Conference

What a wonderful weekend! I love General Conference, and have been so grateful since I got my job that I am able to attend some of the sessions. It is just such a blessing to be in the presence of all the Brethren, and to get to feel of their goodness. I always feel such a gratitude at Conference time for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and for His servants who so faithfully teach and testify of Him. Their messages are filled with counsel to help us get through the hard times of life, but also always so much hope and comfort.

This year for the Saturday morning session I took my nephew Ethan, who is turning 8 years old in a couple of weeks. It was so fun to be there with him. He slept over the night before (and had a migraine, poor thing. But thankfully he was well by the next morning). We went up early to get a good seat, and he was such a good sport. Janice was working as a nurse for the Saturday morning session, so we got to park under the Conference Center, which was so nice, since it was snowing Saturday morning.

As Ethan and I sat and waited for Conference to start, we did a little Conference packet a friend sent to me with word searches and pictures of the Twelve and First Presidency. It was fun as they started walking in, because I could point them out to him, and he would find their picture and make a note of what color tie they were wearing. In case you're wondering, it seems that red is the favorite color for the Brethren. They were all wearing red except for a few of them. Ethan took his paper home, but I think it was President Uchtdorf and Elder Bednar that were wearing blue ties, and President Packer was wearing a black tie. So now you know.

One really neat thing--while we were sitting there waiting, President Dahlquist of the Young Men (who was released later in Conference) came up and talked to Ethan. He had him stand up so he could see how tall he was, and shook his hand. Then when we told him Ethan was being baptized soon, he was very excited for him, and said, "That means that soon you will get the Aaronic Priesthood and then get to go on a mission." It was really neat to have him pay such kind attention to Ethan.

Ethan was so reverent during the session--even though after the second talk he asked me if it was almost over. Thankfully I remembered that we had a conference bingo sheet in our conference packet, with a bunch of topics for him to mark off. He loved listening for the topics. Then after Conference was over, we watched together as the First Presidency and the Twelve walked by with their wives, right in front of us, and he got to smile at them. It was just such a neat experience to be there with my precious nephew. Also, since Janice was working as a nurse, she got two tickets as well, so Seth and Karla got to come too. Here are some pictures:

Ethan and I before Conference started

Ethan, waiting patiently for Conference to start.

Here is a note Ethan wrote to me while we were waiting. It says, "Dear Jenny. I love you so much. This is [the best] sleepover ever! Love, Ethan. XOXOXOXOX." Isn't that sweet!?

I love the Conference Center!

Here's Ethan with Seth and Karla after conference. I'm so glad they were able to come.

And here he is with Jan and I after Conference. Notice her official nurses badge...

On Sunday afternoon I was lucky to be able to get a couple of extra tickets, so I took Jan, Ems, and my Dad. It was fun to have four of us there, although we wanted to have Chelle with us, but she got sick. But I loved getting to spend time with Dad, and to have Ems and Jan with me. The three of us all love watching for the Brethren and seeing how sweet they are with their wives and each other. The picture above shows how close our seats were. I loved being able to see the expressions on the faces of the brethren, and to watch their wives, who were sitting right across from us.

Here's a picture of us after conference with one of the ushers. We met Gwynne way back in 2001 on a Church History tour, and she has been a great friend ever since.

And finally, here we are walking back to the parking terrace after Conference. Dad didn't want to be in the picture, but he took one of us.

I'm just so grateful for the opportunity to be able to attend Conference, to feel the spirit so strongly, and especially for the love and goodness of the Brethren. With the world getting increasingly darker and more evil, I am so grateful for the light of the gospel that shines to show us the way to go. I know that if we follow the Brethren closely we will find safety and peace in this life, and eternal life in the world to come.