General Conference weekend

General Conference is a semi-annual meeting of the leaders of our church. The Prophet, his counselors and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles give inspired counsel, along with many other leaders. We are able to watch it on our TV, but it is also available on the internet. I love General Conference weekends, and this one was especially wonderful because we had no other activities planned on Saturday. We spent the whole weekend relaxing, watching Conference on TV and eating A LOT of food. I always make Apple Crisp on Conference weekend in the fall.
During the two-hour break of Conference on Saturday, we did some service for an older couple in our ward, Brother and Sister Bumstead. They have a very beautiful yard, but aren't able to keep up with it anymore. Ryan had the great idea to take our kids over there to pull weeds. Logan had fun chasing the dogs! In this picture he's saying, "Come on, Ruff Ruff. This way."

The sweet Bumsteads wouldn't allow us to serve them without filling us up with veggies from their garden and ordering Pizza Hut. I tried to convince them that my kids need to learn to serve with no reward expected, but they are just too sweet!

Just in case we are looking like an ideal family right now, I'll share a story. After we all got ready to head over to the Bumstead's house, Lindsey decided she wanted to change her shoes. While she went up to her room for different shoes, the rest of us all got in the van AND DROVE OFF. When we were almost to the Bumstead's house, I realized that it was unusually quiet in the van, and turned around to see if everyone was alright. That's when I realized we had left Lindsey at home. Our child who has always been terrified of having us leave her. The same child I forgot to pick up from school last week. We quickly drove home and expected to see her hysterically screaming in the road. Apparently we missed the hysteria, but the neighbors didn't. The neighbors that already think we're wacky because we're Mormons and have (what they consider to be) a bagillion children. This is just great. Now I've added some awesome proof to their suspicions. I can just hear the whispers now. Anyway, the elderly woman who lives next door heard Lindsey screaming that her family had left her, so she brought Lindsey into her house and tried to console her. When we pulled up in the driveway, Lindsey ran out of the house next door and right into my arms. I pretty much held her the rest of the day and kept telling her how sorry I was, and that we would never leave her on purpose.

On Sunday, we had the Simmons over to watch Conference and eat good grub. It was the perfect ending (besides abandoning our daughter) to the weekend. If you don't have the chance to watch General Conference, I highly recommend this talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, which is my favorite talk from the Conference last spring. Elder Holland is one of my favorite speakers, along with Elders Bednar and Uchtdorf. The talk I would recommend from this weekend's Conference is this one, also by Elder Holland. Click on the link, then click on "Sunday afternoon session" and you'll see where to watch the video. I have never heard such a powerful talk about the Book of Mormon. I felt the Spirit so strongly while watching the talk, and I'm not sure how anyone could listen to Elder Holland's talk and deny the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Reading that book brings me more peace than I could ever get anywhere else.

I feel so uplifted and ready to tackle the demands of life. I am so grateful for divinely inspired leaders. They always know exactly what I need to hear.