Saturday, March 7, 2009

Notes from Sheri Dew (Feb. 28, 2009)

Okay, I got Wendy Watson Nelson's notes posted HERE and now I am finally getting around to posting Sheri Dew's notes. It was a wonderful conference! I felt like not only was Sheri Dew talking to US but she was/is talking to our youth, maybe I felt that way because I have always worked with the youth be it in the Young Women's program, teaching Seminary, or teaching Institute and so you might be able to feel that from my notes, if so take it to them and use it or apply it to yourselves. Again, as Sister Nelson said, the Holy Ghost is what teaches and sometimes He tells us stuff that WE need to hear and might not be exactly what the speaker was talking about..... so, with that having been said, I hope there is something in my notes you can use.

Sister Dew started her talk by telling us of a time that she had gone to Hawaii with some of her family, there were several nephews on this trip. One of Sister Dew's nephews was going to jump from a cliff into the ocean and he had asked her if she would take a picture of him in mid air. He had shown her EXACTLY where he wanted her to stand and told her exactly when to snap the picture. So, Sister Dew was standing in the water probably about to her ankles and she explained to us that she had on capris and had her blackberry in her pocket on the side of her capris.
In came a huge wave... and yep, she got soaked! (but she DID get the picture her nephew wanted)

Now, not only did Sister Dew get soaked but, yep, you guessed it, so did her Blackberry. We all know she is a very busy woman and needs her phone, even when she is on vacation. She decided that she was on vacation and she would get her phone replaced when she got home, but after going 24 hours without a phone she worried that what if worked needed her... and they could not get her... so, she jumped in a rented car, drove to the other side of the island and stood in line for an hour for a new blackberry.

Our youth are tied to their cell phones.... ARE THEY TIED TO THEIR LIFE LINE TO HEAVEN??!!! (Are WE?)

How important is it to you to communicate with your Father in Heaven?

She quoted Elder Holland from a funeral that he spoke at, "This is not our home, sometimes we act like we will stay here... It's not. We wont."

We loose track of the big picture.

Revelations 12:7 & 9
"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels."
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

and then, verse 12
"... Woe to the inhabiters of the earth (US) and of the sea: for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

Satan's time is short... we are near the end....

She said she has contemplated many times... What would Satan do to disrupt us LDS women?

1) He would try to confuse us as to who we are! (Gender ID... etc)

2) He would try to keep us from understanding what our Savior did for us!

3) AND, he would try to wreck our "Blackberry" to Heaven!

And, so... we need to

1) KNOW who we are! (Daughters of God!)

2) UNDERSTAND the Atonement!

3) LEARN how to get Personal Revelation! (GREAT question for Conference, WHAT does personal revelation FEEL like for ME?)

Doctrine & Covenants 138:53 & 56
"...and other choice spirits who were reserved to come forth in the fullness of times to take part in laying the foundations of the great latter-day work"
"Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men."

Sister Dew said, "Get on your knees and ask you Heavenly Father to tell you how He feels about YOU and if you have a mission here..."

(THIS was very sweet and very tender) She said, "IF He were HERE He would start by THANKING you. He would thank you for teaching... for being a good wife..... for being a good mother... a good visiting teacher..."

Luke 4:18
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the BROKEN HEARTED, to peach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised"

Broken heart... the Atonement is healing.

Ether 12:27
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, than will I make weak things become strong unto them."

He is our best therapist.

She went on to talk about our GPS systems we have in our car. If there is some place that we need to go and we do not know how to get there we simply follow the directions on our GPS, we little to the voice of the little lady.

IF we will listen to the voice and directions from our scriptures we will NEVER EVER be lost! (and might I add our living prophet with General Conference coming up!)

She said that FEELING the Spirit and GETTING Revelation are 2 different things.
*Ask the Lord to teach you ~ ask him to tutor you so that you know and recognize promptings. We need to learn what Personal Revelations sounds like/feels like to US.

He WANTS to teach us how to hear His voice.

The more pure we are, the easier we can hear.

He sent us to Earth NOW, because he KNEW we would do what He NEEDS us to do. YES, we do have a mission here. We need to ask what it is and DO IT.

19 comments:

Kim said...

Sheri Dew is AWESOME! I still have my notes from a conference she gave in our region about 10 years on the THE NOBLE AND GREAT ONES (D&C38) LOVED IT!

Often times when I am struggling I go back to this section and recontemplate my role here upon this earth.

I have been blessed with good friends and influences (like yours) in my life, which helps remind me of "who I am" and "where I want to end up".

Thanks for sharing the last two posts, I needed them today.

Jan said...

So true. I really understood the part about how we think this is our real home. Nope...

I have to just keep people like you in my life that help me continue as best we can. Thanks Shaila.

I love the Dew.

Lulu said...

sheri dew, one of my all times favorites.
thank you for posting you notes--i love reading your thoughts and her words.

thank you.

Pedaling said...

oh, now isn't that lovely.
i accidently commebnted while logged into my dads account -
oops, that last comment was from me, sheila/pedaling

Pancake said...

GRRRR, ok, blogger ate my first comment!! Greta notes! Sounds like the DEW did great!

tammy said...

Love this Shaila. Thanks for sharing this. I especially love the last part.

"He sent us to Earth NOW, because he KNEW we would do what He NEEDS us to do. YES, we do have a mission here. We need to ask what it is and DO IT."

I need to ask and do.

Anonymous said...

i love Sheri Dew :)

Great post Shaila!!!!!!

i have an award for you on my blog :)

rad6 said...

Wow, once again your note taking skills benefit so many! Some great thoughts.
Would love to know where you are teaching in the NT and compare notes. We are in 1Cor. Can email me off blog world at rdavis6@surewest.net Would love to hear a little about institute experience. Do you run whole YSA program?
Wow. Sounds so fun!
Thanks for the thoughts... we talk about cell phones a lot in seminary, they cannot live without them. Great analogies in them... prayer, the gospel, rules, correct application of principles, dialing right numbers, junk mail (text), etc, etc... yes, nice to relate to the things they know. Love the GPS thoughts too...

Ruth

Bren's Life said...

I really enjoyed your notes. Man- I can't take notes to save my life. Unless I pause it.
Thanks for teaching me, for helping me. I needed to hear this. I need to learn to truly pray & to get help through everyday life & the dark times.
Thanks!

chelle said...

Thanks for these talks. I have been thinking about Sister Nelson's talk all week. This one will be on my mind also.

m

Beth at Aunties said...

I absolutely loved these thoughts and so glad you took such great notes! Aren't Wendy and Sheri wonderful spreaking together and it helps they are best friends?
They spoke to our YSA last year in the tabernacle on temple square. We invited other YSA regions and packed the TAB! It was so successful!
They were so real, down to earth and so right on each of our levels of understanding whether we were 18 or 80....oops we didn't have any 80 year olds there! lol

I copied some things out for you today. Life is GOLDEN and so are you. Thanks for the award:-)


Beth
*C*

CB said...

Sheri Dew what an amazing woman she is! Love your notes - what an amazing woman YOU are! :D
I really loved the thoughts about this not being our permanent home.
I see so many investing in things of the world and not in their families. That is the first thought that came to my mind. I am so grateful we DO have a Heavenly Home.
I also love that we need to pray about our mission here on earth. I believe our Mission on earth is ever changing so we really need to keep figuring it out as we go along.
Love all the notes and how it is making me think!
Happy Monday :)

Unknown said...

Thanks for "feeding" me again. :)

Marilyn said...

Sheri Dew is one of my heroines. I could listen to her over and over (and have) I'll never forget the time I went to SLC for the auxillary open house for RS and heard her talk about the purpose of visiting teaching. I will never forget it. Thanks for making me feel uplifted...again! =)

Jen said...

What amazing thoughts you shared! I just loved the Blackberry (cell phone) and GPS stories! What great thoughts for me to carry through this day! Thanks for the loving reminders.

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing such good notes ... being in primary i feel like i don't get enough!

Anonymous said...

She came and spoke to us in Houston a few years ago. Just wonderful.

Unknown said...

As I was googleing Sheri Dew, I came across your blog. I am not very savvy on blogging(not at all), and not knowing if this message will reach you, I will ask you in hopes that I will receive an answer. The quote by President Benson in the heading of your blog has filled my soul with assurance at this time in my life, and the seemly familiarity to the setting of your picture just bellow the quote, filled my heart because I feel that I recognise it as a place I have recently visited. This may be silly, and I understand how vast our Heavenly Father's creations are, and I know that many places may look alike. It is simply a desire to saciate a curiosity if you'd be able to answer: Was the picture taken on the Island of Maui in the area of E. Lipoa in Kihei?
Thank you so much!
Martha Estes
ElderEstesMom@aol.com

Sona said...

THanks for posting the Sheri Dew's women's conference talk!

I went to listen to her last week in CA. and loved it.