Treasured Memories of My Mother

A few years ago, I was asked to give a tribute to my mother in a Relief Society Meeting. Some of these things I’ve already talked about, but following is what I wrote at that time.

My Mother is Great! Following are some of the things she has taught me.

M MEMORIES are important. Our family did things together to build good memories. One thing we did was travel together. Some of the memories were very spiritual because my parents went to see and visit Temples. Some of the memories were fun – seeing beautiful sights and camping with scouts. My mother was always willing to entertain my friends. She had birthday parties for me and other parties, as I grew older. She built many happy memories for me.

O OPPORTUNITITIES await each of us. I was encouraged to participate in all activities that came my way. I was taught to look for opportunities to serve others.

T TALENTS need to be developed. She always taught me to develop my talents. I took violin lessons, dance lessons – tap, ballet, hula and acrobats. I was encouraged to act in plays, sing, and to speak to audiences. My mother didn’t want me growing up being frightened of being in front of other people as she was. I really believed I could do anything I wanted if I just worked at it. She was always there to see my performances.

H HELPING me with challenges was always a top priority. She taught us to help one another. It didn’t matter if we were boys or girls we worked in the house, on the car and in the yard. We helped one another and helped both our mother and father.

E ETERNAL families work together and play together. We did laundry together with an old wringer washer. We hung clothes on the line. We cleaned our rooms and helped keep the house clean. We made candy together. We sang together. We played games together.

R RESPONSIBILITY was given to each of us at an early age. I did housework and fixed dinner before my parents arrived home from work. I did dishes before leaving on dates. I was taught if something is worth doing then it should be done right.

S SERVICE was taught by my mother’s example. She was a teacher in primary. Every week we walked not just a block or two but much farther to primary. My parents served as dance instructors in mutual and they served as stake missionaries. The most unusual time of service was when my mother and I both served at the same time as Relief Society presidents in our own wards, which met in the same building. She has taught me you are never too old to give service.

Our destiny is to become QUEENS for all eternity – forever, and ever and ever! My mother will certainly be a QUEEN FOR ALL ETERNITY.

Use Your Talents To Bless Others

Matt. 25: 15-16, 20, 22, 24-25, 28

15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
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20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
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22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
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24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
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28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

My mom was a great example of the above scripture. Her greatest talent is sewing. I don’t know anyone who does as good a job as she does. She enjoyes it, and has a knack for knowing what to do. She doesn’t just do what is necessary. She goes the extra mile and makes sure it’s perfect. Every seam has to be straight, there has to be extra frills, and nothing but the best is good enough.

When my brother, sister and I took dance lessons, they asked her to sew our costumes for the yearly dance reviews. I can’t imagine how she ever found time to sew three costumes for each tap and ballet dance we performed. If we each only had one costume change, that’s six costumes. Usually there were more dances, because sometimes we did solo or duet numbers besides the group performances. I’m sure I have no idea how many hours she spent doing this for us.

My mother taught me that we should develop and use our talents to bless others.