General Conference Weekend

This past weekend was General Conference ~ one of my favorite times of the year. Such great talks. I listened to President Uchtdorf's message from the Women's broadcast twice today as I folded laundry. The other talks should be up on the Gospel app soon  - I'm ready to follow his counsel and discover my best self, my real self (put selfish desires and unworthy ambitions on the altar of sacrifice and service (see the end of his talk)) Yeah, just tons of counsel, ready to get to work again. I was left edified and inspired to do more and become better. The kids did a great job listening too. We started off with four kids, then five...

My "conference with kids" prep was to buy a bag of chocolate candies at Costco. I passed out MnMs to each of the kids for each talk they listened to. The kids didn't know there was a chocolate reward at first, but soon word got around and we at the end we had 9 kids trying to listen. Ethan and Mel were taking notes.

Good job little people. I didn't take notes cause I was rubbing backs and had a lap full of toddlers. Instead of asking "What would Jesus Do" I'm going to try to ask "How would Jesus ____" such as "How would Jesus listen to conference with children?" I hope asking myself "how" might help me better follow Him. I was able to listen though, listened to all 8 hours and loved it.

Natalie kept herself busy playing with sports cones on my toes as I rubbed backs. Sweet.

One of the themes running through a lot of the talks was the importance of a living prophet. I know it's true. I love President Monson. My life has been blessed as I've received and followed his counsel. I think one of the first talks of his that really spoke to me and was an answer to the desires and concerns of my heart was in 2003 as I was just starting our family and was a busy mother of 3 and expecting our 4th child Hyrum. His counsel in that talk "In Search of Treasure" was to "Learn from the Past, look to the future, Live in the present!" I love the story of Benjamin Landart. I tried to put the Lord first in my life when I left on a mission, even though I knew Corey was about to come home from his... not only was I surely not going to see him for another 18 months, but there was the chance that he would marry someone else while I was gone. I tried to put the Lord first. Thankfully, he answered my prayers and Corey was waiting for me when I returned. But I was willing to give him up for the God who I loved even more. "He has never forgotten me for it." That is still an inspiring message that touches me. Prophetic too - here we are 11 years later and the counsel still just as relevant to my life today as it was then. Another talk by President Monson that I absolutely love is from October 2008 - "Finding Joy in the Journey". Amen and amen. I am so grateful for modern prophets. I know they are true servants of Christ. Corey and I watched this video about President Monson last night. I will do well in life if I strive to follow Christ the way he has. I'm grateful for his example of how to do it. I will follow Christ.