Open Our Hearts

"Carefully assessing the condition of our hearts is one of the most essential things we can do in this life" -Elder Gerald N. Lund

I was able to attend our stake Women's Conference this past Saturday and it was awesome! The theme was "A Heart Like His", a book written by Virginia H. Pearce. Our stake conducted an 'experiment' and several women who were involved were able to share their experiences. The plan for the open your experiment was:

1. To be more aware of the condition of our hearts and with that awareness to keep them more open towards others.
2. To do this in the normal course of our life, in other words, not to put any extra activities into our day.
3. To notice the Spirit, and be willing to come together and honestly report what happened or hadn't happened.

I thought that I would share a couple of their experiences and offer y'all the challenge to conduct the experiment within your own lives. One sister began by asking how many of us pretend to be busy in the hall with children or something else when you see someone approaching that you know so that you don't have to stop and have a lengthy conversation or change directions in the store when you see someone that you know because you just don't have time to talk. I know that I am guilty. Also, she said that when she would send her kids to school, she would hug them and kiss them while other things would be on her mind, such as dinner or other chores she needed to complete instead of focusing on what she was doing right that moment. She challenged herself to truely focus on hugging and kissing her children with thoughts of gratitude and love for each of them. The Spirit was so strong when she did this that she often had tears streaming down her face. I thought of when I hug and kiss my husband I know that I rush and sometimes don't slow down and think about what I am doing.
Another sister spoke of some excuses that we often come up with to avoid doing things for others (aka, tools of the adversary). She is a mother of 5, so really she is a busy woman. There was a time when she saw that a friend of hers would be moving and very busy for the next couple of nights. A though occured to her to take her some dinner. She quickly started to find excuses as to why this was not possible: what if they don't even have any bowls? what if they have already eaten? what if they like their chili with meat? what if they like their chili with different beans? what if they don't even like chili and cornbread? She finally decided last minute to make the meal for the family. She took it to the sister and she was so greatful. The family mentioned they had just ordered out for pizza, but she said that she didn't care and thought at least they will have something to eat for lunch tomorrow.
How often do we quicly think of excuses as to why we can't open our hearts? Its as simple as taking the time to say hello, and be willing to listen. One last story: One of the sisters saw an old college professor and decided to use the experiement to open her heart. As she stopped to sa hello, the professor greeted her. She asked "So how have you been doing?" She expected great, how are you, and then they would go on their ways. However, he replied "The past couple of weeks have been hard. My wife left me for another man that she had been seeing. We went to counseling to try and work things out, but she decided to go and be with him. Its been rough." She replied that she was sorry and couldn't imagine how he felt. She told him that she would keep him in her prayers. He told her that he was grateful and thank you, but please really do pray for me.
As she told the story I though how often do we avoid open our hearts to others, when they are hurting inside and just need to have someone who will listen. There were many other experiences shared. Our stake president offered two guidlines:

1. See others as Jesus and Heavenly Father see others.
2. To do so uncontionally.

I am going to try the experiment and hope that you guys will try it as well. Bonnie D. Parkins said: "If I could have one thing happen for every women..it would be that they would feel the love of the Lord in their lives daily."