I just returned last night from the most amazing weekend. A hotel in Nauvoo, IL, decided to organize a women's conference around a re-enactment of the organization of the Relief Society in 1842 at the Red Brick Store, Nauvoo. I got lucky and blessed enough to get to attend. It was a tremendous event, and a dear friend and I drove over on Friday. The theme of the conference was "Building Upon Our Legacy" and much of it focused upon what we can learn from the women who lived here, who participated in organizing the Relief Society.
I wish I could write about every speaker, every event. Sister Anne Wirthlin, temple matron at the Nauvoo Temple, gave a lovely talk "In the Company of Angels." She repeated the oft-quoted line of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that if the Relief Society sisters lived up to their privileges, the angels could not be restrained from being their associates. This promise is ours as well--are we living up to our privileges?
Sister Kathleen R. Cook from Palmyra, New York, gave a wonderful talk on Finding Unity in Our Diversity. Sister Cook is a wonderful speaker! I have so many notes from her talk. I'm transcribing some tidbits here:
"History is philosophy taught with examples." Bolingbroke
"Remember" is in the Book of Mormon 240 times
"If you and I think exactly alike, then one of us is unnecessary."
What do studies of the natural world reveal about God? "An inordinate fondness for beetles." J.B.S. Haldane
Unanimity is NOT uniformity
What makes a father threaten to disown his beloved children? "If ye are not one, ye are not mine."
Sisterhood does not mean sameness
There is no one "Perfect Mormon Woman" but working together, adding our gifts together, we can ADD UP TO ONE!
Common ground of love for the Lord invites our love of each other
We want to be a mosaic of Saints, not a melting pot of American stew
Apply the 13th article of faith TO EACH OTHER: "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy about YOU, I will seek after it and find it"
We all got to attend a re-enactment of the first Relief Society meeting, with costumed sisters portraying the sisters present, and Dallyn and Rachel Bayles portraying the Prophet Joseph Smith and Emma (they did this as well in the Nauvoo Pageant last summer, and will do so again this summer) This was just magic! I forgot for a time about being in a stuffy room on a hard chair--I was THERE. The man portraying John Taylor had an English accent. I was pretty surprised when it was over, to find myself in modern clothing there. It was very powerful! I was so moved by the video shown at Relief Society Conference last fall, and this was terrific also! What a terrific heritage and legacy we have as sisters. I'm so proud to belong to the same organization as these ladies began.
There was a concert of lovely music, including Dallyn Bayles, followed by a Chocolate Bar Pajama Party with the most delectable food, including two chocolate fountains and some very delicious and decadent sweets! The next day, we had a seminar with Douglas Brinley, "What Can Joseph and Emma Teach Us About the Marriage Relationship?" that was fascinating. I had to leave it early to attend a temple session with a dear friend receiving her own endowment; I also missed the talk by a descendant of Joseph and Emma named Kim Smith Davis. But I did get to hear another descendant of Joseph and Emma, actually the first of their posterity to be baptized, named Gracia Jones. Sister Jones gave a most powerful talk on her great-grandparents. A friend and I had actually just been discussing, "What do we think about Emma? What do we teach our children?" I was so moved by Sister Jones' presentation, about how she described her own conversion, her own personal struggles, and her current mission to teach and reclaim Emma's children. It's a good thing I wasn't wearing eye makeup. Sister Jones wrote an article on Emma which was published in the August 1992 Ensign, I'll be going to print that off in a minute!
We also got to see the new movie about Joseph Smith that has been playing in the theater in Salt Lake and some of the visitors' centers--fortunately for me, including the Nauvoo one. So we all got to see it. A sister who had seen it before warned us it was a multiple-tissue event. She was right. It was incredibly powerful.
We were presented a spiritual feast, and I hope I can take it all in and process it and make it part of myself. I was so busy I almost didn't go, it seemed selfish to take so much time just for me. But I've been so blessed for going.
This is going to be an annual event! I'm so excited, an annual women's conference within MY reach, my ability to travel easily!