w-o-m-e-n

Women. We are AWESOME. 

DO NOT let anyone tell you different. 

{boys you are great too, but this is going to be about us ladies}

The only reason why I got to go was because of my mom Pam {stepmom so you don't get confused haha but I call her mom too}. 

She bought me a ticket and was able to come down from Washington. Her sisters and mom came too. It was fun to be with them and share this experience.

Inspiration. Idol. Influential. 

Have you ever heard of Time Out For Women {TOFW}? Talk about inspiration! 

I have but didn't know how neat it actually was. It is very similar to EFY or Youth Conference where they bring speakers to teach for the weekend.

These speakers are well known, but sometimes not! Mainly they have had experiences they are willing to share and testimonies to help us women realize how important we are.

They have a theme every year and this year it was:

HIGHER

{The twins and me and the Pammy 
not Beth haha don't get confused} 

{Me and beth and the line to 
the bathroom--women} 

SO...how can you become higher in a sense of overcoming your own battles/trials? It was cool how all the speakers used this to speak to us in a positive way to help us realize our potential/strengths/weaknesses

On Friday night a man, James L. Ferrell, spoke. He wrote:

Anyways he was one of my favorites out of the whole weekend. 

He actually talked about his new book {Falling Up-which is what I linked about above in his name}. 

It mainly talks about how we need trials in our life to come closer to Christ. I ending up buying the book haha. I will post about that in a couple months :) 

TOFW never goes wrong without musical guests.

The infamous Michael McClean {FORGOTTEN CAROLS CREATOR} had a presentation about clothes. haha yes clothes. Anyways he talked about what kind of woman we should be. Also what type of "wardrobe" we should be wearing. 

What type of 'threads' are in your closet? 

The next day, Saturday, there were 6 more speakers. And Hilary Weeks was the musical guest. 

Hilary had a great story about clicks.

What is clicks you ask? haha well she recorded a week of all her negative thoughts. She did this by a clicker device. Then she compared that to a week of recording clicks for all her positive thoughts. 

She ended up having way more positive than negative thoughts. 

Long story short: 

We choose to be happy and it is possible to overcome that. Do you have too many negative clicks in your life? 

My favorite was by Mariama Kallon. 

{This is her story} 

I was touched by her strength and willingness to carry on with all that she had been through. It made me reflect on my life and how lucky I am to be where I am. Being here in the United States, being in a place where I am loved with friends and family close, etc. 

I also realized how the Lord truly loves all of us know matter our circumstance.

As women we need to know we are loved no matter what we are going through. There are many circumstances where we are affected in negative ways because of others or by the choices we make. 

All I know is that everyone needs to know and feel the love their Heavenly Father has for them. It makes me so sad that there are those who don't know that. Mariama is someone who knows it and I admire her greatly. She is one of my idols! :) 

All in all this TOFW stuff is great. I will never NOT go again!

{TOP LEFT:James signed my book he wrote haha.
TOP RIGHT: My idol Mariama.
BOTTOM LEFT: Michael McClean himself.
BOTTOM RIGHT: James L. Ferrell the master of words!}

{Love these cuties}

I can't wait until next year and learn more about myself that I didn't realize needed a change. It was influential for me in so many ways I won't forget it.  

I do have a testimony of my Savior and I know he loves me. I am thankful to live a life where I can learn how to be close to him at all times. The scriptures testify of his truth, especially the Book of Mormon. No matter what, I will never deny the light that book holds. It is another testament of Christ and teaches us how to be a true disciple. I know my Father lives and I am forever changed because of His Son and His gospel. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

With much love,

JPB

{I wrote a main blog page of what has been going on the past month of March. This post is 3 of 6 that I have written. I have posted this link as an easier way to find them. Enjoy!}