Time Out For Women

Ok so I got a little ahead of myself and got out of chronological order. Friday and Saturday, November 6-7 I got to go St.George and go to Time Out For Women. I really needed a time out and I am so000000000000000 glad that I could go. I left Friday morning and did a bit off shopping before the event started. It was totally casual so I wore jeans and sandals. It was at the Dixie Convention Center and there were over 3000 women there. I took pages and pages of notes and felt like I had carpal tunnel by Saturday afternoon. Here is a quick rundown of the presenters.

Cheiko Okazaki-she spoke about the prophet Joseph Smith and his quote "I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves." She was amazing and can you believe that she is 83! She had taught 2nd grade and gave examples of how she was able to teach her class the correct principles and they did govern themselves. I so wish I could go to her class and my kids too!

Hillary Weeks-she is funny and beautiful and talented. She told stories and sang songs and played the piano. There are videos of some of her songs on Youtube.

Kenneth Cope-he sang songs and told stories and played his guitar. He composed "Woman at the Well" and "Greater Than Us All". If you want to see one of my favorite songs and a video go here. Get a kleenex though! I came home and downloaded a bunch of songs of his from Itunes. The spirit can sure speak through music. After the event he was still there and we got our picture with him like a bunch of groupies.

Carolyn Rasmus-she spoke about the atonement and how it "covers" us using an object lesson with a Kafar-a coarse woven robe from Israel. She was absolutely enthralling.

Emily Watts-she is funny and inspirational and she is chief editor at Deseret Book. She contributes to a blog that I look at all the time but I did not know who she was until TOFW. You can find that blog here and here is her personal website.

Mary Ellen Edmunds-this woman is A. dorable! If you have not seen her on BYU TV you have to. She is funny and real and fantastic! True story-After lunch on Saturday they did a drawing for prizes. 2 of the prizes were gift bags from Deseret Book and Mary Ellen Edmunds got to give the prize to the winner and give them a hug. I never wanted to win something so bad in my life! I did not want the bag but I wanted the HUG. So after the whole event was over I was talking with a bunch of friends for a while and almost everyone was gone. A few of the presenters were still there talking up by the stage and we went over to talk to them. Mary Ellen Edmunds was sitting with some friends and chatting and I went up to her and said "I wanted to win the drawing so bad just so I could get a hug from you. Can I have a hug?" She laughed like she always does and said 'Yes you can" Then she gave me a hug! She is great! I could have listened to her all day and it seemed like she only spoke for a very short time.

Jill C. Manning-This woman has devoted her life to helping those addicted to pornography and their families. She was very candid but very professional. She gave this statistic:
83% of pornography viewed by children is viewed in their own homes and 7% is viewed in their friends homes. AAHHHHH! Disturbing right? Well she turned it around and said that yes that statistic is awful but that means that WE can affect nearly 90% of the filth being seen by children by being diligent and candid and righteous. I really felt the spirit testifying of the truths that she was teaching even with a very uncomfortable subject.

Emily Freeman-she spoke on Abundance and used the story of Jesus Feeding the 5000 and the many principles found in those few verses of John. She said "He is the giver of every good thing and has promised us enough and enough to spare." I almost left early because we were having a birthday party for Don's mom and I still had things to do in St. George before I went home. I am so glad that I stayed to hear what she had to say. I got a hug from her too and found out that Connor and her son have the same diabetes doctor in Salt Lake! Crazy!!

I am so glad that I could go to this. I stayed at Brad and Ashley's Friday night because every room in that whole city was booked and I had not seen them for a while. We stayed up talking until 1 and then I got up early and left by 7 to go and get in line for good seats. It was a good thing too because there were already people lining up at 7:30 and they did not open the doors until 8:15 for the 9:00 start. There seriously were old women running to get good seats. I was able to get good seats and saved some for some friends. Don has always been very supportive of me going to these types of things but I have the guilt monster who lives in my brain and I have never gone before. I am so glad I did and I even called my mom on Saturday during a break to see if she could get tickets to the TOFW that was in Salt Lake this weekend. They were all sold out but they posted the schedule for next year and they will be in Ogden in February and Las Vegas in October. I am so there!!