Spring and General Conference

Ahhh, today was a great day. We had a delicious breakfast of breakfast cake, sausages, cantaloupe, and o.j. And then I took a bath and shaved my legs for the first time in MONTHS. And then General Conference started. It was so refreshing and comforting to hear from the leaders of our church. Optimism, hope, peace, motivation, and get to work are feelings that I felt while watching and listening. Phrases and ideas are buzzing around my head. We had lunch and then in between sessions we always go for a walk in the neighborhood. It was a pretty nice day, a little bit overcast, and a litte bit breezy, but after the past few months it felt great to walk outside with only a light jacket on.

What I remember:

-President Uchtdorf making a joke about someone texting that he hadn't made a reference to aviation yet in his talk. And I was laughing because I had been waiting for a story involving airplanes! He also said that some people would rather cross the plains with a hand cart than talk about the gospel with friends, neighbors, and co-workers. He said to text and blog your testimony. He has such a happy countenance, and endearing sense of humor.


-President Monson talking about temples. He told a story about a family who made some big sacrifices to get to the temple- the father and son worked for 4 years away from the family in a mine to be able to save enough money to go. And after that the father went back and worked another 2 years to be able to send the daugher, her husband, and child that didn't make it the first time. He also said that 80% of the members of the church live within 2 hours of a temple. We are lucky enough to live about 45 minutes away from the St. Paul temple. We need to go soon, we haven't been since October or November. He talked about the sacrifice that the early saints made to build the Kirtland temple, Nauvoo temple, and Salt Lake Temple.


Dialogue between me and my love: Me: Did you know that Brandi Lake's brother married his (C. Scott Grow's) daughter?
Curtis: Did you know that I trained Lynne G. Robbins son in Recife? Curtis: Did you know that I know his (President Eyring) son?
Me: Yes, I have heard that before. (insert automated voice- they make everything funny!)
Start memories of General Authority sightings in my brain: Elder Richard G. Scott outside Cafe Rio in Provo. Walking alone down a long, empty hallway at a schmancy hotel in SLC, 9 months pregnant with Eli, looking desperately for a bathroom. Enter Neal Maxwell at the other end of the hallway. He gave me a very friendly nod and smile as we passed each other. 7 year later and I still don't know what to say...Seeing Bishop Burton speak at the Marriott school last fall. Curtis spoke right before him but I was late so I missed it. But got to see Bishop Burton and also sat next to Gary Crittenden and offered him a piece of gum from the sweetest lady sitting on the other side of me I think her name was Leola.

Curtis: Wikipedia says.... (He looked up a bunch of GA's) Me: Bishop Burton speaks every conference!

- Lynne G. Robbins talk on parenting was full of treasures. Kids identity should not be their actions. Praise attributes (honesty, responsibility) rather than outcomes (like a good grade on a test). Talk about traits at dinnertime: How were you honest, kind, loyal, etc. today.

- Elder Holland's talk was a gold mine. He talked about how at General Conference the leaders know that not everybody is going to related to every talk, but they are under a sacred charge to warn and address everybody, in many varied circumstances. I think what I got out of is talk was that nobody who is an apostle has had an easy road. That choosing to live the gospel continually gets more challenging as you go along. Having Elder Holland acknowledge that is encouraging. On the outside it may seem as though life is very easy for some people. But that is not usually the case. Usually those people have moved through tough times and have dealt with it with a smile on their face. That is hard to do.It is easy to whine, at least for me! Ended the day with brownies and ice cream and hot fudge sauce. I am going to cozy down with my white blankie and a prayer of thanks. Goodnight.

jonah-isms

"It's as cold as camping in here!" In Janie's room after the window was open all night

"It would taste like donuts and cupcakes put together." When I asked him what the pancake-thingies in the Best Two Years might taste like

March 31

A few funny things about today:

Janie put cottage cheese in a baggie to take in the car on the way to karate. And she didn't even spill any on the floor. Baby genius I tell ya.

Jonah has worn the same pair of jeans for 23 days in a row (he licked some stains off a few days ago). Today he left them at Spencer Lee's house. I am at the point with it where he can wear them everyday- I don't care- if it means that he won't come into my room in the morning and ask me where they are. Which I can guarantee is going to happen tomorrow at 7:14 a.m.

Eli is going to pown you. Do you know what that means? Well ask him sometime. He might tell you that you are annoying and wasting his time too- at least that's what he told me a few times today.

Sadie laughed out loud a bunch of times today, it was so cute.

Ethan is an expert at walking by Jonah and smacking him really fast, so fast you may wonder if it really happened- pretty sure it happened about 25 times today.