General Conference Favorites

I just thought I'd mention my favorite General Conference talks from this weekend. I was so glad to be able to just veg at home with my family and watch the Conference without any abnormal distractions. Of course, I had had enough of Kortney and Taylor and Neil giggling and goofing off as they played right in front of the TV, so I told them all, "Be quiet! I'm trying to listen, and you are not bringing the Spirit in here!" (as if that remark flooded the room with love). So, from what I was able to hear between spurts of noisy play, I marked three talks in particular that touched me, or nudged me to be better. They were all from the Sunday sessions.
First was President Eyring, the new counselor in the First Presidency. He mentioned that he started to write down, every day, some account of the Lord's hand in his life. It wasn't to benefit him, necessarily, but for his children. I'm sure those experiences also helped shape him, molding him into a very grateful and humble follower of Christ. I had a great desire to do the same, not just for my children, but for me to focus on how wonderful the Lord really is, and to notice the blessings he sends, even if they may be small. So, every time I post an entry on my blog, I will also add an experience of the Lord's hand in my own life.
The next talk that got me was from Sister Beck, the new R.S. General President. One of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon is the story of the strippling warriors, partly because they had such courage, but also partly because I want to be the kind of mom that will raise that type of child, and those moms had to have such great faith and love to teach such fine boys. She likened that story to the women of today. Okay, since I don't have any boys--yet, I keep telling myself--I need to focus on raising daughters that will be good influences on the boys they hang around. I've heard that this talk may have offended some, and it did pull at me, but I realize that if it's hard to take some of what she said, it's because I need to work on that. I'm sure the Spirit told her that's what she needed to talk on, rather than her thinking of someone she knew that she designed the talk for. There really is power in Motherhood, and no one will influence my children for good more than me. So, although I need to make a lot of changes to be a better mother, I needed to hear it, and it needed to hit me hard.
The third talk was, of course, Elder Oaks. I always enjoy listening to him. He's very up-front, and commends us for being good, but always throws in how we can do better than good. And that was basically his talk this time. Some things are good, but others are better. Where are my priorities, and are they in line with the Lord's will? Are the good things I'm involved in taking me away from the better things? This talk, along with Sis. Beck's, made me see what I need to focus on. Family is the most important, and I don't want to forget that. If my time is spent too much elsewhere, I need to cut out that activity. I really feel like there's no time to waste, especially while my children still need me so much.

"The Lord's Hand In My Life"
As we drove through the canyons yesterday, Kortney asked us why the leaves change colors on the trees, and why they fall off (we mostly saw the slender, now-yellow aspens)? I answered that the leaves get too cold, so they die, and that's why the color changes, and then they fall off. Neil opened my eyes to something much more. He correctly told her that the trees actually let go of the leaves, because if the leaves stayed on the trees, the weight of heavy snows accumulated on those leaves would eventually cause the whole branch to break off the tree. In order to save its more crucial branches, the tree needs to let go of the less-crucial leaves. Today I finally applied that lesson to my own life. I need to let go of the less-important things in my life, so that they don't end up weighing down my time, and in the end, destroying the more important things in my life, like my family. The Lord helps me to see His hand in everyday things. I'm sure that's about as profound as I'll get, but I was glad to make that connection, which the Lord taught me through the curiousity of a four-year-old.