A Weekend Away

My sweetie and I try to get out of the stake twice each year so we can sit together as we attend church. My birthday is supposed to be one of those weekends, but this year I asked that we change it to the weekend following stake conference. This worked out really well as there was no school because of the teacher's convention.

On Thursday we attended the temple and then on Friday we headed to Sturgeon Bay. We worked from 10am - 3pm on trimming trees and hauling away the branches as well as raking the pine needles. We then checked into our condo and spent a very relaxing evening together. We were invited to the Sturgeon Bay Branch fall festival, but just didn't feel like it.

Today we had a leisurely morning and yummy breakfast. We went shopping and came home with some Woodwick candles. This afternoon we'll be heading to Fish Creek for their pumpkin walk.

Tomorrow we'll visit the Sturgeon Bay Branch where we'll both give talks and then spend a little time with the Robertsons before going back home and going back to the real world. I love time away with my husband. The above picture is the view of the sunset from our condo window.

17 years ago today....

Today is the anniversary of a day that my life changed forever. It was beautiful and tragic all in one. It was the day that my mother passed from this life to the next. She was a wonderful friend and confidant for me. I still feel bad that we didn't have that kind of relationship until I was an adult.

I love this photo of my mom with her mother and sisters. In this photo, my mother is younger than I currantly am. She was so young and thin! I miss her tremendously!

There are days when I wish she could've been here to watch my kids grow up. Now that I have grandchildren, I really wish she was here to play with them. I can imagine her comments about each of them. They would love her too. She was the greatest Nana a child could want. I hope that I can be that kind of Nana.

Stake Conference - Oct 2010

Elder Lynn G. Robbins was the presiding authority at our stake conference this weekend. What a treat to be able to "rub shoulders" with this remarkable man. He is such a kind and personable man.

People often "pity" me because of my husband's calling as stake president. They feel that I'm a martyr because of my husband's schedule and being out on stake business. On the contrary, I feel blessed because of his service. There is nothing I would rather have him do than serve the Lord.

With that said, there are a few perks. On Saturday morning President and Sister Jones of the Wisconsin Milwaukee mission arrived at our home with Elder Robbins for breakfast. Was I nervous? Not at all. I have discovered that these people who hold positions of authority are just like you and I in that they're human. We had a wonderful time visiting over breakfast.

Saturday night was filled with insights as I listened to Elder Robbins compare the parable of the ten virgins to the temple. I was so glad I had my scriptures along and could write notes within the pages. Speaking of "glad," my husband instructed us to play the glad game in our daily lives by looking for the good in the world and our circumstances instead of the bad.

Sunday morning conference was beautiful. My husband spent many, many hours memorizing the account of the first vision in Joseph Smith History. He felt there was someone who needed to hear it. Perhaps more than one someone. He finished by bearing witness that it did indeed happen and is true. Elder Robbins spoke to us about love. Christ-like love and the love that we have for one another. He also spoke about the love that parents should have for their children and how we need to teach our children proper expressions of love. He also talked about "falling" in and out of love. What a myth that is. As if we can merely just stumble along and find ourselves in love. It takes commitment and continued nurturing. He challenged and invited the brethren to go home and express their love by saying "I love you" to their wives. I am indeed blessed as those were the first words I heard upon waking on Sunday morning.

The Gresham and Wausau combined choirs sang during Sunday's session of conference. It was most heavenly. Jasmine lended her talents with her violin to make I Need Thee Every Hour more beautiful and Amy Lyn leant us her voice to bring power to Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide. Thank you to both of those talented ladies. I am indeed thankful to be able to be a part of the choir. I know I'm not that great of a director, but I know what sounds good and find joy in making it happen.

After conference we shared our noon meal with Elder Robbins before taking him to the airport. Those times when we could listen to him talk about his personal life were inspiring. One more perk of being the supportive wife.

I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to be fed at the feet of the Lord's servants.

A Fun Lesson on Music

Music, music, music! There is power in music.

This week in seminary I've felt like I'm just not getting through. I have to say that part of it is the lesson material. In one of our in-service lessons we were encouraged to make our lessons "sparkle." Not that everything needs to be grand and exciting, but the sparkle factor grabs attention.

Today our lesson was Section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants. That's the one that was given to Emma Smith. Part of the instruction she was given was to create a hymnal. We read the First Presidency message in the current hymnal which was something some of the youth didn't even know about. I was glad I could share that with them.

At the end of the lesson, I played a lot of clips of music for the youth to listen to. Prior to that we read in Moroni 7 how to know when something is good or evil. It's the feelings we get that will tell us. I asked the youth to tell me how they felt after hearing each clip.
Some of the clips had the youth dancing in their seats while others took them to a specific place or activity such as youth conference during Cotton Eyed Joe, or participating in the Nauvoo pageant. Some of the clips made them feel like they were at General Conference or just relaxing and getting ready to sleep.
I was very happy to finally feel like I succeeded this week. I had a lot of talking and discussion which was totally opposite from the rest of the week. I guess that's what some major pondering and prayer will do for me.

General Conference 2010

On Friday morning Pat, Tom, Andrew and I were up and out of here very early. We had a 6am flight out of Green Bay. With some stops in Milwaukee and Denver as well as a delayed flight we left the airport in SLC just before 6pm. Our first stop was a mission reunion in Kaysville, UT to meet Sammi's trainer. Sorry these photos are so small, but they were taken on a phone so they're not nice blown up. This is Annie Dunoskovic. She is awesome and I can't wait to spend more time with her. What a blessing to have her as Sammi's trainer.

Saturday morning we have pretty good tickets for that session of conference. We spent the night with the Barretts and so together we headed up to the conference center for the opening session. We got a flat tire on the freeway and like a pit crew we changed that tire in record time.

On Sunday afternoon we have seats that were on the plaza in section 7 which is right down front and off to the left. You probably need a magnifying glass to see this, but that's the first presidency sitting there on the stand. What a treat to sit so close. Special thanks go out to Sara and Erin for getting there so early and saving us these premo seats. Thanks sweeties!
After the final session of conference, Sara asked to take a photo of our family. I love this picture. We all look really great. It was so wonderful to be there in person.

I didn't always like General Conference, but I grown to love it. I love it in the conference center and I love it at home on our TV. I love what the brethren have to say.

I found it very interesting that during both Saturday sessions there were identical talks given about sustaining/following the prophet. I really loved those talks. Then on Sunday morning we heard President Packer speak about God's moral laws and how we cannot vote to change them. I loved his words. I sustain his words as spoken by a mouthpiece of the Lord.

This morning Clare was telling me about a friend of hers who has a friend who posted on Facebook how they just couldn't agree with President Packer's words. This individual should just come right out and say, "I don't sustain the prophet" because that's exactly what he or she is doing. Somehow when the prophet speaks the discussion is over.

I had an incredible experience prior to the first session of conference. As the First Presidency was walking in they shook hands with each member of the quorum of the 12 apostles. The love they have for one another is visible. As I watched this brief exchange, I too felt of the love they have for me and each of us. These thoughts and feelings were further confirmed as I listened to Elder Holland.

The trip was much too quick and the people I would've liked to have seen, didn't get all get visited as we left on Monday morning before 8am. I'll share more soon. Until then, what are your thoughts on this recent conference?