The Road to Paradise: Kindness and Easter

My sister and I have a weekly meeting to discuss the book The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns. The last month focus has been on communication skills. We both discovered it is HARD to practice good communication. I won't go into details, but what we determined from the reading is that the most effective communication comes from a genuine interest in understanding the other person's perspective. In short, if you think about yourself and what you want to say or achieve from the conversation, you will likely miss the mark.

This leads to some other themes I heard in General Conference last month and my recent Stake Conference over the weekend. Here are some of my favourite quotes or messages:

"The only way to take sorrow out of death, is to take love out of life." Russell M. Nelson (Quoted by Reyna I. Aburto)

"The gospel is not part of our life, our life is actually part of the gospel." Chi Hong (Sam) Wong

We need to remove the "debris" in our lives. Russell M. Nelson

"To do anything well requires effort." Russell M. Nelson

"We are ultimately more alike than we are different." M. Russell Ballard

"Everyone has the RIGHT to be loved, to feel peaceful, and to find safety at home." Jeffrey R. Holland

"All that is unfair can be made right with the Atonement." Dale G. Renlund

The rabbit effect: the rabbits under the care of the loving researcher had significantly higher health outcomes. "Foundation of kindness ....can heal hearts emotionally, spiritually, and.. even physically." Gary E. Stevenson

"Our failures do not DEFINE us, they REFINE us." Dieter F. Uchtdorf

How we managed to watch the conference

Between conference sessions break at the park.

Below aren't quoted necessarily, just notes I took from stake conference talks.

Personal revelation is specific to YOU! It is not for someone else even if they are in the same situation. Unknown speaker

We need to see things as they REALLY are - we all make mistakes.
Rachael Lougadakis

"There will always be laundry, bathrooms to clean, etc. Simply do what you CAN do in the best way you can." Shayla Thayer

"God uses us BECAUSE of our imperfections, NOT in spite of them." Sis Thayer

Show GENUINE interest in others. - Multiple speakers

"All of us NEED to be loved. How to do that is different for everyone." Unknown speaker

Build a village of kindness. Cameron Thayer

"There is no such thing as a perfect home. Just do WHAT you can WHEN you can." Sidney Pauga

The overwhelming message I got was showing kindness to all (even your enemies); you are ENOUGH, and just do what you can.