Spiritual Sunday: General Conference

This weekend was the 182 Semiannual General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Here's some of my favorite parts from today (not direct quotes, just kind of highlights and my thoughts).

Boyd K Packer

• We all make mistakes, what is important is fixing our mistakes and repenting of them.
• Our message [as members of the church] is one of Faith, Hope, and Jesus as our Savior.

Jeffrey R Holland

• I always forget how little knowledge Jesus's disciples had upon his death. Elder Holland reminded me of how limited their knowledge was in the gospel, especially as we understand it today. 
• Elder Holland told the story of the disciples after Christ's death and their return to fishing. It was a similar experience to when Christ first called them to serve. Once the disciples realized Christ was resurrected, they were once again called to serve him. 
• Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me?" three times, reminding him of experiences just days before. "Then feed my sheep!"
• Will God ask us the same question upon our meeting? 
• Love equals loyalty; if we love God, we are loyal to Him. 
• Christ's death was the beginning of Christianity, not the end. 
• The call is to come and stay true. The Lord expects our love at every stage of our lives. 
• Am I feeding His sheep? 

President Thomas S Monson

• Don't dwell on the negative, take a step back and find the positive.
• "Men are that they might have joy"
• Never postpone a prompting! 
• Allow yourself to be an instrument in the Lord's hands
• The opportunity to be a blessing in the life of another often comes unexpectedly.

Robert D Hales

• What does it mean to be a Christian? 
• Elder Hales retold the story of the disciples, but as an example to quickly return to the Lord after leaving him and receive his blessings. 
• Feed His sheep! 
• "The Savior will make us adequate to his work"
• "Through His love and grace we can become more Christian Christians"
• Am I a good Christian? 

If you watched conference, what was your favorite part? What did you learn? 

.: Busy, Busy, Busy! :.

This weekend went up north to visit. Cass really wanted to go to the mission reunion so he could see a companion coming in from California. We left Cedar Friday afternoon, after I got home from school, and took another mission buddy up with us. My parents took us to Tucanos for dinner that night-- delicious!!!

We headed up to the reunion and Cass got to see some of his old old mission buddies, so that was good for him. We spent that night at my parents' house.I had to wake up Jordyn when we got there cuz I missed her :)

In the morning we watched conference with my family, then headed up to Orem to see baby Aminoa, our newest cousin. She's Bou and Vania's baby. She's only a few days old and is so tiny and precious! She was about five pounds at birth (same as Jordyn) so I thought I was prepared for how small she would be. I was wrong! I had forgotten how small five pounds really is! But She was just gorgeous. I just love her! 

That afternoon we went up Grandma and Grandpa McCoy's.  We watched the rest of conference and then all the menfolk went out to eat before priesthood while the women and children had our own party. We had Cafe Rio and made "hair pretties" and bracelets. And, of course, I ran around with and played with the little kids, especially Pyper! They were great though; I had fun!

We spent that night at Chris's house and watched the Sunday morning session with Chris and Pyper. We then began the trek southward; first stopping at Forbes to see his new baby, Oliver. He's about two weeks old, so he was about twice as big as Aminoa! And he was such a little cuddler! 

Afterwards we stopped to visit Morrell, who had just spent the weekend on the farm, and then back to my mom's house for Sunday dinner. My cousin Whitney and come down from Rexburg, so it was nice to see her in addition to the rest of the crew. 

Johnson Family Photo!

We made it back down to Cedar last night (and I finally had a good night sleep!) but we had a great weekend! It was great to see everyone!