Sister Beck's visit

A week ago Sister Beck (general president of the Relief Society - our church's womens group) came to speak at the law school. She was originally scheduled for a few months ago, but since she has a crazy, schedule (she told us she works about 100 hours a week!) when that didn't work out we just waited. So Monday we got an email that she would be here Friday.
It was a wonderful little session for the law school/business school students. She mostly spent the time answering questions - pre-submitted (by us), as well as ones live questions. It was nice.
Among other things here are some things that I enjoyed and thought some of you out there may as well. She talked about the roles of men and women in the church and the topics they choose to teach about ('it is not him speaking, or her speaking, it is the Lord speaking through them'). She discussed her fall Conference talk and some of the concerns people had with it: "some of my examples may not have been perfect, but the principles are perfect and they are what the Lord wants the members of the church to remember. [From Ruth: there are 3 principles, do you know what they are?]. Back to Sister Beck, "I've never had such an easy time writing a talk. I sat down and wrote the words that the Lord told me. When I had finished I read over it and thought, can I say that? So I put it away a few weeks and then took it out again. I decided if the Lord gave me the words I needed to share them. So I took it to the First Presidency and they made one change - to change a word from the singular to the plural (making the doctrine even stronger). " Later in the session she commented that she had received thousands of letters as a response to that talk - positive ones - from sisters who spoke with gratitude at being assured that they were doing right in putting their families first. When people around them looked at them, with their degrees, etc... staying home and told them they were stupid, it was good to be supported. [I am not in that position. Who knows if I will ever be, but because of my mother I relate to it. And knowing the choices many of you reading this have made, I thought you would appreciate it.] And for my single friends - One girl asked, what advice would you give for sisters like me who are not married, but want to be and want to preserve the chance of that happening. Sister Beck's response: Go for broke. If I were in your position I would get the best education I could at the best schools I could. I would not sit around waiting for marriage. Then when you meet someone you want to marry, you'll probably have to reevaluate your path. But in the meantime, I would be going full speed ahead.
There were many other things (ideas about how to learn about women's role from the scriptures, stories of women and the things they've done, what to do with LDS people who judge your decisions and question your choices (funny Sister Beck), etc...) But overall her message was - if you stay close to the Lord and remember The Plan you will be able to shut out the world's messages and do what is right.
Finally, I walked away from the whole thing with a vivid reminder that the men and women who do the Lord's work are people. They're mortal. They get tired, frustrated, sad, disheartened. All those things. The Lord calls them, not because they're perfect, or even the smartest or best at X... He calls them because they love him and they are so willing to keep their covenants to him that they will give what He asks when He calls. I've had several opportunities to observe this over the last couple of years and was just powerfully reminded of it again. Sister Beck, and I imagine the same for all the general authorities, is NOT someone seeking power. She would love to stay home and be a grandmother, mother and wife. But she loves the Lord and, in answering his call, loves us. They need our prayers! I'm so grateful for all the men and women who serve - including those closer who I can see more often. It's really a marvelous work. The way the Lord has arranged it all is quite beautiful to see.