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I appreciated the opportunity this week to read about great leadership, especially about leaders who lead without wanting the recognition. Pres. Clark's message on  "Leadership with a small 'L'" shared the greatest example of all leaders, Jesus Christ.  I loved how he shared that the qualities of leadership that we learn from our Savior can have the most powerful effect in our families. My kids are now all young adults, most with families of their own, and I can see how being a leader for them can still have a positive impact in their lives. The three principles that Pres. Clark talks about are lead by example, lead with vision and lead with love. My commitment to the gospel and my covenants will continue to be an example to my children. Especially as I find joy in the journey. Keeping an eternal perspective as I face different challenges in my life will help my children see the importance of truly having an eternal perspective is for all of us as we face trial...

I appreciated the opportunity to read the talks this week by Pres. Monson and Elder Holland. The theme " Good Things to Come " has meant a lot to me over the past several years as I, along with my husband, have raised our daughter with special needs. A couple of quotes that Pres. Monson shared in his talk, Looking Back and Moving Forward , reminded me of what this life is about. "It was said of the Savior that He “went about doing good … for God was with him.” May we follow that perfect example. In this sometimes precarious journey through mortality, may we also follow that advice from the Apostle Paul which will help to keep us safe and on course: “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”" "Mortality is a period of testing, a time to pr...

The main thing I appreciated about this week's lesson was  the opportunity to read a little about Stephen R. Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." Having lived in Utah Valley most of my life I've heard the "7 Habits" mentioned, but have never heard or read about them in detail. This reading helped me have a desire to do learn a little more about the 7 Habits. The habit that stood out to me the most was "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." I thought I had this habit fairly well developed, but the more I read about it the more I realized that I really don't have the handle on it that I thought I did. The quote, "Most people don't listen to understand--they listen with the intent to reply," made me think about my "listening" skills. I know that there are plenty of times that I don't listen to understand, I try to think about how I can respond, what I have to say about the matter, instead...

A couple of things that stood out to me this week as we are reading the book Mastery by George Leonard, were what I can learn as a teacher/leader and what I can learn as a student. A student shouldn't try and push through "mastering" something by wanting to go to the next step as quickly as possible. The longer we practice and work on mastering something, the more ingrained, natural and "mastered" that concept or skill becomes to us. I think that goes along very well with faith. The more we persevere with faith, hope and patience, the more we will learn and the deeper our understanding becomes. As a teacher, we shouldn't approach teaching to prove all that we know, or even that we know more than the student, but provide our students with the opportunity to learn, experiment, share and even prove what they are learning to the other students as well as the teacher. I think the best teacher is more of a facilitator than a lecturer. I also appreciated the a...

My personal board of advisors ... something I haven't put much thought into before, but this gave me a great opportunity to think about those around me now and those who have had an influence in my life, unbeknownst to them. I picked as my chair my husband, of course! He is my sounding board, my confidant and keeps me grounded. Next is my daughter Lydia. She has taught me the most about life and about my relationship with Jesus Christ. I can't wait till she can really tell me all about her choice to come to earth in a way to bless my life in so many ways. Two other people I chose that are living are Betty Robbins and Elder Jeffrey Holland. I'm confidant that Betty and I are kindred spirits, we've known each other longer than we know. She has faced several challenging situations in her life and has shared them with me. She has mentored me with her spirit, not many words have been needed to learn from her. I have been strengthened by so many of Elder Hollands talks an...

This week's lesson was a great opportunity to be reminded of the values that are the foundation to my life. In preparation for my personal constitution I sent a text out to my husband and kids to see what they saw as my unique qualities and what they appreciated about me ... which was a nice way to get them to say nice things about me. 😊 Interestingly enough, what they shared was along the same lines as what I have stated as my values - family, disciple and service. I'm a pretty simple person, not much fluff in my life, but when it comes to my family, my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and my relationship with others, my roots are deep and my values are strong. I also enjoyed reading, for the most part, The Ministry of Business by Steve Hitz. There were a few things I had a hard time with, feeling that he was promoting an agenda, but there were several principles that I agreed with, mostly divine guidance, power of covenants, giving back and being the uns...

Integrity and hard work are the key concepts that stood out to me this week. Job 27:5 "... till I die I will not take mine integrity from me" was Job's commitment to living righteously. I feel integrity is a decision that has to be made once, but my commitment to that value has to be renewed often. The way it is renewed is by keeping my covenants and staying true to myself. Hard work was instilled in me as a youth by my parents. They both are/were hard workers throughout their lives. They taught me that hard work can bring a lot of personal satisfaction along with feeling proud of a job well done. I had a temporary job for about 6 weeks after I was first married for a professor in the business department at BYU as a secretary. I don't remember what my responsibilities were, but I do remember asking and finding things to do to keep myself busy. The professor one day asked me where I learned to be such a hard worker. This was one of the biggest compliments I felt I ...