mothers who know!

yesterday during general conference the relief society (LDS church women's organization) president gave an inspiring talk that will probably be titled "mothers who know." we were at home watching this on our computer, so sister beck was competing with my insatiable nursing baby and my two young boys who were having a hard time with their reverence. however, amidst all the noise and distractions, i did happen to hear the resounding statement, "LDS WOMEN SHOULD BE THE BEST HOMEMAKERS IN THE WORLD." yes, she talked about nurturing, cultivating, teaching, being an example, etc., but she also talked about cooking, washing clothes and dishes, and keeping an orderly home. i felt terrible as i looked around our place. by this point (sunday morning), we'd spent approximately five hours on our living room floor watching the conference proceedings while trying to be creative about keeping our kids quietly entertained and at least partially learning the significance of general conference (this resulted in a lot of stuff all over the place). saturday evening we had dinner with some friends and got home a bit late, so the days' clutter did not get cleaned up. on sunday, conference started at 8 a.m. and we barely had time to have our special breakfast (cinnamon rolls from a can because i wasn't brave enough to try to make them from scratch!), much less wash up all the dishes and mess. the contents of a tote from storage were scattered throughout the living room (my attempt to swap out the winter and summer clothes failed miserably... the boys got to it before i did!). at least 20 sheets of drawing paper and mazes littered the entire front room. i could go on and on describing the mess, but i'll spare the details. needless to say, for that moment, i felt like a mother who does not know! but then, just a few speakers later, president gordon b. hinckley came to the pulpit. abraham stopped what he was doing and turned towards the monitor. "it's gordon b. hinckley. he's the prophet," he said. for just a quick moment, before abe went back to his gallivanting, i was granted the beautiful and warm "you're doing alright" feeling. i'm doing my best to nurture "future fathers and mothers who will be the builders of the Lord's kingdom for the next 50 years." it's an awesome and oft times overwhelming responsibility, but this talk was just what i needed to remind me of its importance and to encourage me to keep trying to be a mother who knows.