Words to Live By

Last night, David and I attended a lecture by Virginia Hinckley Pearce, daughter of President Gordon B. Hinckley and Marjorie Pay Hinckley. Her lecture was part of a series of lectures, "Women of Conviction," sponsored by the Church History Library. Sister Pearce is a wonderful speaker and the perfect person to give a lecture on her mother. She is wonderfully upbeat and she reminds me of her mother, with her ease in speaking with any audience and her cute sense of humor.

Sister Pearce said that it was hard to narrow down what to say about her mother, but she settled on three themes that reflect the essence of her mother:

Be Content with Yourself and Your Life

Sister Hinckley was content with her life and herself and that led to her always having gratitude in her heart and expressing it often. She was "thrilled" with her life much of the time. She never had a feeling of entitlement, a theme that is being talked about a lot these days and which ensnares many of today's youth and society. She had a practical approach to life and she was known for doing whatever was needed with a cheerful heart. She met life with optimism, was not a complainer, and she had a wonderful sense of humor. She was once asked, "What is the key to a happy marriage?" and she replied, without missing a beat, "Lower your expectations!"

Encourage Others

When you are content with yourself, you can reach out and encourage others and appreciate others. She always found those whom she knew and and those she met, around the world and in many different situations, to be so interesting and she learned from them, encouraged them, and appreciated them. She did what she could and didn't deride herself for what she didn't do. She knew that encouragement touched and entered hearts and made people better.

Consecrate Yourself to the Kingdom

Whatever her situation, the situation of her family, or that of her husband and herself, she joyfully embraced the situation and did all that she could to build the kingdom of God and uplift His children. She jokingly said, "It is ridiculously exhausting to be a member of the true church!" But, she loved every minute! Her whole life was lived to be "one more voice to declare that God lives and this is His work!"

The lecture was so refreshing and uplifting! These truly are great words to live by! Here is a favorite quote by Sister Hinckley that expresses the theme of her life and how she did arrive at the pearly gates! Click on the quote to enlarge it and enjoy more words to live by . . . .

Stood Up

A postscript to the last post, "Back to the Books!" . . . I was supposed to teach the Prenatal Class for LDS Family Services on Saturday (they are held every 2 months). I was doing it solo since both of the other R.N.'s were busy. Since I didn't know exactly who would show up and how far along they were in their pregnancies, I prepared for teaching about the first half of pregnancy/nutrition, etc. and the second half of pregnancy/labor and delivery/postpartum, etc. It was a lot of preparation!

Three birth mothers were signed up and two others were expected. I was there early and got set up and the caseworker who has responsibility for the prenatal class was there early, as well. Then, we waited, and we waited, and we waited. None of the birth mothers showed up! After waiting 45 minutes, we gave it up. The caseworker told me that one of the hardest things about working with birth mothers is that they are predominantly teenagers and they are less than responsible.

Maybe they were all extra-tired on a late Saturday morning, maybe it's summer and a class is not on their summer radar screens, maybe they just forgot. Oh,well . . . The best part of a disappointing situation is that I'm prepared for the next class, whichever segment they want me to teach!