I guess if I were to describe self-reliance in one way, it'd be to model ourself after the Savior Jesus Christ, who was the perfect example of self-reliance. The most exciting part about the self-reliance initiative is the changes in the lives of the people who've been participating. I'm changing. I think I'm changing. That's the way that I see. I'm not the same person like I was before. It helps them find who they are and find their true potential. It gives them the tools to become better, to become how Heavenly Father sees them.

What is interesting is how much they've learned about the power of self-reliance as a spiritual principle, not as a temporal principle. One of the things that I discovered is that everything is spiritual--that even taking care of our finances, it has a spiritual purpose. Everything around us has a spiritual meaning, from our jobs, from our education, from our life, our family. So the Lord really cares about our spiritual and temporal life here. Because as they've learned these principles, it's triggered something and a personal conversion in their life. I thought when I started this that my spiritual being and spiritual health and all those things were separate from work. And I realize now that you need that foundation to make work work, to make it work. I feel today that if I have a really good spiritual life, I can have a really good life.

Spiritual foundation comes first--the faith that comes, the hope that comes--and then the ability to climb is elevated. Our finances are a lot better. We are saving. I'm not anxious. I'm not on edge. I am more peaceful. And I am a happier mom. They've made the gospel a far more important part of their daily activities. Their prayers, their scripture study, the things that they're doing in their homes, their family home evenings--all of those are improving as a result of self-reliance as the umbrella under which they're becoming more Christlike. I used to pray like I was leaving a voicemail. Like, that's how I used to pray. And now I don't do that anymore. I pray specifically now, and I talk with God instead of at Him. I've never heard of anything that happens in that short amount of time that improves that greatly. Because it changes lives. And if it changes their lives to the point of where it builds their testimony, that's all you can ask for. I feel much closer to God. We've been called to this work. And it's a holistic approach where we're talking about temporal and spiritual matters and all of it coming together. And it builds a foundation that nothing else has ever been able to do like this. It will, in fact, change your ward, your stake, and the Church. I know it will work.