On March 13th and 14th, I was lucky enough to get to go to Houston with some family and close friends to attend Time Out for Women. It was so much fun! It was especially perfect timing because I had just finished reading the Book of Mormon in 40 days. So I was on this huge spiritual high, and then got to go and listen to some really wonderful presentations for 2 days - it was the icing on the cake! The theme was "Sweet Assurance" and the presentations focused on how we can strengthen our own testimonies and gain the sweet assurance that even through the difficulties we face, we can still feel close to our Father in Heaven and have his spirit with us. For me, I heard a lot of messages focusing on hope and strengthening family relationships. I'm sure if you asked others who attended, they'd say they heard other messages too. That is the greatest thing about these Time Out for Women events...you get to have very personal spiritual experiences!
On Friday, we headed to Houston early so we could do some shopping and go out to eat before the event started. It was a blast! We went to the Sam Moon outlet, Kohl's, The Woodlands Mall, and Target...oh so fun! Even though she wasn't with us, Meredith made out like a bandit! She got some new clothes and books! For late lunch/early dinner, we ate at The Cheesecake Factory... so good! Then, that night we got to hear from Sheri Dew, Abe Mills, Jenny Jordan Frogley and Kenneth Cope. Sheri Dew never disappoints...she shared some stories about her family and encouraged us to stay on course and to not let the current state of the world and/or the personal challenges we may be facing deter us from having hope and being happy. Then Kenneth Cope, Abe Mills and Jenny Jordan Frogley each performed some of their music. Abe Mills was in my broadcasting program at BYU, so it was especially fun for me to see him again. He did a funny medley of classic "boy band" songs. He invited all the men in attendance to come up and be in his "boy band". There weren't very many men there...but they were all great sports and went up on stage. Abe sang and they followed his lead in doing some dance moves. Afterwards, we all went to TGI Fridays and ate and then went back to the hotel. I fell asleep fast and slept hard - I was exhausted! Here's a few pictures from Friday night...
The Cheesecake Factory
On the left...me and Caryn.On the right, from back to front....Michele, Sunshine and Jennifer
Saturday we got up early, got dressed and ate breakfast at the hotel's continental breakfast...which was pretty good! Then we headed over to the event. The presenters were Mary Ellen Edmunds, who was VERY funny (ok, they all were funny, but I thought she was funniest), Brent Top, Chris Stewart and Wendy Watson Nelson (wife of Elder Nelson). In between each speaker, Kenneth Cope, Jenny Jordan Frogely and/or Abe Mills would perform a couple of songs and then present the next speaker. We ate at the Mall for lunch and did a little more shopping before heading back home. I rode back with Michele and Jennifer...and we had quite a nice visit for the entire ride home. I really felt the spirit as we talked about things we learned from the event and each shared some personal experiences. It was neat....we laughed, we cried...I don't think I'll ever forget that ride home! That night, I again fell asleep fast and slept hard...what a great weekend!
Back row (L to R): Caryn, Jill, Grammer (my grandmother-in-law)Front row (L to R): Danita (my amazing mother-in-law), Sunshine, Michele, Me, Jennifer
1 comment:
it sounds like you had a great time and learned alot. I need to go to womens conference here at BYU.
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