Conference Remedy

Sometimes there are days in your life when you wish you could be asleep. Sleeping usually means that you will enter an incoherent state and not have to deal with any of life's problems. However, there are some thoughts that consume your mind so much, that even though you lie down to sleep, you can't escape them. They enter your mind and mark their territory as if to say "Deal with it, I'm not leaving." It's a helpless feeling that many of us feel and that some of us are feeling right now. Numb is the adjective I would use to describe it.



Luckily it was conference weekend and I was able to spend ten hours listening to the words of the leaders of the church, being fed spiritually as they added feeling back to my body. I don't know if it's because I am struggling with different issues or if it's because I am getting older; but conference has come to mean more to me this weekend than it ever has in the past.

* I remember watching conference as a child, sitting in my basement eating blueberry muffins and coloring in homemade bingo pages, thinking that President Benson sure looked old.

* I remember going to my first priesthood meeting as a deacon and asking my dad why all the apostles had grey hair except President Monson. His response was that "He dyes it." (which I still believe to this day)

* I remember sitting in humid chapels in Mexico listening to a Spanish-voice over of the prophet and thinking that conference couldn't get any better.

* I remember watching President Hinckley's last conference address and distinctively feeling that it was going to be his last. I paid extra close attention.



And now this weekend can be added to my list. La Familia Aguilar, which consists of a bishop and his family from one of my areas in Merida, were able to travel to Utah to attend the conference. He and his wife had been before, however this time they brought their three kids. We were all able to sit on the floor, twelve rows back from the stage. It was incredible . . . you should have seen their faces.

It is such a long distance and so expensive, but he told me today that, "I would rather spend all my money to bring my family to conference, than on anything else." With tears in his eyes, he continued, "It is why we saved all year; so that my children could come and listen to the words of the prophet." His wife took his hand, held it and nodded her head in agreement.

If that statement doesn't define their character and love, I don't know what could. They are some of the best people I know. As I hugged them goodbye and drove my car home, I sat thinking how that one sentence summed up my entire feelings of general conference. Though the brethren are not assigned specific topics to speak on, I felt that they all followed one main theme: Family relationships and how gospel principles can be applied to increase/help them.

Talk after talk was addressed to different members of the family. It was wonderful. Not only did it influence me to have better relationships with my parents and siblings, but it testified to me that the Lord really does understand the problems we are facing; and that He reveals to each speaker the topic that they should address to the members of the church. It isn't a coincidence, as Elder Andersen reminded us. It is revelation: directly from the Lord to our own lives.

I am thankful for that knowledge.

President Uchtdorf, during priesthood session, spoke of patience and waiting . . . bearing our hardships with fortitude, even if the desires of our heart are delayed. He stated that, "The Lord has set a different standard for us and we must learn to wait to reach our full potential. Patience is more than waiting for something to happen. It is working toward worthwhile goals with effort, not failing to act because of fear." He closed, "God's promises are not always fulfilled in the way we might hope. His timing, His ways and His promises, if not always swift, are always certain. We must pray until we comprehend that."

Conference was just what I needed to remedy some of the numbing.