I love hearing President Hinkley’s voice. He was my “prophet” growing up as a teenager and his voice is so calming for me. I love the way his lower lip would tremble when he spoke about his sweet Marjorie who had passed.  This week we heard his message he gave to the Young Women in 1996—Stand True and Faithful. I remember thinking as I originally listened to this message that my parents just didn’t understand the temptations we had to deal with. I remember President Hinkley saying, “Your problems are not new, but they are intensified.” His message about happiness being found in being honest and true was a great reminder and memory.

The 7 Habits was also a great review. I remember reading the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens with my teenagers. I was always proud to say that Stephen Covey is a member of the church.  It’s nice to go over a detailed review of the habits instead of reading the entire book. Be productive. We know that energy and movement are important to getting things done. We need to decide how we will react and take control ahead of time. 

Begin with the End in Mind—we should be able to see who we want to end up as and have that goal from the beginning.

The third habit, Put First Things First is organizing your time so that you spend your time on the most important things in your life. Too many of us spend lots of time on things that don’t matter in the end. Another favorite habit of mine is “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Oh, how our country could use more citizens and government officials that have this desire.

Synergize is the last habit I’m going to mention today. It’s a term I was not familiar with; but in the age of mental health and well-being, the teens throw this word around quite often. It’s the habit of creating opportunities when a group comes together to be a larger force. We had another great week of reminders of items I’ve already studied but had forgotten. Many of these truths fit right alongside the book we finished, Mastery by George Leonard.