Uplifted and Edified

This weekend has been so great! I have really felt uplifted and edified. We had a wonderful stake conference having Elder Henry B Erying with us. I'm not sure my notes and thoughts can accurately get the message that was given and I definitely can't use the eloquent words but I'll give it a try. I want to remember as much as possible and be able to come back to it. It is longer than I intended but for journaling purposes, I wanted it here.

Sat morning I got the best hand delivered Good Mail from Jane. It was the best homemade bread I have had in a long time (it's already gone)! Thanks Jane, I almost hid it from the rest of the family. Luckily (for my waist line), I resisted!

{annoyingly dark picture of some really good soup}

I spent most of Sat thinking about, prepping for and cooking my soup. It turned out great. Except for the part about all the fat and calories in the soup. I chose to ignore that part though! You can too if you make it.

Sat night the adult meeting was great (I might say that a lot in this post). The theme for our conference was 'Challenges facing the Family' a talk by President James E Faust from the worldwide leadership training meeting in 2004. There are so many challenges facing us right now and they gave solid talks pertaining to this topic. There was a lot of talk (in both meetings) about FHE, family scripture study, family prayer, family worship, and teaching our kids how important the Savior is on our daily lives. I wrote as fast as I could so we'll see how much of it makes sense.

A counselor in our stake presidency used this quote when talking about marriage. He was saying how it can be hard but so worth it. He said many more things but here is the quote.

It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired, you quit when the gorilla is tired. ~ Robert Strauss

I had never heard this before and I love it. Really this quote could be related to issues we face daily. We get tired of trying to make life work, to lose weight and be healthy, to have a better attitude and stay positive, to be more organized, to be stronger than Satan so we quit. This list could go on and on. I am guilty of quitting before the bell rings so to speak. I don't think of myself as a quitter but I do tend to slack off until I'm not doing it at all, whatever the issue. So I want to make this quote work for what is getting me down or holding me back. Have you heard this before?

Elder Eyring was scheduled to be in Nairobi Kenya this weekend. He went to the airport to fly there and was told he would not be able to enter the country because his passport expired in less than 30 days. He admitted to being irritated with the man at the airport counter, thinking 'Well the Lord wants me in Africa so I know I can get there.' (Totally paraphrasing here, remember that.) Once he found out in no way would he be allowed to enter Africa he went home. He said he felt like he had failed the Lord, knowing he was to reach people as one of the Lord's Apostles. He told President Packer how he felt. They looked over the stakes that had not had a visiting Apostle for a long time or never. It has been 28 or so years since we have had one here on our area. He was welcomed with open arms.

This was what I was able to write down (I would get caught up in listening and forget to write. Who else does that?)

'The Lord knew the difficulties we would face. That's why He sent us a Savior.'

'The Savior didn't pay for sins generally. He paid for each of our sins, individually.'

'The Plan is not the easy way. It is the sure way.'

'The Iron Rod is the sure and safe way. Difficult choices will get us there. Home again with Heavenly Father.'

Today was just as good although I had three little people all around me and my attention was sometimes commanded elsewhere than the pulpit. (yeah I know that was a run on sentence!)

Our stake president issues a challenge for us to read the New Testament before we meet again next conference. I do love the New Testament and it has been awhile since I have read and finished it. They even handed out bookmarks to keep us on schedule. I still think I'll print one from the website Jill posted about. This is something I think I can handle (I can, right?). Maybe I should do some reading in the library each week!!

I took 7 pages of notes from Elder Eyring's talk today. How do they already not make sense, it was only a few hours ago?! I should have taken some class about shorthand and understandable note taking. Reading these back it's almost embarrassing. Maybe I should go through them more before I post little bits but since I'm having hard time right now, who knows how I'll be tomorrow! Dang it, it must have been the kids.

He talked about forgiveness and getting rid of contention. Also FHE and Visiting Teaching and Home Teaching. All of it very, very good. Here are short thoughts I hope to organize.

The New Testament is a message of Hope. (referring to our challenge)

Contention will fall away with the doctrine. It takes two for contention to continue.

We each need forgiveness. It will change your life. Do away with contention and you will go away being humble.

Hard to offend, easy to please. (Kristi has said this a few times and I LOVE it!)

Avoid situations where contention is present.

Deal with it now. We need forgiveness now.

The Savior's standard is high. He doesn't ask us to do it without His help.

Be patient. The Savior is coming. It will take awhile but be prepared for a miracle.


This post feels so random but what can I do? My memory is already failing me and at least I'm not alone with this feeling, thanks Michelle.

Are you ready to start Monday?