Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice!

WOW, talk about a historical and life changing weekend! For those of you who don't know, it was General Conference. It's this big 5 session conference that's broad casted on TV and directed towards Latter-day Saints ("Mormons") but it is also for the world! It's awesome! We have a prophet on the earth today who speaks to us and gives us counsel. We learn how to be more Christ-like and better followers of our faith. I just wanted to share a few words and ideas that stood out in my mind.

First of all, I have some amazing friends. :) Janel, Whit and I showed up at the Riv at 9:30 and Devin and Janel made crepes! YUM! It was super good and a great way to start off Conference. On Sunday, Katie and I made German Pancakes for the apartment and Whit and I made a 7 layer dip to bring over to the Riv for the last session, where Cortney made burgers and Jess made fries. Do I have some great, talented, service-filled friends or what!?!

So, now onto the talks. My all time favorite talk was President Uchtdorf's on Saturday morning. This man is so inspired and literally speaks to me every time he speaks. In March, he gave a talk that pertained to exactly what I was going to with his famous "Stop It!" talk. (If you don't know what I'm talking about...go here. Here's the short quote. The whole talk is AMAZING, I definitely recommend it!) Anyway, the main point of his talk this time was to slow down and enjoy the moment. I am finding this particularly important to my life as it's already October and my awful midterm week is upon me. But another important thing he said is that YOU AND I are in charge of our happiness, no matter what our external circumstances are. I LOVED THAT. It's so true. I find myself often becoming a victim of my circumstances and let's be honest, I live a good life! I'm here at BYU, an amazing beautiful campus, surrounded by friends who support me. My family misses me and I know they love me and I can literally talk to them anytime I want. So let's be honest again, I have no reason to complain! He also talked about certain regrets we might have in life, such as not living up to our potential. I sat there wondering what my potential is? Who does God see me to be and am I living up to that potential? Probably not. That is definitely something I'm going to work on in the upcoming weeks. He ended with the thought that life is not a race, it's a journey! I'm going to work on enjoying the little things in life, like spending time with my roommates or spending my 2 hour breaks on Mon/Wed caring and being involved with my friends!

My other favorite talk was our prophet Thomas S. Monson on Sunday afternoon. He talked a lot about listening to the promptings we receive from the Spirit. Too often, I find myself distracted by Facebook, my iPod or just the noise of the world. How often do I pray to be an inspiration to someone else? To lighten someone's burden? Not often enough. He shared some awesome stories about how he has been an inspiration to others prayers. He also mentioned that, yes, this world is becoming worse by the day and it's hard to find happiness in the negative. He challenged us to  take a step back and look our blessings so we can find greater happiness. Another thing I definitely need to work on. I am blessed with so much and I get discouraged easily. I am committed, though, to find the positive in the negatives from now on. Even though I have 2 papers due this week and 5 tests next week, I know that if I do my best the Lord will provide the rest!

In conclusion, I am SO grateful to be apart of a wonderful religion and so proud to be a Mormon! I know it! I live it! I love it!