Priorities and Onion Peeling

I deeply love my wife Willyne.  I have been married to her for thirty-three years.  Her smile that captivated me when I met her is a window into her soul.  As time passes, I become more and more appreciative of the depth and many layers of the goodness that her outer smile reflects.

One of the things that I admire about her is her urgent desire to truly follow our Savior, Jesus Christ.  To do this, she studies, she prays, and she tries to live each day according to the principles He taught and that she learns through her study and prayers.  She will be the first person to tell you she is not perfect. As she gradually gets closer to the Lord through reading the words of apostles and prophets, through prayer, and by striving to live consistently with that, she becomes more aware of things she could have done better and more desirous to make amends with anyone she might have offended. 

In a way she is on a journey that might be compared to peeling an onion.  It would have to be a sweet Vidalia onion to have any merit as a comparison.  As she peels one layer of the onion, it reveals another layer.  It is never ending, but because the journey is sweet, it is still very satisfying.

I love General Conference.  I love the way I feel all weekend.  I love the talks.  I love the music.  It ends way too quickly.

This year, Willyne, who serves as Relief Society president in our ward, has challenged each sister to read conference issue cover to cover.  As an additional incentive, she has invited them all to a breakfast at our home in June ... if they have completed this challenge.

I know I'm always welcome to these activities in our home.  I probably will say hello a few times, and quietly enjoy the breakfast from my study area.  I appreciate the hearty welcome, and I also know it blesses the sisters to be together.  Still, this has given me new incentive to read the conference issue myself.  I have also been listening to it, via the Mormon channel on my Android phone while driving.

In my reading I have reached "Desire" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks in the Saturday afternoon session.  In my listening I am at "Priesthood Power" by President Thomas S. Monson in the Priesthood session, this as last Saturday evening closed and as the Primary song encourages, I was getting ready for Sunday.  I have been especially touched by both of these talks.  As a side note, I always especially enjoy the choirs of young men that are assembled for Priesthood sessions.  Listening to them again in the past few days brought this sweet memory back to me.

The next day, Sunday, we had a combined Priesthood and Relief Society meeting taught by our Bishop, Lee Hogan.  He covered several topics, centered around building the desire to be closer to the Savior.  One of the tools he encouraged us to use was to read the conference issue cover to cover.  He has read it multiple times himself, and it showed in his presentation.

Willyne has been enjoying a daily devotional for some time now.  It has blessed her life in so many ways.  She is now increasing the time she is dedicating to her devotional by making several sacrifices, including getting up a little earlier each day than she already does.

It is remarkable to me how the blessings of good priorities can line up like this.  By being willing to peel one layer of the onion, in a manner of speaking, such as beginning to read the conference talks cover to cover, new gems are revealed that weren't noticed the first time.  This prepares you for what you don't realize is coming next, like the Bishop's talk, that builds on the previous layer.

Maybe I am like you in one way.  There are many good things that I do, and I have ideas for many more that I don't seem to get to.  I have some things pressing on me that I feel the need to do.  Which should I continue, which should I give up, so that I can do other things I realize are better (or best).

Deciding these priorities is a continuous process.  There is one thing I have just been reminded of.  A daily devotional is helpful in so many ways, one of which is to help see priorities more clearly.  Reading the conference talks helped more.  The most recent talk I have read was on our desires and priorities, and helped me focus further.

Thank you, Willyne, for quietly encouraging me to go to the next layer.  I love you.