Rebekah and the Lionesses

Instead of going to our usual church meetings, we got to attend a stake conference of sorts today. It was broadcast from the Conference Center right to our very own church house.

Pres. Henry B. Erying, First Counselor in the First Presidency, presided and spoke. We also heard from Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy, and Relief Society President Julie B. Beck.

All were good messages, but I must say that Sis. Beck's talk, in particular, stood out to me. She had my attention at the use of the phrase "lionesses at the gate" - a metaphor (simile?) she used to describe what the role of the women of the Church ought to be. Another example that she used was that of Rebekah from the Bible. She spoke of the "millions of Rebekahs" who will influence the success and future of the Church by understanding what their roles are and by choosing to follow that path.

Well, I'm paraphrasing - but that's what I got out of it. I gotta say that Rebekah is one of my favorite women of the scriptures, and I love her example of service that is recounted in the book of Genesis. (Isaac was a very lucky man!) If there were a female equivalent of Captain Moroni, as far as the ideal mate for whom one can seek - this, at least, was the standard that people used to judge from in my mission field in Peru, and I know that many people use it here - then Rebekah has got to be it.

Something else that stood out to me was when Sister Beck spoke of the "nice-to-do things" of life. Though these things add variety and make things more interesting, "they are not the things that save." We all need to take a look at our priorities, in essence, and see that they're in the right place.

Today's meeting was actually the second time in the past four days that I got to hear Pres. Eyring speak. On Thursday night, I attended "A Celebration of Family History" at the Conference Center, at which he also delivered a message. The keynote speaker was author David McCullough (of John Adams and 1776 fame, among other notable works), who gave a rather inspirational talk about learning from history and the people who helped to write it. Interspersed throughout were favorite songs by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and videos of Family History success stories.

Final note: I think "Rebekah and the Lionesses" would make a great name for a rock band, or at least possibly a lost children's cartoon from the '80s (I'm thinking "She-Ra" here).