Sunday Feb 24 ~ A One-Woman Show

I spoke in Sacrament Meeting this past Sunday and it went really well. I always get so nervous when I get up in front of people. Even when I was just practicing the talk in my bedroom, thinking about doing it for real, I had a bit of an anxiety attack and had trouble breathing. But thankfully, when the time came, I was a little shaky but otherwise quite calm, and I delivered the talk without incident (i.e. fainting).

It was amazing how well the three talks given all complimented each other. We were all assigned the same topic, "The Pursuit of Godly Traits", and I was sure there would be some overlap in the talks, so I was happy to see that I was first. I didn't want to try to alter my talk on the fly to avoid repeating what the previous speaker said. It wouldn't have been necessary though because our talks were all very different. I spoke on the process of pursuing Godly traits, the next woman spoke about each trait and gave little stories and examples from her life, and the third speaker talked about moments in Christ's life where he exemplified certain traits.

The last speaker shared an insight that especially struck me. He read the story of Christ and the woman taken in adultery. He then pointed out that although few of us will ever be taken in such a serious sin, all of us are taken in sin every day, just like that woman. Whether it be unkindness, impatience, neglecting prayer, gossiping, etc, we are taken in the very act of some sin every day. And Christ's response to us is the same as it was to this woman. I do not condemn thee. Go and sin no more. It is the response of pure charity and love for us.

So after my talk I was off to Primary. I taught my lesson and helped my class prepare for Sharing Time. We were in charge of Sharing Time. I shared a scripture with them that told them what I learned from the scripture. I had each child in my class share their favorite scripture, tell what they learned from it, and show a picture that they drew about the scripture. Then I had all the kids in Primary do the same thing - choose a favorite scripture, draw a picture of the scripture and then show their picture and tell us what they learn from the scripture. It worked! Last time I did Sharing Time it was a bit rough. This time was much better. As I was walking around passing out crayons one of the members of the Primary Presidency came up to me and said, "You've given a talk, taught a lesson and done Sharing Time all on the same day! I hope you get a nap this afternoon!" Those were my thoughts exactly. (I didn't take a nap because then I'd have a hard time sleeping at night, but I did go to bed really early, which felt wonderful.) Rob asked if I was doing a musical number as well, but luckily I was overlooked for that assignment this week :-)