Saturday and Yesterday we were able to watch our Prophet & Apostles teach us.
I always look forward to this time with excitement and a bit of unease.
The excitement comes from hearing the words of our Heavenly Father and to be directed
on where we need to improve and also love of what we have accomplished and are becoming.
The unease comes from thinking HOW am I going to be able to feel the spirit and learn with
our kids locked indoors for each session.
Maddie had made a choice to watch every session which I am so proud of. I don't think I accomplished this until I was out of High School and married, even then I may have dozed off. Something about those older men, and their soothing voices can rock you off to dream world.
I think Shawn also had these same thoughts, because he came home from the grocery store on Sat. with plenty of Diet Soda to keep us all awake and alert.
I had popped some popcorn and we settled in for round one, two, three and four.
In the past we have tried all different attempts with the kids. We have gotten coloring books, and activities. We have tried to swap every other speaker and so we each could get a bit of conference in. We have tried to put them all to nap early. This year we didn't really prepare to deal with the kids. I was a bit anxious at first and then by some mighty miracle THEY BEHAVED! I am not kidding around here folks. I mean they sat and listened, and played quietly. Some of them even folded their arms when the prayers were said.
I believe the Lord wanted us to hear what the apostles and prophet had to say.
Shawn and I were able to feel the spirit and hear them testify of our Savior.
A couple of speakers that stood out for me were, Elder David Bednard and Jeffery Holland.(I will expand on their talks later)
The older I get, and the more I feel the pressures of raising good children into incredible adults the more I feel I need to hear conference and seek for greater learning from our leaders.
Now just to put a McManus reality to this all...after 8 hours we all needed to get out and be free of the couch. Thank goodness the weather was calm and we were able to release the kids onto our local bike trail.
What a wonderful way to end a fantastic weekend.
