Inspired

What a wonderful General Conference!  These are some of the messages which especially inspired me (Dan says he liked the same ones).

The message which impacted me the most was given by Lynn G. Robbins, "What Matter of Men Ought You To Be."  He addressed the differences between "doing" the right things and "being" the right things and related it to parenting and discipline of children in a way that is very helpful and relevant to us.

We also really liked Elder Bednar's message about the subtle and gradual discernment of light and how this relates to receiving revelation.  Elder Uchtdorf's message was similar, and we really liked the way he related small steps of faith to puzzle pieces.  "Each piece is a puzzle  which helps us see the big picture." "Listen to the Spirit . . . by becoming the answer to someone else's prayer we often find the answers to our own."

Another favorite was Elder Oak's talk.   "Desires dictate priorities, priorities shape choices; choices determine actions."

We thought some of the overall themes of Conference might have been finding faith in adversity and charity and service.

We enjoyed Conference amidst piles of blankets, endless supplies of Conference activities for the kids, and plenty of Skittles for Conference Bingo.  Joseph was pretty obsessed with filling up his Bingo board.  He listened for any "key" words, but whenever his attention wandered he asked us frantically, "Is he saying anything yet?"  As in, saying any of the words he was looking for.  Apparently, whatever else was being said was completely irrelevant to him! 

We tried some new recipes for Conference, and then had a Mexican fiesta for Sunday dinner.  Sunday afternoon we put out a spread of fruits, veggies, and dips (trying to counteract some of the junk we were eating).

And now we start Spring Break!  After the craziness of the last month (and it was incredibly crazy and busy) and the equally busy two months ahead of us (culminating in Brandon leaving on his mission on May 18th), it will be nice to have a respite this week. We are mostly staying home, but will spend one night at Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park hotel.

The kids will relax today while I spend all day at the allergist, getting three allergy shots every half an hour.  It is a "rush protocol" designed to jump start my allergy shots.  I am hoping for relief from allergies soon, but I am not looking forward to being a pincushion today.  And, won't I have nice looking (swollen) arms to show off in my swimsuit this week at the water park!

Addendum to "Ready"

Just in case I erroneously made it sound like Conference at the Porters is a smooth, conflict-free experience, I thought I would mention that we had to pause the first session to have a long discussion about how "we do not speak rudely," "we can choose whether or not to be offended when someone else is rude," etc. There may have even been a few raised voices and a time out involved.  I'm sure the Spirit fled from our home for awhile.

That's just real life. But we still love Conference and we still love each other.

Ready

Conference comfort food menu prepared . . . . . . . check

Lots of candy in bowls (for Bingo, of course) . . . . . . check

Comfy blankets and pillows piled in the family room . . . . . . . check

Pictures of the general authorities around the fireplace . . . . . . check

Conference coloring pages and activity pages printed . . . . . . . check

Schedule cleared as much as possible for the next two days . . . . . . check

We are ready for LDS General Conference.  We can't wait!