General Conference

I love General Conference! It is definitely my favorite weekend of the year! The only down side is that it only happens twice a year. This year, I enjoyed Conference a lot more than I have in the past. I don't know why that is, but I learned a lot more this time than I think I ever have before! There are a lot of things that I know contributed to my enjoyment  of Conference including

• I was much more prepared to listen to the Saturday morning session than usual. aka my dad didn't wake me up ten minutes before it started and I wander up the stairs and start eating breakfast as the first talk was being given. This time I was up a good three and a half hours before it started! And I was in a much better position to listen and learn.
• I actually wanted to learn. I wanted to find and hear things that would make me more prepared to teach this gospel and spread the joy that it brings (and I definitely did learn some awesome things!)
• My mom suggested that I write down three questions before Conference started and during the talks to look for the answers. That definitely helped me to stay focused on all of the talks! :)
• Just the fact of being a missionary I think was a big help.
• And I came up with a pretty good system of taking notes. People make fun of me for my many pens that I have, but  they all came in handy for Conference!

I know that it was a huge blessing for me to be able to listen to the words of our prophet and the apostles. Life can get you down, no matter what you are doing. And there are forces that want to keep you down and discouraged, but our Heavenly Father doesn't want that! He wants us to have faith in Him and in Jesus Christ. And to me, the whole purpose of Conference is to reestablish that hope and desire in us. I know that happened to me! As I was watching Conference I had a much stronger desire to get online and share this gospel! This is a gospel of hope! This is a gospel of love!

A lot of people in the world believe that God doesn't love them, but it is times like Conference that remind me that He really does love us! He loves us so much that He has called a prophet to lead and guide all of us. He loves us so much that He has us meet together to receive loving guidance and correction from all of our leaders. And most importantly He loves us so much that He sent His Son to come to this earth to suffer and die for our sins. I know that Jesus Christ died for us (John 3:16-17). I know that through Christ's Atonement, His suffering, we can be cleansed so that we are brought to a state where we are able to live with God again! He loves us so much that He wants us to live with Him again, in fact that is His entire purpose "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)

We all go through our busy lives without a second though for the ultimate Power that is controlling it. And yet, His every thought is about us and helping us remember and return to Him. We should all strive more to remember Him in our lives and to at least try to love Him as much as He loves us. One way that I am showing my love for Him is by taking two years away from my life--from my family, my friends, my education, etc.--to serve Him. I am spending two years of my life to try to further His purpose and help Him bring more of His children back to Him!

I love Jesus Christ. He is the best big brother that anyone could ever have. Because of Him, we can live with our Father again. I love this work and I love seeing the changes that this gospel makes in the lives of those who choose to hear it and follow God's commandments.