Meeting my neighbor

Today I went to an Italian cooking class with a wonderful chef. She is an Italian lady who cooks for special occasion. She only does it if the pay is good, she explained! No cooking for free because her time is very valuable. $50 an hour. She buys the ingredients, comes to your home to cook and when she is done, You pay her time plus whatever she spent on groceries. Not a bad idea if you need something amazing like what she cooks. She makes her own everything including the cheese.

What was interesting of this day is that when I got home. I forgot my key so as I sat down on our bench in from of our apartment figuring out how to open the door with a credit card like you see in the movies, etc. but to no avail I decided to walked around the other side o the fourth floor to find the door wide open. My neighbor had her friends visiting so I said hello and introduce myself. She was super friendly and invited me to come in. I learned that she is from Napal and so where her other three friends. She is a empty nester like me. Has two children a boy and a girl all grown up. Her husband walks to work. They have lived in the Philippines for 16 years.

I asked her if she had received our Christmas gift before we left to go on vacation since I took it over to the guards to give to her. She told me that she had but didn't know where it came from.  I asked her to write her name on a piece of paper and she even wrote her cell number. Amazing what came of being locked out of my home. Now I know who my neighbor is.

Women of Power

Today we had an amazing meeting with women form all over the world. Wonderful ladies trying to come up with solutions for a better world. All had many things in common: They were women of science, each one had obtained their highest degree in their field, (Doctorate degree) and one was a judge.

One women said that they were all marching to improve the lives of their children and grandchildren. They are concern with profanity and vulgarity becoming more and more prevalent and acceptable. They enjoy motherhood and can’t imagine wanting to terminate a life growing inside of them. “The sweetest face a child will ever know is the face of his/her mother.”

“Men and women are different by design. We need to celebrate our differences, we love being a woman and are not interested in becoming like a man because we don’t want to compete with men but rather to complement men.”

 “The work in a home is also a profession” They feel they bring to any setting qualities superior than those of men. “Unique attributes of women that can humanize the world” They spoke about Mary, the mother of Jesus and how we should aspire to be like her. “Let’s have Mary be our model” Women are the light of the home. We believe…Articles of Faith #13.

“Teach women the value of motherhood” On March 17^th 1842 a new movement of women began know today as the Relief Society: The largest organization in the world. Our motto: “Charity never faileth.”

I felt honored to belong to this elect group of women from all walks of life and religious backgrounds. This has nothing to do with politics but rather virtue. “All over the world young women are living lives of virtue and purity. It shows in your eyes and radiates in the light that shines forth from your countenance. Never has there been a time in the history of the world when virtue is more needed… the path of virtue lead to happiness in this life and I the life to come. “Elaine Dalton

Con amor,

Vero

Sister Oscarson and sister Bingham

We have the visit of two very special women for the next ten days. Sister Oscarson who is the young women General President and sister Bingham who is the First Counselor in the Primary. Today is Tuesday and like every Tuesday we hold a devotional for the area office, and later on we went shopping to Greehills, had lunch and went to meet with a group of sisters with a question and answer type of forum. 

From my notes:

Some of the questions were related to discipline, receiving personal revelation, depression, career paths, etc. One advice I wrote down was " Never bring a problem to your superior without having a solution. “  

Another one was:  Remember that we are on the Lord's side. When you have to make a decision, study it in your mind and in your heart. Go in prayer and wait for inspiration. You need to figure out how you receive revelation because it's not the same for everyone. Some have a peaceful feeling while others feel a warm feeling in their heart.

“Listen and learn primary songs. They teach simple basics. The gospel is not sophisticated.” Sister Bingham.

Sister Oscarson asked: What would have been like to live in heaven with our Heavenly Parents? Let's think of how that must have been and try to emulate their example. There is an element of refinement when we think of ourselves as children of God.

Divine nature. What are some ways we can increase our spirituality? 

#1 is in our homes. Let's make our homes a true refuge from the world. 

#2 is keeping the Sabbath. Let's take the sacrament each Sunday and understand the principle of repentance. The only ordinance we get to do over and over again. 

#3 The temple. The only place where we get refinement and where the spirt teaches us those things we need to know. Come to the temple to get refined! 

Their husbands also spoke before them. It was so neat to get to know this sisters a little better and to have been helpful when buying pearls. I got a discount for them each time!

Con amor,

Vero

Women's march

Today many people I know were marching for women's rights.

Teaching about a testimony

Today I had a chance to teach in Relief Society of two very important talks given by Elder Rasband: "Lest Thou Forget" and Elder Cook: "Valiant in the Testimony of Jesus".  Both dealt with topics dealing with our testimonies.

Live a Life That Matters!

Today was Daniel's birthday so we didn't have our alarms set up to wake us up. We actually slept in... until people starting calling to wish Daniel a happy birthday! Woke up to eggs and hash browns breakfast, opened presents and went for a long walk through a huge mall. This is a Mega Mall and its so big that you can actually get lost. We ended up going to Chilies after we got tired of looking for other restaurants. We initially wanted to see a show but nothing sounded exciting and couldn't convince Daniel to see La La land. I wonder why? 

Since we are not getting any younger,  I want to share a poem from my poem collection about life that I have always loved! If you have a favorite poem you would like to share, Please do!  I hope you like this one as much as I do and I hope it inspires you too – Enjoy!

 LIVE A LIFE THAT MATTERS

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten

 will pass to someone else.

 Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies

  will finally disappear.

So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from,

 It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built;

 not what you got, but what you gave.

 What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

 What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage

or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged

 others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew,

 but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories,

 but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.

 It happens by choice!

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