VT With Me: What’s In Your Wallet?

In May, we get to choose from all the talks given in General Conference, to focus our visiting teaching lesson on. It was Saturday Morning and I was still running around the house chasing after baby, cleaning up after breakfast and trying to get a moment to sit down after conference had already started. Then I heard something about me being incredible. (Naturally but how did he know?) Could Elder Cook see me through the TV, nearly breaking a sweat trying to listen and nurture and feed my family all at the same time? I sat down just in time to hear him tell the Parable of the Purse:

“When I was recently assigned to a conference in the Mission Viejo California Stake, I was touched by an account of their four-stake New Year’s Eve youth dance. Following the dance, a purse was found with no outside identification. I share with you part of what Sister Monica Sedgwick, the Young Women president in the Laguna Niguel stake, recorded: “We didn’t want to pry; this was someone’s personal stuff! So we gingerly opened it and grabbed the first thing that was on top—hopefully, it would identify her. It did, but in another way—it was a For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. Wow! This told us something about her. Then we reached in for the next item, a little notebook. Surely this would give us answers, but not the kind we were expecting. The first page was a list of favorite scriptures. There were five more pages of carefully written scriptures and personal notes.”
The sisters immediately wanted to meet this stalwart young woman. They returned to that purse to identify its owner. They pulled out some breath mints, soap, lotion, and a brush. I loved their comments: “Oh, good things come out of her mouth; she has clean and soft hands; and she takes care of herself.”
They eagerly awaited the next treasure. Out came a clever little homemade coin purse made from a cardboard juice carton, and there was some money in a zippered pocket. They exclaimed, “Ahh, she’s creative and prepared!” They felt like little children on Christmas morning. What they pulled out next surprised them even more: a recipe for Black Forest chocolate cake and a note to make the cake for a friend’s birthday. They almost screamed, “She’s a HOMEMAKER! Thoughtful and service minded.” Then, yes, finally some identification. The youth leaders said they felt greatly blessed “to observe the quiet example of a young lady living the gospel.” ⁶
This account illustrates the commitment of our young women to Church standards. ⁷ It is also an example of caring, interested, dedicated Young Women leaders all over the world. They are incredible!”

And I thought…hum “What is in my purse?” Granted, Elder Cook was speaking about a young woman. Back in the day when we kept our purses nice and tidy. Now days I’m more likely to have chap-stick instead of lipgloss, a folded up hat, instead of a brush, aspirin instead of breath mints, Antibacterial hand cleanser that dries out your hands instead of lotion, in the place of favorite scriptures, a tiny notepad filled with game schedules and friend’s phone numbers and play dates,  a Faith in God book (that I still need to update) instead of For Strength of Youth. And that is if you can find them among crushed up snacks, loose change, a billion old receipts and a pair of broken sunglasses that I once looked amazing in.  And in the end I’m more likely to teach a young woman how to make a coin purse out of a juice carton (Here’s How), than even remember where I put mine.
Later that week, my daughter and I were fixing dinner together, and she confided in me that sometimes she worries that she isn’t a good enough person. Now, I know what is in her purse and everything in there tells me that she is. I told her that, as a woman, we really have to learn to recognize daily the good things we do. It is different for men. They work really hard for 3 months and then they are publicly recognized with a merit badge. They work really hard at work and they get a promotion. We work really hard all day and all we get is really, really tired. In fact, we don’t even get to really see the payoffs until years later, when our children are almost grown. That is the way it is with women. So we need to remember to give ourselves a little credit. I told her to think of all the things she does right. I named some to get her started. And she lit up. It was as if it gave her courage to do more and more.
On Sunday, a wonderful sister spoke about the Atonement. She spoke of the importance of repenting quickly when we do something wrong but to spend more time thinking about what we are doing right. She suggested that we go to our Heavenly Father in prayer with at least three things we’ve done right every night before bed. 
That is when I decided on something that every woman needs in her purse…a “Give myself a little credit card.” To remind ourselves to recognize all we have done right and good each day.
According to Quentine L. Cook, LDS Women are Incredible., and we are. Click Here for the Instant Credit, Printout and Instructions