Why is it that Mom is (almost) always right?

I don't know - probably something having to do with having more life experience and the benefit of hindsight, a mother's intuition, and having the right to receive revelation on my behalf (since I'm under her stewardship. I also can and do receive revelation for myself). It's funny how the older I get, the more things I "realize" are a lot of the same things my mom's been trying to tell me for years.

My biggest news item from this weekend is that I started dating a really special guy. He is everything I could ask for. I told him that I was really hesitant about dating anyone exclusively right now, but the more we talked about it, the more right and good it felt. I think the biggest thing that will promote the best results is that we're focusing on building our friendship first, and keeping our priorities in order. That was something I struggled with in my last "relationship". He is really sweet, entirely respectful, and I feel comfortable being myself around him. Whereas before I had seen some guys as people I wanted to impress, my boyfriend now is someone that I don't need to try to impress - he already accepts and appreciates me the way I am. While I haven't had sufficient time to build a deep friendship with him, I'm certain that if we stay on our current track, we will have a great, fulfilling, enriching relationship with each other.

Some other things I realized. Once again, I remembered that sometimes my body just demands 8 hours of sleep, and I need to plan for that. I really need to be more responsible in acting (like my mom says, I need to do more than "know it", I need to "do it") and doing the things that will get me to bed on time earlier. I decided today that it would just be better if I dropped my religion class this semester (the Doctrine and Covenants one) for the sake of academia and physical health, but I'd still like to follow the reading schedule and post responses on here. That means I should probably try to go to the weekly Institute (short for "Institute of Religion") classes, since I'm not taking any other religion class this semester. In the last couple weeks, I was released from being a Sunday School teacher and was asked instead to be the Sacrament meeting coordinator. I'll miss teaching - I really loved it - but I'm looking forward to this new calling (LDS lingo for "job" or "assignment") and making the best out of it that I can. My bishop (same thing as a pastor or reverend) thinks I'll do a good job, and I've been assured that Heavenly Father knows I can do it well too.

Saturday evening was the Relief Society General Broadcast, part of the General Conference for the whole Church. President Thomas S. Monson's talk really stood out to me (I took notes on all the speakers), and he issued the gentle, reminding rebuke, "Judge Not". He quoted from Mother Theresa, that if you judge people, you don't have time to love them. That's something that, honestly, I've struggled with over the years. I've been doing tons better though, and as I thought about it earlier today and reflected a bit on recent events, I think I'm doing pretty good. Not perfect, but I like it. President Monson has another quote that I've come to appreciate more: "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." As I've tried to apply that more in my life (in reaching out to others, being less self-centered, and responding when people ask for help) I've definitely been blessed and developed more charity. It's been a cool thing, and I feel a lot more Christlike in the doing. Yay! :)