Spiritual Ears

Wow! That's all I can say about this conference. I kind of thought going into it that I wouldn't really be able to listen. Me alone with 5 kids and a tiny computer screen just didn't seem like much listening would happen. But as I've seen time after time over the last few months little miracles happen. The kids were insanely good and I feel like I was able to listen better than I have in years.

Part of the reason I think this happened was due to Elder Hales' talk. When he spoke about how he takes notes to what the spirit teaches him and not necessarily what the speaker says it changed the way I listened to conference. As I looked back through my journal at the end of conference there weren't alot of direct quotes but there was a lot of direction given by the spirit specifically to me. I came in with 2 questions 1) How can I be a better mom and 2) How can I focus better on important things and let go of the unimportant time wasters in my life.

Even though I don't think I heard the word mentioned in a single talk the word temperance appeared in my journal over and over. To be totally honest I've never really studied temperance and always assumed it was just the equivalent of moderation. However ,in looking at the definition I found that it also means restraint among many other things. I think that is so fitting for both of the things I'm working on. As a mom I need more restraint from getting upset too easily, the urge to be lazy, being too social, judging others, and a million other weaknesses I have. As far as wasting time and not focusing more on spiritual matters I think temperance pretty much sums up what I need in order to strengthen my relationship with the Savior.

So who knows maybe the kids weren't as quiet as I thought they were. Maybe because Elder Hales' talk taught me to listen with my spiritual ears instead of my physical ears I was able to tune out any excess noise. Either way I'm grateful for the way this past weekend went and I can't wait to study temperance more in depth and apply it to my weaknesses. I also can't wait to learn from all of your experiences.
-Karen