Several years ago I discovered a marvelous time-saving service: online grocery shopping. One of our local grocery stores, for a very nominal fee, will fill your shopping order and deliver it to your door. With six children, five of them always hungry boys, I have spent a lot of time at various grocery stores during my mothering years. One evening I enthusiastically described how I had placed my order that morning and by mid-afternoon there at our doorstep appeared not only that night's supper but the next two weeks' groceries as well. My youngest son looked at me quizzically and said, “Well, if you don't go grocery shopping anymore, what are you going to do with your time?”

Actually my son asked a good question that all of us need to ponder: What are we going to do with our time? The Church film Man's Search for Happiness tells us: “Life offers you two precious gifts: one is time; the other is the freedom to buy with that time what you will.”

Time is the unique gift of earthly life. Time separates eternity into timeless pre-mortal existence and timeless after-life. The challenge of our lives is to learn to use this precious gift wisely. Every day contains twenty-four hours; the same amount of time is given to every single person. CEOs of large corporations and the latest Nobel prize-winners have just the same amount of time that any of the rest of us do. Often what differentiates people is what they do with their time. Time is the medium in which we live our lives, or as Henry David Thoreau said, “Time is the stream we go fishing in.” Time is made up of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries. Because time happens all the time, we sometimes take it for granted.

This article is not about using time more efficiently or getting time better scheduled, but rather a look at the larger picture of doing something fine with your time. Elaine L. Jack, a former Relief Society general president, said: “Time is a critical issue for women today. There are sisters in the Church who spend half the day, every day, bringing water from wells to their homes. That's how they have to spend their time. They never have a day off. There are sisters who stand in line for hours to buy scant supplies of food. There are sisters who work in the fields all day to earn enough to feed their families. Time is a precious resource we have been given. I am so concerned about the pace we have set as women in this part of the Lord's vineyard. We have automatic sprinklers and taps with running water, hot and cold. We think the many labor-saving devices we have should remove all stress from our lives, but we fail to take into account that it's how we feel about what we do that is most important. It seems that the welfare of our own souls is being put at risk as we rush to live all seasons of our lives now. And on fast forward.

“How can we put our time on the shelf of the Lord's storehouse? I think we can best do this by prayerfully considering how to use our time. We can't do everything. I know; I've tried. But we can do something fine with our time. I hope you'll make sure you have moments for prayer, study and pondering daily. There may not be hours for that, but surely there are minutes. Nothing will fill your daily storehouse in a more satisfying manner.” ¹

You all know the story of Little Red Riding Hood—the young girl who embarks on a journey through the woods to visit her grandmother. Who is Little Red Riding Hood, anyway, and where is she going? Little Red Riding Hood is all of us as we journey through the woods of this life. Who is Grandmother? She's an old woman at the end of her life. Some day Little Red Riding Hood will be old like Grandmother. By then Grandmother's lifetime will be over, and she will have progressed to the other side, where we will all be going someday ourselves.

Janice Kapp Perry's song, “The Woman You'll Be Someday,” describes this journey.

Be kind to the woman waiting there,
For time passes swiftly and you must prepare;
Hold fast to the values more precious than gold,
And you'll bless the old woman who waits down the road.
She watches our day as her story unfolds,
For you see, she is you, grown old.
Only you have the power to make her whole,
Only you can decide her eternal role.
Just for now the old woman depends on you,
She waits and she watches as you make her dreams come true. ²

There is an old woman—or man—in our futures, and we are fashioning who that person is every day.

A hundred years ago the life expectancy for women was about 46 years. Because of modern medicine, good nutrition, exercise, and a life expectancy of about 75, most of us have more time on earth than did our ancestors. Future generations can look forward to even longer life expectancies.

We've been given an enormous gift of time in another way; we've been given time through modern conveniences and technology. I remember my grandmother, who was born in 1884, describing her weekly schedule as she raised her family of eight children. She didn't need an organizer to tell her what she was going to do each day; she already knew. She didn't have a lot of discretionary time to decide if she were going to go to aerobics, hang out at the mall, or drive her kids to soccer practice. She knew that every Monday was wash day. That didn't mean that she threw in a batch of wash as she passed by the laundry room as I do. She heated the water, agitated the weeks' accumulation of clothing in a tub, fed the wet mass through a wringer and then hung them on a clothesline to dry—either indoors or outdoors according to the weather. She was thrilled when she got an electric wringer washer. Tuesday was ironing day—wrinkle-free, permanent press cottons or no-fuss knits were definitely not in her family's wardrobe. Ironing and washing each took up the whole day. Two generations later, I grew up without a dishwasher in our home. Every night my two sisters and I took turns washing dishes by hand and then drying them with a dishtowel. Compared to the way my children did dishes by loading a dishwasher, doing the dishes took a lot more time.

Now in the twenty-first century, breadmakers, microwaves, cell phones, and computers abound in nearly every home. My favorite kitchen appliance is my food processor; I slice cucumbers, chop onions, and shred cheese in just seconds. All these labor-saving, efficient devices have given us a gift of time that previous generations could hardly have imagined. I have often thought that the Lord, as well as our ancestors, are wondering, what we are doing with so much time? I believe we are going to be accountable for what we have done with this abundant gift, much like those in the parable of the talents (See Matthew 25: 14-30.). The Lord has told us, “Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known.” (D&C 60:13.)

Have we been born at this time in history to fritter it away, to be bored with it, or to use it to make only ourselves comfortable and happy? But how do we use time wisely?

Use Time to Develop Good Relationships

No matter what season of life you are in and no matter how busy your time is, you always need to have time for people. We need time for family, friends, neighbors, ward members. As a free-lance writer, I work with a number of different editors. One editor thought she was such an important person that she didn't have time for regular people like me. Whenever I tried to call, her secretary told me that she didn't have time to talk to me. Another editor I worked with is, I think, a busy and important person. Yet he is very gracious when I talk to him and makes me feel that he is interested in not only my work, but also in me. I delivered a manuscript to him while two of my children were with me. This editor invited us into his office, visited with us, and was genuinely interested in Tom's mission to Hungary and in Stephanie's life in Boston .

Another reason to make time for people is that you can't put relationships on hold while goals are accomplished. There's been more than one father who was so eager to get established in his career or to make tons of money that his kids grew up without him, then realized too late that he'd missed out on those precious, irretrievable childhood years. Time once spent can never be recaptured, and good relationships take time. The LDS Homefront radio and TV spots tell the public, “Give them your love; give them your time.”

Use Time to Give Comfort

When our family attended our nineteen-year-old nephew's funeral in another state, we witnessed again the miracle of Relief Society as food, helping hands, and most of all, loving arms encompassed the grieving family. A sister in my home stake remarked that as much as she needed and appreciated the loving kindness extended to her family when they lost a child, she found that the continual thoughtfulness and caring acts of her visiting teachers meant more. She said: “I really feel more touched by the love shown not in the crises when we were all stretched to meet the need, but during the small unapparent crises that touch each of our lives and are so often only noticed by those who really know and love us.” ³

An American Latter-day Saint sister and her family lived in Africa, where her husband's company had sent them. They were totally isolated from the Church and from most of the things that were familiar. The woman worked hard to adapt and to make the most of this adventure, but as Christmas drew near, she found herself longing for home and became increasingly sad. The family traveled some distance to attend a Christmas Day service in a nondenominational church. As the small choir, a mix of Africans, Americans, and British, sang traditional Christmas carols, the woman's homesickness completely overcame her, and she began to weep. Just as she was about to get up and leave, the choir director turned to her and said, “Please, wait. We have one more song.” The choir began to sing “Come, Come Ye Saints.” As they sang all four verses from memory, the woman's tears turned to tears of joy. Love and peace filled her heart. She later learned that several Mennonite women, knowing of her homesickness, had written to Salt Lake City asking for music for their Latter-day Saint friend. They took time to practice and memorize this hymn as their gift of comfort and love. ⁴

Use Time to Give Service

We need to make time to serve, both by calling and by our own initiative. Albert Schweitzer said: “I do not know what your destiny will be but this I do know: The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who will have sought and found a way to serve.” Michaelene P. Grassli, served on the general board, as a counselor in the presidency, and then as president of the Primary for twenty years. An artist, singer, decorator, seamstress, and writer, she said she had several lives on hold for those twenty years and after she was released as Primary president, she said she could hardly decide what to do first as she was so excited with the prospects of all this now-available time. However, she said, “It is always easy to find time for the fun stuff in life. But there is much good work to be done in the kingdom.” ⁵ I heard Ardeth Kapp say several times as she served as the Young Women's general president: “I give my life to you because I give my time to you, and time is life.”

Age doesn't excuse service. Ruth May Fox was called as Young Women general president at age 75; and Emmeline B. Wells as the general Relief Society president at age 82 and served until she was 93 years old.

Nor does busy-ness preclude giving service. Kathleen McGuire is an example of one who serves when it is perhaps not the most convenient. While Kathleen served as ward Relief Society president, I, as one of her counselors, got a close view of her service. At that time, Kathleen was teaching middle school and had been given an enormous extra responsibility of writing the new program for the 7 th grade core for the state. She was also taking care of her ailing mother, besides being a wife and mother. Yet Kathleen was very organized and an extremely loving Relief Society president who blessed us all.

Many opportunities for service await in the community, and Church leaders have urged us to become more involved in public service. A group of quilters make quilts for a hospital where new mothers often have nothing in which to wrap their babies. This same group of women holds a quilt show to raise money for a local homeless shelter.

Use Time to Continue Learning

Modern-day scriptures tells us: “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” (D&C 88:188.) Formal learning for most of us comes to a closure due to graduation, family responsibilities, and the need to educate the next generation. But learning never has to end. Colleges or community education programs offer myriad classes—and the best part is that you can take just what you want. I have a friend who has always been artistic. After her children started school, she enrolled in painting, floral arranging, and interior design courses at a nearby community college. My home, for one, reflects her skills. Educational opportunities abound in less formal settings such as Relief Society Enrichment classes, books, magazines, DVDs, and through others' expertise. My husband hired a tutor to improve his German. I challenged myself to read the Book of Mormon in Italian, French, and Portuguese. Book clubs provide great discussions of good literature. Listening to audio books provides learning while driving or exercising. The Internet opens a whole new avenue of learning.

Use Time to Grow Spiritually

The Lord has told us, “Behold, I say unto you that you shall let your time be devoted to the studying of the scriptures.” (D&C 26:1.) Probably nothing will help us more to grow spiritually, no matter what stage of life we are in, than reading the scriptures. We need to use our time to study the scriptures so that we will have the Spirit of the Lord with us, to guide us and direct us on a daily basis. Chieko Okazaki, a former counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, said: “Each one of us needs a firsthand relationship with the Savior—a primary relationship, not a secondary one. The testimonies that others have of Jesus are powerful and strengthening, but if we rely on them instead of developing our own relationship, we will be spiritually weak. The manuals and the Ensign and other commentaries and sermons and essays are meaningful and perceptive; but if we read only them and don't study the scriptures for ourselves, we will have only a secondhand relationship with the scriptures. The prayers of others can be uplifting and spiritual, but if we don't pray our own prayers, we will be distant from the Savior.” ⁶

Temple attendance helps us grow spiritually—and it does take time. While visiting my cousin in southern California, I attended their region conference at the Anaheim Pond, a sports arena where the Mighty Ducks play. Elder Neal A. Maxwell spoke and so did the Los Angeles Temple president. My cousin and her husband, who are temple workers, commented beforehand that on their shift sessions are too often canceled because no one comes. The temple president chastened the congregation, saying that people use the congested freeways as an excuse not to come to the temple. But, he said, (and this was Superbowl Sunday) that people come to sports events all the time, regardless of traffic.

May each do something fine with our time—during this New Year. May we realize the great gift and blessing of time and apportion it wisely during each season of life. May we use this time to develop loving relationships with others, to give comfort and service, to learn, and to grow spiritually.

1 Elaine L. Jack, Open House Address, March 1995.

2 Janice Kapp Perry and Joy Saunders Lundberg, “When It's Love ( Provo , Utah : Prime

Recordings, 1991), 40.

3.”In Need of His Love,” Salt Lake Brighton Stake Ward Conferences, 1988, 8.

4. Emma Lou Thayne, Christmas Devotional, Salt Lake Brighton Stake, 1986.

5 Interview with Michaelene P. Grassli, May 25, 1993.

6 Chieko Okazaki, “Following Him,” Aloha (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1995), 83.