La Conferencia

For Christmas in 2005, my family went to Ecuador with a humanitarian group for 2 weeks. We lived in the mountains in a village full of wonderful people. That village was called La Conferencia. I loved it. At first, they kept saying, "Bienvenidos a la Conferencia," and there was a sign that said the same, and I kept thinking, "How cute! They're calling this a conference!" No, they weren't. They were welcoming us to their village. And I loved them.

some of my favorite peeps in La Conferencia. Especially that little girl in the purple shirt, Gladys. We were BFFs.

Also, we made up a song, and it went: "La Conferencia, my hooome away from hoooome!" I wish I had a video but I do not. Since that time, twice a year when we have General Conference, I sing that song to myself and love it.

This being said, I just wanted to share a little but of my conference thoughts. I haven't been very good at sharing the gospel or my testimony online, like Elder Ballard has been encouraging, so I wanted to do that now. My thoughts are not very comprehensive, because I'm not very good at taking notes during conference. So I don't really remember very well exactly what was said, but just how I feel and what I've been thinking. So here it is:

A TEMPLE IN ITALY?? I am so excited about this. I like to pretend that I'm involved in the Italian world, since I've spent a total of 3 weeks there and have spent 4 difficult semesters pretending to speak it, so I got goosebumps when they announced that. Really. And the other ones are exciting too, Philadelphia is such a cool city and it's about to get cooler, and I thought of Maggie with the Kansas City.

I want to be better about not procrastinating. I've always been one, and it's a hard habit to break. But what President Monson said about always planning for tomorrow just leaves you with a whole bunch of empty yesterdays is so true. I'm really good at saying, "Next time we move I'll get REALLY organized," or "I'll do those dishes tomorrow, because today I have to sit around and look at organizing tips on marthastewart.com." I am now feeling very motivated to get up and DO when a thought pops into my head. Let's hope I can keep that momentum.

I loved Sister Dalton's talk. I have to admit I was the tiniest bit distracted by her cute outfit and earrings, and started imagining how I will dress when I'm that age. But I love that our church has women leaders as well as men. I don't think people outside the church realize the emphasis on the divinity of women.

President Uchtdorf's talk to the Relief Society last week was amazing too. I loved the topic of creation. I haven't heard that talked about very much, but it's such a great subject, and it also made me feel like hopping right up and DOING something. The difference between being and doing is something I've thought a lot about lately. I thought, "Which is more important? To sit around and think and become, and know who you are, or to be productive, and busy and accomplished?" and my conclusion was that you cannot divorce the two. If you do nothing but ponder life and realize who you are, and your great worth, it is worthless if you do not get up and do something with that knowledge. Figure out who you are, and then go bless the world with your talents. I felt so inspired after President Uchtdorf's talk to go home and find a little corner and make it more beautiful, like he talked about. I loved it.

I loved that Elder Oaks talked about sacrament meeting. It's good to have a reminder that even though we go every week, it's some serious business going on, and we need to be a lot more reverent than we probably are. And there are definitely some peeps in the Church that think singing the hymns is optional, which it is not, so I'm glad he touched on that. He is just so good.

I don't have any more specifics right now, but I just felt very uplifted and encouraged overall. I love the Church, and always feel so overwhelmed with the love I feel for the gospel during Conference. I feel like nearly every talk brings me to tears. I love the general authorities and the sacrifices they make to serve the church. I love the messages they deliver, and the Spirit that attends them.

I'm always excited for the conference Ensign to come out, and I am for this one in particular, it was really just great. If you missed it, go here to watch, and later this week the text will be available to read.