Conference Weekend

Let me just say that I love Conference weekend! My parents drove down from Montana to go to conference (they haven't been to a live session of conference in a long, long time, and never in the Conference Center). They left our house on Saturday morning at about 6:30am to try and get standby tickets for the morning session. They ended up standing in the cold rain for a couple of hours, only to get up to the doors and told that the session was full. Then, they rushed over to the Tabernacle to watch it there, and ran into a couple they knew from their Peru trip (what a small world in the Church!) After the morning session, there was a reception in the Joseph Smith Building for all BYU Law Alumni, so they headed over there for lunch, and then James and I met them on Temple Square for the afternoon session (this time they had tickets, so we all got in). It was really cold and rainy, but on the up-side, not many protestors ventured out into the elements, so it was a relatively peaceful walk to the Conference Center. I hadn't been to a session of Conference with my parents in years, so it was fun to be able to go with them. It was really neat to be there in person, because that was the session that Elder Wirthlin spoke, and had to be supported (literally) by Elder Nelson so that he could finish his talk. It was really moving to witness such an act of love and charity in person. When Elder Wirthlin started to shake, most of the apostles got ready to jump into action...they were all very concerned. There were also two men who started coming up the stairs from the level below (medics?) to help and they brought a wheelchair for him, but he refused to sit in it. I think after his talk, they tried to convince him to leave, but he wouldn't, and after conference, they tried to take him out in the wheelchair, but he insisted on walking...what a man! I'm really glad that he finished his talk, because it was one of my favorites from the whole weekend. My dad was saying that people have asked how they know when they've "done all that they can do"...just look at Elder Wirthlin's example at conference, and I guess then you'll know.

After conference, as we were walking through the pouring rain down the steps of the Conference Center, a photographer came right up to us and took our picture. We probably won't make it into the Ensign, but it would be fun if we did (if I was showing more, we'd make it in for sure, pregnant women always make it in!) After our session, my dad stayed to watch the priesthood session with his dad and my two brothers. Then on Sunday, they headed back to the Conference Center for the Sunday afternoon session where they met my brother and his friend...when you're the bishop of a small ward in MT, and no one else can make it to UT, you get tickets to a lot of sessions of conference!

Aside from conference, it was really fun to be able to see my parents and have them stay with us for a few days. Matthew and Ethan loved all the attention, and had a fun weekend, too. They were in heaven, because grandma and grandpa would read them book after book after book, after book, after book, after book...