Elizabeth Smart Speaks

Yesterday Debbie Simpson, Spring Mountain Stake Relief Society President, called and invited Julie and me to a special meeting where Elizabeth Smart would be the keynote speaker.  Debbie graciously gave us some extra tickets so we could attend the meeting which was held this morning at the stake center.  Elizabeth gave an hour-long talk describing some of the things that happened to her.  She was poised and eloquent in her presentation.  Elizabeth is a beautiful woman who has overcome great trials to be where she is today.  Since her ordeal of being kidnapped she has gone on a mission and been married.  She is a true inspiration of someone who has great faith.  She talked about how she felt her grandpa had been her guardian angel through her ordeal and how she was able to forgive her abductors.  She was humorous in the right spots and tender in other spots.  It makes me feel like I should count my many blessings and name them one by one.  God is really mindful of each of us and He will help us as we live our lives here on this earth if we permit Him to do so.  I am grateful to Debbie for giving the tickets to us so we could attend this special meeting.  It was truly inspirational.

Here's a short article that I got off the Internet about Elizabeth Smart when she was finally rescued in Sandy, Utah.

"The Desert News reports that Smart was kidnapped in 2002 when she was just 14. She was held for nine months by Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee. Smart’s testimony in 2010 helped convict Mitchell of kidnapping and rape. Mitchell is currently serving a life sentence. Barzee received a 15-year sentence for her role in Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping.  Since her escape, Smart has worked as a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France and has formed the Elizabeth Smart Foundation to advocate on the behalf of children.  Smart writes on her foundation’s home page:

“Too many families experience the nightmare of having a child go missing. I know what it is like to be that child. I know what it is like to think that one false move may lead to not only your own death but the death of family members as well.  Every child in the world deserves to have a life without abuse in any form.”