Time Out For Women - Seattle, WA 2011 - John Bytheway

   Another Time Out for Women has come and gone.  This time was better for me, but there were some points where I wasn't sure how what the speaker was saying fit into the theme of "Choose to Become".  At the end of the day that didn't matter so much because I was uplifted and enjoyed my time there.  We made it in time for Friday night and so I was able to take notes.  Hopefully, I'll be able to decipher them enough to create posts that will in some way make sense and do justice to the speakers.  :)

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    First up is John Bytheway.  A classic among LDS culture and I was so excited that this was my second time to hear him speak in person (the first time was at BYU-Idaho 7 1/2 years ago!).  I was also full of giddiness when he did his Don Knotts "Barney from Mayberry" impression.  Luckily, I caught it on video on my phone, but I won't be posting it because I found out the next day that that is a no-no.  Whoops!

    He shared the story of his parents and how they got married.  His mother's sister, Gerry, was quite sick and on the day they received their endowments, after leaving the temple, she collapsed and fell into a coma.  She would come in and out of a coma during the week and all she would talk about was the reception.  John's parents were married on Friday and had a gathering of sorts that evening.  Saturday, Gerry passed away and instead of attending a wedding reception, his parents attended a funeral.  I love the sentiment he shared that she could have chosen to become bitter or better from the experience and she chose to become better.

    Among the many quotes he shared I think I liked this one the best from President Boyd K. Packer from "That All May Be Edified", 39.

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"No good thought is ever lost. No turn of the mind, however brief or transitory or illusive, if it is good, is ever wasted. No thought of sympathy, nor of forgiveness, no reflection on generosity or of courage or of purity, no meditation on humility or gratitude or reverence, is ever lost. The frequency with which they are experienced is the measure of you. The more constant they become, the more you are worth, or, in scriptural terms, the more you are worthy. Every clean thought becomes you. Every clean thought becomes you."

    How many times have you heard you are what you eat? While I'm trying to loose weight, I've thought it a lot.  Our thoughts are where our actions begin.  I love that he took the positive perspective of our thoughts.  Sometimes, I think (haha get it?) I easily forget my more positive thoughts and punish myself for all my negative ones.  I want to start focusing on my positive thoughts because it's those that I want to determine the woman I become.