What I would have said…..

In our church they do this strange thing that strikes fear, or at least greatly increases the heart rates of its members. In front of a couple thousand people at Stake Conference our leaders, when inspired to do so, will call up individuals to speak in front of the whole congregation. No warning- no preparation- they are just asked to speak from the heart for a couple minutes about what they believe.

I LOVE IT (well, I love it from the moment the names are said and mine is not one of them) it’s so inspiring to hear others experiences and feelings, and it always makes me think about what I’d say, what my testimony would be. So today when we got home I had the kids all write in their journals what they would have said if called up. I think I need to do it too!

Because blogging is such a good way to vent, I tend to write more about the hard stuff than the GREATER good stuff in my life. But today was a really wonderful wonderful day. In Stake Conference seated with my whole family on the 6th row (yes we got there super early) we listened to a Special Witness of Jesus Christ- Elder Bednar. When he walked into the room it brought tears to my eyes as I thought about the great love Christ has for us in organizing His church just as it was when He was on the earth. I felt that love as I listened to His Apostle teach us to try and understand the true Character of Christ (there are so many examples in the scriptures!) so that we can have better faith and be sure our course is true. He told us that “Perfection is becoming complete, not living without mistakes.” I love that! What a better way to look at our human frailties. I want my children to understand that making mistakes is part of life- and that’s why they have a Savior to turn to.

If I had been called up I would have said that I know I Boo Hoo, and get overwhelmed sometimes. But in the core of me, in my foundation, I am happy. I have a strong unwavering belief that God is real, that my family is not temporal, we are ETERNAL. That trying to listen to the direction God has for me, for my life, will bring me more joy than trying to find a way on my own. I accept willingly that God CAN ask a lot of me, because that is how I can become more “complete.” I believe that if I try to follow Christ’s example of turning outward instead of inward, it will keep me from wallowing and help me find more to be grateful for.

After the meeting we walked around the temple and took the family photo on the right to replicate this one taken 5 years ago after Natalie’s baptism. What a long way we have come! We still have a long way to go but I am so full of hope for the future.

XO

PS
Last night I was explaining to Ty about the conference and that we were going to hear an apostle “A special helper whose job is to tell everyone that Jesus is real” Ty responded “Well we already KNOW Jesus is real so why do we need to go?” 🙂
Then at the conference during a song I was pointing out Elder Bednar to Ty, who couldn’t see which man he was. Elder Bednar noticed and waved at Ty three times until Ty saw him. Just goodness. <3