Patience Practice Periods

My neighbor invited me and Andrew to join her weekly "Virtues" class. The class is organized by several moms with kids ages 1-4. We've been going to it for the past few weeks and have had some fun... and some frustration (some discussions are over his head). The virtue we have been focusing on this month is Patience. This is the perfect virtue to work on when you have a toddler.

Today for our art project we made patience bead necklaces. The kids are supposed to wear them to remind them to be patient... I think maybe I should wear the necklace instead?

The coolest part of the class is that it is comprised of moms from all over the world and that practice different religions but all believe in God. As the kids eat snacks, the moms have a discussion each week about a particular topic. Sometimes the discussion is more like yelling over screaming crazy kids... Today we each shared different inspirational thoughts about families and patience.
I shared this quote by Elder John H. Groberg:

"All of us, single or married, are eternally part of some family—someway, somewhere, somehow—and much of our joy in life comes as we correctly recognize and properly develop those family relationships. We come to this earth charged with a mission: to learn to love and serve one another. To best help us accomplish this, God has placed us in families, for he knows that is where we can best learn to overcome selfishness and pride and to sacrifice for others and to make happiness and helpfulness and humility and love the very essence of our character."

I told the moms that I try and pick a set period of time each day to make a patience practice period... since I'm not patient enough to try all day long. I try and really focus on being extra patient during that time period... and over time it gets easier to be patient for longer periods of time.

It was so inspirational to sit around with these women who are all striving to be better and who all have such beautiful testimonies of God and his goodness... even if their beliefs are different than mine.


I am constantly working on this virtue. I feel like I was much more patient a few years ago when I was teaching the little people. I definitely have my work cut out for me. Hopefully my patience beads can help a little. :)