Some of life’s ‘most beautiful parts’ only come with ‘layers of life,’ teaches Sister Yee at BYU

As an experienced artist, Sister Kristin M. Yee — second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — knows a thing or two about building color.

“When I paint,” she told listeners during a Thursday devotional held as part of BYU Education Week, “there are certain colors that only come with layers of paint and glazes built upon each other.”

They don’t come “straight out of a tube,” she said. “They come with layers or, in other words, time and experience.”

“Symbolically, some of the most beautiful parts of our lives only come with layers of life, experience, challenges, heartache, growth and trusting our whole heart and soul to God,” she continued, adding that her own challenges have helped her come to know God in a way she wouldn