Thursday, September 23, 2010

Incredible Woman #50 - Kathi Thompson. Speaking, and Travel...

KARA: "You and your husband are motivational speakers – you’ve spoken to over 20,000 young people and their families! What are the messages you give them?"

KATHI: "My husband and I are now motivational speakers. We have spoken to over 20,000 young people and their families in our community and in the LDS church in the past seven years. We also had the opportunity to speak to the Youth in the Layton Stake about a year and a half ago. Our message is one of living a life of character, (or living a Christ like life for the youth of the church), the importance of expressing love in our families, and learning the lessons from adversity. We feel we are on the Lord’s errand and are hopeful that we can help others who are wounded by difficult life experiences and that we can help others learn how they can help those who have heavy burdens.

For the past seven years we have given out a Memorial Scholarship to outstanding students whose lives demonstrate character, excellence in academics and athletics, and who live the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have established The Trent Thompson Memorial Foundation at
trentbthompson.com and donate our time to speak at many different events in our community.

We are willing to stand as witnesses that the Lord loves each of us and that He knows our name and answers our humble prayers. We know that healing comes through the Savior and His Atonement. We now know that no matter what happens in our lives that the Savior will stand by us and help us carry the heavy burdens we are called upon to bear. He understands our pain, grief, and sorrows. We know this to be true because he has carried us through this past seven years when we at times did not have the strength to take one more step forward.

We are grateful to know that the Savior is there to love us and to walk with us. We can understand now the statement made by some of the handcart pioneers when describing the difficult journey of pain, sorrow, grief, and death when they said it was the price they paid to become better acquainted with God. They were willing to pay that price and so must all of us."



KARA: "If you were given the opportunity to travel anywhere in the world, where would you choose? Why? What would be on your itinerary?"

KATHI: "I have had many opportunities to travel. Shortly after graduation, my family spent three weeks in Europe. Curtis and I have had the opportunity to travel to Japan, Hawaii, and to the Caribbean. It was good to see the beauty in so many wonderful places but what I always found interesting that no matter where we went it was always wonderful to come home. I have given much thought to that and I wonder if that isn’t something to do with our own spiritual yearning to return to our Heavenly Home someday.

After pondering this question, I have thought that if I could go anywhere it would be to travel back in time and thank every person who influenced my life for good. That desire would be my itinerary. I have realized how important it is to share your love and gratitude for our friends and loved ones before it is too late."

Tomorrow is our last day with Kathi. I hope you'll come back.

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, Kathi. I've read through all of your story thus far, and my heart goes out to you. God bless you for your faithfulness and willingness to share your experiences with others.

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