highlights

Oh, how I love Conference weekend!

For the women that I visit teach, I bought these cute notebooks and pens at Wal-mart, microwave popcorn, Halloween candies, and I made Conference packets for their children. (I didn't have any baskets, so I just put all of it into a gift bag.)

For my kids, I made them Conference packets, and then I just gathered clipboards, markers, crayons, and various snacks. They seem to like them almost as much as Easter baskets! (I use their Easter baskets.)

I ran out on Saturday morning to make photocopies for my Conference baskets, but for the most part, we plan to just stay at home and watch together. I love that my children know that this is what we do, and they enjoy Conference weekend as well. I was so pleased that even though there were other kids outside playing, my kids didn't even seem to consider it -- we watch Conference together. It's what we do. (Eva is still catching the vision of this.)

This time, Max mostly took notes. The spaces allowed in his packet weren't large enough, so he continued on other paper.

Eva spent most of the time (when she wasn't napping) coloring on Marc's lap.

I made muffins on Saturday morning and Belgian waffles with fresh peaches and raspberries on Sunday morning. Having good food seems to make it feel even more like a holiday to me.

Here are my highlights from all the talks this weekend:

Sunday am

I was so excited to hear about the 5 new temples that President Monson announced -- especially the one in Philadelphia, as now my parents will not have to travel to D.C. and will be able to go more frequently!

L. Tom Perry
-- Simplify your life. (Noted. I'm really going to think about ways I can accomplish this.)

Sylvia H. Allred
-- Prepare your children for missionary service.
-- Prepare yourself for missionary service.

Neil L. Andersen
What do we do when feelings of inadequacy arise?

-- Pray. Read the Book of Mormon.
-- We do not know all things, but we know enough.
-- Faith is not only a feeling, it is a decision.
-- Fear and faith cannot co-exist in our hearts.
-- Be not afraid; only believe.

Marcos A. Aidukaitis
-- When we have the courage to do what God expects of us, we bless the lives of others.

Dallin H. Oaks
-- We can so easily be distracted, degraded, downhearted, and depressed.
-- Sacrament meeting is our most important meeting in the church, the only meeting where the whole family can attend together.
-- Individual reverence and worship are critical.
-- Each member bears responsibility for the spiritual enrichment that can come from sacrament meeting.
-- When we try to keep ourselves more fully unspotted from the world, we will qualify to have the Holy Ghost with us always.

President Uchtdorf
-- Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness and is a gift of the Spirit.
-- We have been commanded to actively make it a part of our lives.
-- Doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellow man lead us ever downward.
-- With hope, we can have patience and bear our afflictions.
-- His mother's example of putting faith and hope into action sustained her family.
-- Never surrender. Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.

Saturday pm

Jeffrey R. Holland
-- Angels, both heavenly and mortal, are still sent to help us.
-- The Lord has said He will fight our battles, our children's battles, and our children's children's battles.
-- The latter days are not for fearing and trembling -- they are for believing and holding to our covenants.

Gérald Caussé
-- It is by exercising their faith -- putting into practice the things which they have lerned -- that children, and all of us, grow in spirituality.

Lawrence E. Corbridge
-- Every good thing in this life depends on our getting and keeping the Holy Ghost with us. **Everything depends on this.
-- Unlike worldly standards of achievement, where success is reserved for a select few, this is not the case with the Lord's plan of happiness, because it is not a human endeavor. While the Lord's invitation to follow Him is the highest of all, it is achievable by everyone.
-- Life is hard, but the Lord's way is not hard.
-- We can follow the Lord's way and be endowed with power, strength, and joy, or we can follow another way and be plagued with doubt and fear. Which way is harder?

D. Todd Christofferson
-- As we individually place the Savior at the center of our lives, and follow His prophets, we will be of one heart and one mind.
-- It is not enough for us to be somewhat less wicked than others, we must hunger and thirst after righteousness.

David A. Bednar
On making our prayers more meaningful:

-- Counsel with the Lord in all our doings.
-- Just as our Heavenly Father created us spiritually before He created us physically, meaningful morning prayer precedes the physical creation of the day, and is key to our spiritual preparation for the day. (I love this!)
-- Our evening prayer is a continuation of our morning prayer.
-- Express heartfelt gratitude.
-- Pray for others with real intent and a sincere heart -- this increases our capacity to hear and to heed the voice of the Lord.
-- Do our spouses and children feel the power of our prayers on their behalf? Do those we serve hear us pray earnestly for their well-being?

Sunday am

President Eyring
-- How can we achieve more unity?
-- We need to look for ways in which we agree.
-- Look for the good in others.
-- We are united in our changed hearts, in our desire to serve the Lord.

Robert D. Hales
-- One of our trials may be resisting the urge to respond to those who attack us with anger and aggression.
-- We can avoid retaliation, accusation, bitterness, and hatred with Christian courage.
-- As disciples of the Lord, we can invite the Spirit and receive revelation tailored to each individual situation.
-- Meekness is the ability to bear injustice without resentment, and it requires great strength.
-- Do not confuse boldness with Satan's counterfeit, overbearance.
-- To be guileless is to look for our own fault first.
-- Strive always to get to high ground, where the light is.

Elaine S. Dalton
-- I can do hard things.
-- Even better, in the strength of the Lord, I can do all things.
-- Return to virtue.
-- Some think that virtue is an antiquated notion, outdated in our modern world.
-- Lahonti was tempted and came down off the mount and was poisoned by degrees.
-- We must be guardians of virtue and steadfastly avoid being consumers of vice.
-- **Never underestimate the power of your righteous influence.

President Monson
-- Nothing is as constant as change.
-- We must focus on what is truly important, before it passes us by.
-- Find joy in the journey -- now.
-- There is no tomorrow to remember if we don't do something today.
-- Focus on today: create good memories, show love and affection, express gratitude.
-- **Never allow a problem that needs to be solved become more important than a person that needs to be loved.

Sunday pm

Boyd K. Packer
-- In troubled times, the Lord has always prepared a safe way ahead.

Russell M. Nelson
-- To find real happiness, we must seek for it outside ourselves.
-- Beware of choosing what is easier or more convenient over what is of lasting value.

William D. Oswald
-- Successful gospel teachers change the hearts and lives of those they teach.


I'm including all of this here 1. for the benefit of my mom, who was unable to listen to Conference this time, and 2. for my own benefit, so I can return and review.