Conference Weekend

Twice a year, on the first weekend in April and the first weekend in October, the general leadership of the Church convenes for a worldwide broadcast from Salt Lake City.  Several thousand people attend in person, and hundreds of thousands more listen via TV, internet, or satellite broadcast.    

Oh, how I LOVE Conference Weekend!   For us, this weekend means: family, jammies, amazing food, and the opportunity to listen to 8+ hours of inspired guidance from church leaders and beautiful music.  I look forward to this weekend every 6 months.  

This time, I was so involved in the food and the conference itself, that I didn't take a single picture or write down a single note.  I was too busy trying not to miss anything.  

Since there were no baseball games, scout camp outs or photography classes today, we slept in.  At 10:30am we had french toast and strawberries for breakfast (well, THEY had that.  I had whole wheat toast with almond butter.)  And promptly at 11:00am, we turned on the BYU channel to hear the voice of the Prophet right in our own living room.  

I was completely overwhelmed today thinking about the enormous blessing that technology is in our lives.  We don't have to walk several miles and pitch our tents at the foot of a giant tower and hope to be able to hear the words of the prophet.  We don't even have to get dressed in Sunday clothes and travel to the nearest church building for a satellite broadcast.  We can just roll out of bed (or not) and turn on the TV or the internet to hear the words as they are being spoken.  We are so abundantly blessed by the convenience of modern day life.  

And did you notice that we witnessed a little piece of history being made right there in Conference??  The first woman EVER to say a prayer in General Conference.  That is such an exciting thing.  I've read the articles and seen the petitions from women who want to wear pants to church, pray in Conference, and hold the priesthood.  My heart has ached for those women who don't feel like they have equality or a voice in the Church.  I'm so grateful that we have a kind, compassionate, understanding leadership to consider changing traditions and doing something different, but also to remain firm and immovable on the standards of the gospel. 

I am grateful for older kids who are now able to sit attentively and with interest for all four sessions of Conference.  And I'm grateful that our lives aren't so busy that we can't make time to do this twice a year.   I absolutely loved Conference today and I'm so looking forward to another whole day of it tomorrow.