Inspiration

Sunday night was our Young Women's New Beginnings. As a presidency we prayed and planned for this for quite a while. I was given the assignment to attain a speaker. I asked this awesome lady in our ward. Their family recently moved here and in the short time that I have gotten to know her I have been blessed by her example. I don't know exactly how to describe her other than inspiring. Within a few moments of her talk I was truly touched by the spirit. I felt overwhelmed that we had made the right decision in choosing her for our speaker. Our theme was "Make and Keep Sacred Covenants". My deepest desire and that of our presidency, was that she would be able to truly touch our girls hearts, especially those of less-active or part member families. We want their goal to be Temple Marriage-no matter what. As I sat and listened to her inspired words I gained insight for my own life.
She began explaining to the girls how as a young woman herself she was insecure and lacked the confidence she so obviously exhibits today. She went on to say that she was never shy, but nonetheless devoid of a strong self-esteem. I utterly identified with this description. For many reasons that are too personal to share here and probably inappropriate to express in this venue, I was an awkward adolescent with a blurry picture of my divine potential and my earthly gifts and talents. I still find myself often feeling the need to prove myself to those around me and I, more often than I care to admit, compare myself with others-and rarely measure up.
However, don't feel to bad for me I am getting there and I have come a long way. Thanks in most part to a strong, supportive and unconditionally loving husband. He is the first person I truly believe, to ever REALLY know me-all the good with all the bad. Even from the very beginning I found myself drawn to him, but in a way so different from other people. I was for the first time uninhibited. I could completely be myself around him, and to my astonishment-he actually liked ME and later loved me. He has helped me on my road to self-confidence and continues to do so. I am so blessed to have him. I think that it may have been really easy for me to end up with someone controlling and emotionally neglectful . I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for him. As I listened to her speak about the importance of Temple Marriage I was so grateful that I married the right man in the right place.
So back to my insight. She explained that when things changed for her was during and upon her return from her mission. She said that she knew that she hadn't changed at all. She wasn't any prettier, smarter or more talented. Intrinsically her talents had remained unchanged. The KEY, the difference, was she finally gained the vision of who she was, who she really was, a daughter of the Almighty God! There is such power in that. How did she do this? By strengthening her testimony of her Heavenly Father and developing her relationship with him and more importantly with our Savior Jesus Christ. Simply the formula is elementary, meaningful scripture study and prayer..stressing of course MEANINGFUL. So I have decided to redouble my efforts to gain a new level and dimension to my relationship with my Savior and by extension my testimony. I will always remember the way that I felt that night.