"Be of Good Cheer"

I love General Conference. It is basically one of the most amazing opportunities. Two days of spiritual feasting.

Austin invited our apartment to go to his family's house (he is from South Jordan) to watch conference on Saturday so I got up bright and early. The girls decided they were going to watch the morning session at home and Heather Jean had a late start so I ended up being the only to go in the morning. Which was fun. I drove up with Jordan, Patrick and Austin which pretty much meant I had an hour to just laugh. At one point Jordan says "Rachel, I have an assignment for you." I say, "Okay, what?" And he tells me that "I want you to be in charge of writing in my journal for me." Huh?? I was so confused. He explained that he and Austin had read my blog the day before and he was impressed at how good I was at writing down all the stories with the details so he wanted me to write for him. Ha. That made me laugh. I told him he was welcome to print out anything that was relevant to him and staple it into his journal. I'm glad to know that people like reading my blog. It really isn't anything unique or funny or witty or clever or eloquent. It is just the stories of me and random musings of my days. It is an easy way to share pictures and stories with family far away. I just write for myself. But it is nice to know that someone appreciates it. We stopped at Patrick's house and I got to meet Patrick's dad (who was still in his pajamas :D... oops!) and then we drove to Austin's. He has a beautiful home and a wonderful family. They were so welcoming. Really it was so fantastic to be in a real home with a real family. There is just such a difference that is present within a family that has the spirit in their home compared to an apartment. Granted we have an amazing apartment and I am grateful for the spirit that my roommates bring... but it is just different than a home with a father and a mother.

Anyways it was just really wonderful to be there. We watched the morning session and then had lunch. We had barbecued chicken, made by Austin's mom and cooked by Austin that was really really good as well as pasta salad, veggies, and a roll. I was trying to cut my chicken with a plastic fork and it definitely snapped in half and flew. Of course I was sitting at the table with all of Austin's family and the boys were sitting in the kitchen. Oh my goodness I was so embarrassed. The girls drove up and joined us. We ran outside and Jordan shot free-throws for a statistical something Patrick wanted to do. I got hit in the face and on the head with the ball twice. Ha. Then afternoon session.

Afterwards we were all sitting around talking about conference and then some other things... Austin's mom asked us why we were still friends with the boys after all the pranks. Ha. We just smiled. We can't help but love them. I'm just glad that they want to be friends with us. We started talking about nicknames and I ended up being awkward. I'm such an awkward person. Gah. Story... so a while ago the girls were talking about getting married and boys and whatnot and as they were talking somehow last names came up and they came to the conclusion that I needed to marry Patrick because then my name would be "Rachel Staples." Just say it a couple of times... it sounds kinda funny. Anyway Eva started to bring that up but I stopped her because then we'd have to explain why we were talking about it and we've already had awkward moments with me marrying the boys and I just didn't want to make it awkward again. But then Patrick got Eva to explain and it just made it super more awkward that I wouldn't tell him instead of avoiding the awkward moment like I had wanted to in the first place. I know... things are only as awkward as you make them but I tend to feel awkward a lot. Ahh. I'll work on that. We went upstairs and met Patrick's parents when they came to pick him up. His Mom made me so happy. We were introducing ourselves and then she says "Wait are these the girls?" That just made smile because to us they are "the boys" and it made me glad to know that we are "the girls" I love being friends with them. We went back inside and sat down at the piano and we all sang hymns for like an hour. It was wonderful. And I was really happy because Austin's sister McKenzie joined us too. We drove home and I made cinnamon rolls to put in the fridge so we could cook them in the morning just before conference.

Today I got up and baked my cinnamon rolls... mmm and we watched morning conference. Between sessions we read scriptures and then watched the afternoon session. I wrote a thank you note and am writing to some missionaries now. It has been a really good weekend.

A couple of thoughts about conference itself...

I really want to go study about Job.

Faith and Fear(Doubt) cannot exist together.

God will turn all affliction to our gain.

Provident Living.

Your situation is not beyond the reach of our savior.

6 Destructive D's: doubt, discouragement, distraction, lack of diligence, disobedience, disbelief

If our lives are centered on Jesus Christ nothing can go permanently wrong.

When we live righteously & have received temple ordinances, everything else is in the Lord's hands.

If we really care for others we should pray for them. We should pray for the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

The more we are filled with the Spirit of God, the more we extend ourselves to others.

Even if we give up on ourselves, he never will. We see ourselves as today & tomorrow, he sees us as forever.

It is usually through another that he meets our needs therefore it is VITAL that we serve others.

We will never be left alone or unaided.

Our knowledge of the Savior will comfort and sustain us.

You are never lost when you can see the temple.

We need to be spiritual shepherds.

Strive to live closer to the Lord.

Pray always.

Let your parents know how much you love and appreciate them.

Be careful of how to use the internet.

Go to the temple often.

Remember President Monson and the other general authorities in our prayers.

And it was mentioned a lot of times so it must be really important... "Be of good cheer."