Sister Burton's Remarks

On Tuesday we had a special devotional in the area office. The entire Area Presidency, Elder Hamula, Elder Pearson and Elder Watson were there along with Sister Linda Burton, Relief Society General President and Sister Rosemary Wixom, Primary General President.   It was a great meeting. I found myself feeling like I was back at the MTC in Provo because the last time I heard them speak was at the MTC. In fact after the meeting Sister Burton came up to me and asked how she knew me.  At the MTC.  That was nice.

During her remarks, Sister Burton said that the three general presidents have a saying between them:

The Primary plants the seed.
The Young Women Water and weed.
The Relief Society just blooms!

I liked that.  She said that we need to always remember that our Heavenly Father sees us individually and perfectly and He always sees us at our very best self.  Satan only sees us at our worst and does all he can do to make us feel badly about ourself.

She shared a message that she had prepared for a stake RS program. It was based on the Joy of the Journey. She took the letters of JOY and talked about each.

J: Of course J stands for our Savior Jesus Christ.  What greater joy can come to us than that which comes through the atonement of the Savior as we allow Him to left us, to heal us, to carry the burdens of this world. Of course we can only repent because of the Savior.

O: Of course O stands for obedience. We are a covenant-keeping people. She quoted Mosiah 18:8:

...now as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yes, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and to all places that ye may be in, ...now if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord....that ye may enter into a covenant with him,...

Then she read:

And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.

She encouraged us to find joy in keeping our covenants.

Y: This stands for yielding our will to the Father.  She said that there will only be true lasting happiness only when we are wiling to do all that the Father would have us do. There is only true happiness when our life is in alignment with the Father. She cautioned us not to let the world get in the way but to get on the path that will bring us eternal joy.

She concluded that we should not be content to arrive at our distination alone but to invite and bring others with us, especially our Families!