Mothers Day

Tim and I were asked to speak in church today.... In a Joey Lawrence voice....... Whoa!!

Anyways my mom said I should post my talk to .... well...here ya go ;) 

Happy Mothers Day!!

The Blessings Of Motherhood
Shannon Slayton
May 13, 3012

I feel honored and privileged to speak to you today on such a wonderful Holiday.  I have to admit that I feel quite inadequate addressing you because I have only recently joined the ranks of Motherhood.  So to break the ice here is a funny story:

Child Sent to Bed
A small boy is sent to bed by his mother…
[Five minutes later]
“Mom…”
“What?”
“I’m thirsty. Can you bring me a glass of water?”
“No. You had your chance. Lights out.”
[Five minutes later]
“Mom…”
“WHAT?”
“I’m THIRSTY…Can I have a glass of water??”
“I told you NO! If you ask again I’ll have to spank you!!”
[Five minutes later]
“Mommm…”
“WHAT??!!”
“When you come in to spank me, can you bring me a glass of water?”

I have a feeling that I will be encountering this kind of sass in a few years with Kalea. Especially if she is anything like me.

I would first like to talk to you about my Mother and the blessing that she was and is to me in my life.  When I was young I thought my Mother was perfect! YES perfect! My little brother would even tease and say that she was so good that she could walk on water!!! He would always tell her he knew for sure that she was going to the celestial kingdom. We would laugh and joke but really our mother was an untouchable angel in our eyes. Now that we are older we realize while no one is perfect she is pretty amazing.  I have a severely handicapped sister that she has taken care of her whole life without complaint. There have been many times even as an adult that I have called out “I need my mommy!” and she is there in a heart beat.  She is a kind, giving, selfless woman. She exemplifies Christ in all of her actions. Even though she has made mistakes in her life, she holds fast to the Iron Rod and has never turned her back on the Lord. She is the glue that keeps our family together.  I feel lucky to have her and try not to take her for granted. (Although I am sure I did when I was younger) I am sure many of you feel this way about your mothers also.  In fact it is because of my mother that I longed to be one so much when I was young. I dreamed of the day that I would have a loving husband and become a mother to at least 3 to 5 children ..... that was the plan at least that I had in my mind.

Well brothers and sisters.... Life is what happens when you are making plans …. at least that is what my mother always says. She is a wise woman indeed because this saying would come to mean more to me then I ever thought possible.



When I met my husband in 2005. I knew he was the one I wanted to spend eternity with. I knew he was the one I wanted to have children and raise a family with. We fell in love quickly on the beaches of the North Shore in Hawaii. We spent many days at the Laie temple talking about the gospel and God's plan for his families. I went through the discussions with him and a few weeks later he was baptized. Just a few short months later we were married and started our lives together. I had no idea what was ahead of us.
A year after we were married I still hadn't gotten pregnant.  I was wondering if there was something wrong and decided to see my doctor. Well to make a long story short, over the next 5 years we would learn that we had unexplained infertility, we would lose 4 pregnancies, a failed adoption situation, and spent a ridiculous amount of money paying doctors to give us answers that they didn't have. Finally as I have mentioned before in October of 2010 I became pregnant after a procedure called IVF. And as you know we now have our amazingly beautiful daughter as a result.

My path to become a mother was not conventional. There was heart ache, disappointment and detours along the way. It was not easy for us in any way, shape, or form. But I think that the Lord knows what temperature my fire needed to be. He knows that each of us have to be forged in a certain way in order to become what he needs us to be, which is like him.
I want to tell you that if your heart is aching because you long to be a mother don't pull yourself out of the fire to soon. Although the flames may seem to be unbearable you are being strengthened beyond your knowledge and without this you cannot be an effective tool in his hands. Endure to the End and all will be made up to you. Every blessing of motherhood will be yours one day. But in the meantime hang on to these thoughts:

The first is given by Linda Longhurst in her talk “My Search for Motherhood” from April 2012 Ensign

“While some women live in homes where opportunities for motherhood abound and even overwhelm, I live a life where opportunities for motherhood must be sought. My motherhood is found in serving others. Of course I still am disappointed that I haven’t had the opportunity to raise children of my own, but Heavenly Father has not left me childless. My children are all around me, providing me with precious, though less typical, opportunities for motherhood.”


The second is from Sheri Dew in her talk “Are we not all Mothers?” from The Liahona Jan 2002

Nevertheless, the subject of motherhood is a very tender one, for it evokes some of our greatest joys and heartaches. This has been so from the beginning. Eve was “glad” after the Fall, realizing she otherwise “never should have had seed.” 9 And yet, imagine her anguish over Cain and Abel. Some mothers experience pain because of the children they have borne; others feel pain because they do not bear children here. About this Elder John A. Widtsoe was explicit: “Women who through no fault of their own cannot exercise the gift of motherhood directly, may do so vicariously.” 10
For reasons known to the Lord, some women are required to wait to have children. This delay is not easy for any righteous woman. But the Lord’s timetable for each of us does not negate our nature. Some of us, then, must simply find other ways to mother. And all around us are those who need to be loved and led.




 Indeed the blessings of Motherhood are far reaching. Whether you have struggled or not to become a mother. Wether you grew up with a mother or not. Or wether your Mother is still on this earth or at home with our father in heaven.  Women are blessed to be able to nurture lead and guide the young souls of this earth to prepare them to one day stand strong against the evils of the adversary. We are all blessed to have valiant and righteous women to lead and guide us along our paths.
It is a great task and undertaking to rear and raise children. But as it is with most things in life, usually the hardest things we do, (or the things that require the most work) are also the things that bring us the most joy.  We must be careful to not underestimate the great work in which we are engaged.

President Hinckley said this about Motherhood:
“Let every mother realize that she has no greater blessing than the children which have come to her as a gift from the Almighty; that she has no greater mission than to rear them in light and truth, in understanding and love; that she will have no greater happiness than to see them grow into young men and women who respect principles of virtue, who walk free from the stain of immorality and from the shame of delinquency.”

I feel the heavy responsibility daily that I have to rear and raise my daughter to become a woman of virtue and truth. I am a novice that is for sure. But the greatest blessing is that I am learning and growing while I teach her. It is a daunting task to be able to always have the answers and comfort she needs. But I never knew my heavenly fathers love for me until I loved her. I never understood what it meant to really truly give of myself to another.

I got to be pretty selfish for the first 30 years of my life and I have to say that serving someone else has brought me more joy than ever serving myself. I am so lucky that I have had so many mothers in my life. Obviously my own mother who raised me is my greatest example but I am have had teachers, friends, and mentors along the way that have shaped me into the person I am and have given me bits of their own testimonies. I can only hope that Kalea will have beautiful woman like the women of this ward to help her on her path.
I am not even sure that I can put into words how blessed I feel to be her mother. That my father in heaven trusts me enough to teach her the things he needs her to know. My heart has been healed by this calling and I know it has made me a better person. For that blessing I am forever grateful in The name of Jesus Christ Amen.