Time Out for Women

I thought I'd take a break from catching up on my Halloween posts to blog about Time Out for Women that I was able to go to yesterday. Time Out for Women (TOFW) is like a mini conference that Deseret Bookstore puts on in the spring and fall in cities all over the country. It feature speakers (mostly authors) and musical artists that share topics (this year the topic/theme was Hope) with women, needing a "time out" or break from their hectic lives to get a little spiritual rejuvination. I've only been one other time, a couple of years ago, and really enjoyed it. So when it was coming to Portland this year, I really wanted to go. They always give out a free totebag, too and this year's was really cute.

So this year I went with my friends Kate, Tonya, Crystal and we met up with Holly and Heidi. It was such a fun day. They had some amazing speakers that were not only hilarious and had us rolling in the aisles, but some really powerful messages of hope that they had learned while going through their various trials. All I have to say is that my life is pretty good compared to what awful things some of these speakers had to go through. One of my favorite speakers was an African lady named Mariama Kallon who is from Sierra Leone. She seemed like a remarkable person with great positive outlook on life. She told of the unspeakable things that she suffered through. She watched as her parents were murdered by rebels and her siblings tortured in front of her while she waited her turn for the same torture. In answer to her prayers, the soldiers showed up before it was her turn and rescued her. They told her and the other survivors to run to the next village and hide while they took the wounded people. She never saw her siblings again. She said the only thing she prayed for everyday was that she could live for one more day. She eventually took up shelter with an LDS family and received a hygiene kit, which she still keeps to this day and said it was her most prized possession. She shared it with 24 other women--Wow!!. She eventually got baptized and became a missionary on Temple Square and she is still living in Utah going to LDS Business school. It was amazing to hear her story and hear how learned to cope with everything and I thought it was funny how she called the scriptures her therapist.

Mariama Kallon
The other speakers were Emily Watts, Merrilee Boyak, Kris Belcher, S. Michael Wilcox and the musical guest was Hilary Weeks. Not only is she really talented as a musician, but she is also funny and down to earth.

Hilary Weeks

I really enjoyed taking a "time out" from the daily grind and recharging myself. Thanks to Garrett for holding down the fort while I was gone!

Holly, Me, Tonya and Kate with the free tote bags

(Thanks Kate for sharing your pictures!)