Cathy Esler, Cassville Ward Relief Society member, attended the August 29th Women’s Conference of the Monett Missouri Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held at the Monett Stake Center.

The Relief Society is a global women’s organization with more than eight million members with chapters throughout the world that focus on relieving those in need, building faith in Jesus Christ, and helping families. Among Relief Society’s efforts are emotional and mental health resources to provide emotional resilience and positive thinking patterns for women.

“In the ‘How to be a Peacemaker’ class, I learned that peacemakers build bridges using love, acceptance, listening, understanding, communication, empathy, and finding common ground,” Elser said. “In the ‘Christ-like Pace’ class, I learned that we need to simplify our pace by becoming efficient and doing the important things first. Jesus put the children first. When we don’t get everything done, we don’t need to worry because we have the important things done. I also learned that being slow to respond is important. Think things through and manage ourselves. We need to also manage our spirits. Jesus did that by praying to His Father.”

Elser said in the “Finding Calm in the Tempest” class, she learned to stop trying to solve the unsolvable problems and to change her perspective. 

“When Mr. Johnson mentioned healthy distractions, I thought of the woman who was caught in adultery and was thrown at Jesus’ feet,” she said. “Jesus just squatted down and began writing in the sand.” 

Besides gaining valuable mental health information, Esler and the women at the conference also enjoyed a meal of BBQ chicken, mixed vegetables, salad, three kinds of rice, grapes and oranges, all of which was prepared under the supervision of Sam Bennion, of Granby, and other priesthood holders.