Nourishment

Part I.
Saturday was a Western North Carolina regional women's conference held in the mountains near Asheville. We had a special guest speaker from Salt Lake City: Julie Beck, General Relief Society President! I left home in the early hours of the morning to attend a training meeting for RS presidencies. We grabbed some lunch, held an impromptu presidency meeting, then returned for a second session with sisters from all over the state. It was really interesting, since Sister Beck did both sessions question and answer style. After a brief introduction, she took questions from the audience and then gave an answer, usually illustrated with a personal story and scriptures. By the time Rob picked me up at 3pm, I felt full to the brim, overstuffed with goodness, hope, sisterhood and strength. I learned so much, but here are my 3 favorites.

1) Spend time in the scriptures every day.
2) Poor visiting teaching numbers often reflect a reporting problem rather than a ministering problem, because sisters do care for each other in so many ways. Practice 'ministering' rather than asking, 'Does this count?' in regards to VT.
3) The most important skill you can have is to seek, feel, and obey personal revelation.

Part II.
Rob drove the girls to Asheville and picked me up. We met his sisters Susan and Megan at our special place, SkyTop Orchard. We picked a bushel of apples to eat (about 40 lbs.) and also bought a bushel of peaches when the highway dipped down into South Carolina (SC has yummy peaches too, cousins of the more famous Georgia Peach). It was a hot afternoon and a long day for all the little children, but we still had a great time. I spent Monday canning peaches (14 quarts!) and I'm proud of my efforts. I think even my mother-in-law Cecile would be impressed. I consider her the patron saint of food preservation, so if you can impress her, that's pretty good :)

Canning (when I do it) makes me think about my mother and grandmothers and helps me feel a connection to them. I hardly remember my mom canning, but I know she did it because we ate home-canned fruit and vegetables all through the year. I can picture her in my mind, staying up late, exhausted as she must have been, to finish yet another job for her large, hungry family. (Why, oh WHY, did I not pay more attention? Why was I not a more helpful daughter? I could just slap my teenage self for being so obtuse.)

My great grandma, Effie Adams, taught me how to can peaches when I was a young, new mom with a 5 month old Maddie. I remember that day in her sunny kitchen and how surely she worked. She told me how much she enjoyed teaching me because she had never had a daughter with whom she could share those skills. I felt nourished that day. Now it is my turn to nourish others and my bushel basket is full to overflowing.