Monday, March 15, 2010

Julie B. Beck is...

amazing, to say the least. She came to a tri-stake fireside last night and just astounded me in every way. This was no ordinary fireside. She had a microphone passed around to women who had questions and she would then answer them, whatever they be, right on the spot. Can I just say that this women is amazing with the scriptures, it just amazed me how she knew exactly where to turn when she had no previous knowledge of what the questions would be. Wow.

So during the two hours that she was there she answered various questions, some about family, some about life in general and other off the subject...subjects. (haha) Some including:

1) What is something that you wish you knew when you were our age?
(sister beck giggles) "Well it definitely was not THAT long ago, i'll tell you. But one thing that I would have most liked to have when I was younger was a stronger testimony of myself. To know who I was, what my values were. And I wish I knew with a stronger conviction that I was a daughter of our heavenly parents."
Scriptures:
D&C 138: 55-56 (Faithful daughters)
Moses 1:1-4 (Thou art my "son", if there be a son then there must be a daughter)
Genesis 24 (Rebekah and Issac)

2) What would you say to women who don't feel their role in life is to be a mother?
"Motherhood is an essential leadership position for women, society has you confused about the gender roles of our day"
Mother is a Title. In Abraham, we are told that the name of our first mother is Eve, which means "life". (how fitting)

3) How can we prepare for a successful marriage?
(sister beck) "well, for starters you have to learn how to treat the men in your life"
D&C 25:4 (murmur not)
5 (comfort her husband)(have consoling words)
10(seek for things of the better)
13(cleave unto temple convenants)

4) How did you know your husband was the one for you to marry?
(sister beck laughs, her husband is sitting behind her on the stand) "well i'm sure he'd like to here this one." (her husband starts whispering a few things to her) "Why don't you just come up and tell them what you're saying" (He stand up and walks up to the mic)
(jokingly) they start saying that:

Maybe it was their taste in music?
Brother Beck likes country western music/Sister Beck likes classical (bach, brahms)
No not quite.

Maybe it is their taste in movies?
Brother Beck likes WW2 and Westerns/Sister Beck like Pride and Prejudice
(Brother Beck says "It's even worse on tv")
So a little off.

Maybe it is their taste in Books?
Brother Beck likes the WW2, bloody, action books/Sister Beck like Pride and Prejudice (haha)
(everyone just laughed)
Brother Beck has never read Pride and Prejudice and never will.

But in the end they told the congregation that they both prayed about it after they dated for quite sometime and heavenly father told they that it was right and ok to do.

Sister Beck teasing says, "I sometime tell people I married him for his hair" (brother beck is bald)
But in all seriousness, "I knew that he had a testimony and was prepared to stand up for it, and that was important to me. I knew he served in the church and had church callings, and that was important to me. I knew that he had been on a mission and had tried his best and his hardest to the work that was put in front of him, and that was important to me. I knew that he wanted to be a husband and a father and provide for us, that he wanted to get an education and make something of himself, and that was important to me. We have come to learn to know of things that we both like and be willing to try. What was most important was that we BELIEVED IN THE SAME VALUES. Sometimes we get caught up in trying to find a soulmate. You will not agree on everything, but you should on the important things."

Sister Beck was an amazing speaker and really connected with the group of women who came out. There was quite a crowd and I got to shake her hand afterwards. She was such a sweet lady and had such a spirit about her. I felt it the whole time she was talking just the warm sensation you get when you are accepting and agreeing with everything the person in saying. And with two pages of notes it was definitely worth it. And the question that were asked (I only wrote about a couple) were all ones that at some point in my life have been on my mind or will be on my mind sometime in my life and it's a nice thing to have written down some pointers for when that time comes.
Man, this fireside has got me pumped for general conference!
BTW: I'm singing in the Saturday afternoon session so you should check it out!

2 comments:

Julie Wilding said...

Thank you for this post!!! It's so neat to hear what she had to say and the scriptures accompanying.

Liesl said...

That was lovely to read. She's right, the world does have us confused about gender roles. Sometimes I never know what to do, because of the confusion going on.