for the woman (his second wife). They're going to Angola, and she was SO excited. It was so cute and so inspiring to listen to her talk about her nervousness, her excitement, and her faith, and to hear her bear testimony in her new, broken Portuguese. Just like when I heard Elder Rasband speak in the October Conference, I felt drawn toward that time in my life when I'll (God willing) get to serve a mission with Sam! When that time comes, I want to feel the excitement and enthusiasm this sister radiated!
In this Young Women's Session of conference, the Young Women's Presidency spoke on the theme of "Pressing forward with a perfect brightness of hope." I love learning about hope and I liked all three talks, but I especially thought Sister Beck's take on "the three great hopes" was interesting. (She says the three great hopes are the Atonement, the Resurrection, and Eternal Life.) This is what she said about the third one:
With the hope of the Atonement and the Resurrection, you have a third great hope, the hope of eternal life. Because you have a Savior, you can plan for a future that extends beyond this life. If you keep the commandments, you are promised eternal life. You can also prepare yourself by studying and learning and by becoming “acquainted with all good books, and … languages, … and people.”
I never thought about learning and preparing for the future as especially "hopeful" actions, but of course they are. And it seems particularly hopeful to prepare for an old age full of useful, fulfilling service—even knowing that your mind and body will be gradually slowing down. My Mother-in-law's sister was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's and it's been sad and eye-opening to think about what she must be thinking and feeling through that diagnosis. My Dad died before he ever met seven of my children. My Grandma had mini-strokes that changed her personality in the last ten years of her life. There are so many unknowns! But I love the thought that we're preparing for "a future that extends beyond this life" and that the things we work for, desire, and hope for will be part of our futures, in this life or beyond it.
It's a little funny to be thinking about old age while listening to these talks to the young women! But I guess it's because back when I first heard this talk, I was a young mother (baby Abe was 6 months old!) with all my family life still ahead of me. Now I'm looking ahead to the next stage as our children will leave home and start their own families. Admittedly that time is a long way away for Clementine—but now I know how fast it goes. And it makes me feel the same half-fear, half-curiosity to see what that next stage will really be like—and how will I handle it? Well, I want to handle it like so many wonderful women I know—my own mother and mother-in-law among them—who just keep preparing for the future with hope! Sister Beck says:
My mother has stayed in the Savior’s path with unshaken faith in Him (see 2 Ne. 31:19) all the days of her life. She wakes up every day looking forward to new adventures. For her, life is so interesting, and she still has so much to learn.Because you have a Savior, you also believe in a happy, eternal life of creating, serving, and learning. You are already in the strait and narrow path, and there is hope smiling brightly before you.
I want to keep working toward this happy life of creating, serving, and learning too!
No comments