Worldwide Leadership Training

I'm not sure how it is that I've never attended one of these before, but I think this was my first one.  And let me just start by saying that last night at 10pm when I was still driving people around and trying to keep up with my list of things to do, the LAST thing I wanted to do was get up for a 7am meeting on a Saturday!  But I'm always happily surprised and even shocked sometimes at the things I learn when I make myself do the things I'm supposed to do.  Today was another one of those days.

I LOVE listening to General Conference.  I LOVE the calming influence that the words of the Prophet and the Apostles have on me.  In part of Elder Nelson's talk on families, he said that when we go to the Temple, we leave all the concerns and problems of our lives outside.  We leave the world outside the doors of the Temple and enjoy the solitude and peace within its walls for a few hours.  All that stuff is waiting outside the doors when we come out, but the difference is our perspective.  I loved that.  And I totally felt it yesterday when I went to the Temple.  I had a million things to do, but I left the whole list outside the doors of the Temple from 9:30 until 12:00.  When I came out, they were all still there.  In fact, I don't think I breathed or sat down from 12:00 until 10:30 last night.  But my perspective was different.  It was more enjoyable.  I loved the people around me more.  And I didn't complain as much. 

A million other things about today's meeting stood out for me and clarified the mysteries swimming around in my head.  But the thing I loved the most was Elder Uchtdorf's talk at the end of the meeting.  He said that we as humans tend to complicate things in our lives.  (Hmmm...I thought I was the only one.)   He talked about families and service and the WHY of the gospel.  And that totally reminded me of my sweet friend, Amy, who bore her testimony last weekend at church.  She said that she had been talking to her daughter about some challenges she was having at school, and they couldn't really come to a conclusion about what to do.  She was upset and it was one of those complicated things in her head.  And so Amy said, "Finally when we couldn't figure out an answer, I told her that the most important things are the Savior, the gospel, and family.  Those are the things that matter.  Everything else is a distraction."  That's exactly what I heard in Elder Uchtdorf's talk today.  

It turns out that there is truth everywhere.  We just need to listen for it.  Not just from the leaders of the Church, but from people who live their lives in a way that they are able to feel and act on the Spirit and then share it with others.  I'm so glad to be surrounded by people like that on a daily basis.  And I'm so glad I was where I was supposed to be today.