general conference : october 2014

happiness is attending general conference as a family. we ran into cousin Becca Smith minutes before this picture, who had returned two weeks prior from her mission to the Alpine Germany Mission

i'll speak for myself, but there are two weekends of the year that i love more than all of the rest combined, yes, including thanksgiving and christmas. its that good.

this year we (the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints) celebrated the 184th semi annual session of conference. and it did not fail us.

i left this conference different. i'm still working on all that i heard, learned, soaked up, and what peaked my interest. but it simply made me happier. general conference not only helped me to realign whats important in my life, i was grateful to see my family too.

Mom and Dad came in from Oregon, Meredith and Bryan and company trekked from Mesa, Arizona, and Julia and Austin came from good ol' Rexburg.

And lets not forget the John's family. Our famous and blessed host family. they easily put the 5-star Marriott hotels to shame. (well, i've actually never stayed at the Marriott, but I can only imagine).
Thank you, thank you, thank you johns! I might've jacked up your electricity bill with my blow dryer and straightener, and of course charging my iphone, so thank you. ;)
(oh and this time, they didn't make cookies and put them in a container with "tofu" written on the outside, so that was gracious of them.)

but most off, was the important messages that were given. can i just share a few:

president monson:  follow the steps of the Savior.
"...physically walking where Jesus walked is less important than walking as He walked. Emulating His actions and following His example are far more important than trying to retrace the remnants of the trails He traversed in mortality.

elder richard g. scott:  make the faith your first priority--meaning do (remember, faith is an action!) these 4 simple steps to show your faith in Heavenly Father. 1-prayer 2-scripture study 3-temple attendance (let nothing get in your way) 4- family time

elder jorg klebingat: take responsibility of your spiritual and physical well-being. be exactly obedient for the rest of your life, repent alot and quickly, forgive everyone every time, accept "surprises" (trials) in this mortal life--and be happy about it.

elder tad r. callister  parents, before you can teach and be the example of christlike living, you must first do it. the home is the best forum to teach children the gospel, actually its essential.

a question i had before conference was, "how can i more fully follow and sustain the prophet in my daily life." other talks specifically addressed this, but president monson taught me something powerful. he taught only about the Savior. i think together that taught me that as we are following the prophets counsel, that means we will ultimately be following the Savior. its impossible not to. i love that through the apostles of God, we received many invitations to change, and do better (isn't that repentance!) and i want to! i want to do and be better. because this life isn't about just getting to the celestial kingdom and receiving eternal life, it is about becoming someone along the way. becoming like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

i loved attending conference two years to the day when President Monson made the announcement that changed my life for the eternities. i love everything about conference.  

thanks to the johns for the gourmet Cafe - Rio dinner! it was superb!

this was Jessica (the one in the middle), Bronson's cousins first time at conference! 

And...I just had to document the cutest kids that came to visit me on campus! Thanks mere and bryan for converting me to Dr. Pepper in a matter of seconds and treating me to time with you and j-dawgs.