I will miss Sister Beck

I confess, I cried a little when Sister Beck
was released as our General Relief Society President.

During her time of service, she said many things,
that were just what I needed to hear at certain times for me.
I will miss her.

She was featured in a recent LDS Living magazine.
I loved the article.
The online article is shorter than the original from the magazine.
If you need some good inspiration it is worth getting the magazine for the full text.

For my own personal use, I wanted to share some favorite quotes from the article that I loved.

Here are her words from the article:

"I don't think I've slept through a single night since I've had this calling. .  but
I've become more comfortable with how uncomfortable it is."

"The calling is lonely-it just is. . .There's nowhere for me to turn except to heaven most of the time."


In talking of sisters throughout the world experiencing challenges she says,

"In the end, it's between them and the Lord, and no one else can solve it.
And I've learned that's okay. . .I've been out in the world and I've seen hard things-
heartbreaking circumstances, just about every challenge. It's overwhelming and I'm not equipped. . .
A lot of that is lonely work between us and Lord and calling upon His Atonement to help us through our experience.
The journey is what makes us."



In speaking of working with the First Presidency and other general authorities she says,

"They make me want to develop more Christlike qualities and be trustworthy enough to be invited into their thought processes and to be a true helper. That's our charge-to be trustworthy enough among ourselves to be able to work together in that kind of unity."


"I think sometimes people confuse stardom with influence. A lot of conversation focuses on what we don't have and what we don't do rather than focusing on what we do have and what we can do."


"Who's going to do our part if we're chasing around saying 'I want a different one'."


Sister Beck believes one of the greatest myths that has been told to women is that they can have it all.
"Nobody can have everything and you especially can't have it all at once. There's an opportunity cost to everything."


How can we know if our choices are correct? Sister Beck suggests asking questions like,
"Am I aligned behind the Lord's plan for me? Is what I'm doing moving me toward eternal life or am I just enjoying my time in Babylon? (I have to ask myself that all the time Sis. Beck says). . .Is the Spirit confirming my choices?"


". . .I've learned to minimize my guilt. I used to be a very guilt-ridden person, but I've learned that the Lord uses many opportunities to teach me. I learn from experience when something didn't feel good, so next time, I do it another way. Don't carry it around your whole life."


". . .the world teaches us that we can have the dream now. . .[that] you don't have to work for anything and everything is peaceful and happy. . .Eve was willing to go through a long, hard mortal experience in order to work toward the promise of the dream - I don't think most women realize that. They're trying to make it be the dream now. We don't get that here. What we get here is the experience."


"I've also learned that life is pretty hard for most women around the world -from the lady on the farm in Africa living with the dirt floor and in a stick house to the woman in Hong Kong living in a high rise penthouse apartment, there's not a lot that separates them heart to heart. Life is still hard in many ways for the sister in the penthouse."