I can't say that I was really great at taking notes like I have been the last few General Conferences or that I had prepared for it as much as I had in the past. However, it was still an amazing conference for me in which I felt the Spirit very strong. Because I didn't take great notes... I don't remember who talked about what. I can tell you that I love the humor and spirit that the Prophet and Apostles bring to conference every six months.
I have always loved Elder Oaks. I loved his talk on Desire and priorities and how they go hand in hand. I also thought that Holland and Scott were also super great. I always end Conference wanting to make changes in my life and be a better person, but I think this was one of the first conferences in a while where my roommate Tina and I looked at each other and felt like they really reached out to us and let us know they knew we were coming from being older single adults. I loved the talk on women as well. I really felt appreciated and understood.
Another fun thing about this conference was that it was my good friend Desiree's first time singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for Conference. She got a great close up on Sunday. She is beautiful and stands out in the choir. It was so fun to see her in the choir and living her dream. :o) I also saw my friend Matt's Mom (the one that got me into the MoTab Christmas Concert with Archie) and this happened to be her last General Conference that she would be singing in.
I think this was the first time in a LONG time that I actually watched one of the programs that they played after conference was over. It was After the Sunday morning session. Tina and I were sucked in from the very beginning. It was an hour long program that went into two different life changing story lines. First started off with all of these kids of different ages and ethnicity's and they each talked about their mom and their dad and different things about them. Then the camera man asked who their mom and dad was and they each said the same mom and dad. Then it introduced Brother and Sister Clarke (mom and dad) and they told the story of after being married for only 6 months, they adopted one child and ended up with 21. What is special about this was that these were not just any kids... these were all kids that nobody wanted for some reason or another. The first was their son that they adopted from Vietnam. The war had just happened and they thought they would take in a couple of refugees. They got a Father and Son and the Father wanted to go back and find his wife and daughter so he left his son and they adopted him. Others were from mothers that were raped. Some of them their mothers were alcoholics, one boy was deaf, another boy from India was from an abortion and then he was left on a trash can in the streets. Each were sad stories, but they were rescued and their lives were changed because of this loving couple. They went on family vacation every year with out fail. They were not perfect, but ALL of those kids got to grow up in a loving family.
The other story was about a man who wanted to develop a technology where you would control things on a computer screen by censors that are hooked up around your eye and move things on the screen according to your eye movement. He really only did it for the technology. It was featured on the Discovery channel and a mother of a physically handicapped son called him and told him she wanted her son to try. He didn't ever deal with the handicapped well and he wasn't 100% sure about his technology working for them. The mother kept trying until he said he would do it. Her son is 13 and was told that he had the capacity of a 6 month old. She was told because he couldn't function with his body that he wasn't able to learn, but the mother new that he was smart. She read to him. She knew he was taking it in. She hooked him up to this technology and her son could do it. It proved that he knew exactly what was going on and had been learning all the time... just couldn't show it because his body can't function. After that, the boy was put in school and went to class like everyone else. They had a person go with him to class and take notes so that they could put what he was learning in class in the computer program. The last clip they showed was the man that created the technology seeing a clip of this boys high school graduation. All because of him. He worked with other physically challenged kids and they could all do it. He then realized that he didn't create it for the Technology... he created it for the people. Of course Tina and I were both balling this entire program. It was so touching. So Inspiring.
This whole conference weekend left me wanting to be a better person, to make a different in the world. To be more loving and kind. I loved watching everything this weekend and I can't wait for the Conference Issue of the Ensign to come out so I can read and re-read the talks. I am so thankful for General Conference and that we have it every six months. Its EXACTLY what we need to hear. Right here. Right now. I love this church. It is such a blessing in my life. I love the good people that inspire me to want to be better. What a great weekend.
I have always loved Elder Oaks. I loved his talk on Desire and priorities and how they go hand in hand. I also thought that Holland and Scott were also super great. I always end Conference wanting to make changes in my life and be a better person, but I think this was one of the first conferences in a while where my roommate Tina and I looked at each other and felt like they really reached out to us and let us know they knew we were coming from being older single adults. I loved the talk on women as well. I really felt appreciated and understood.
Another fun thing about this conference was that it was my good friend Desiree's first time singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for Conference. She got a great close up on Sunday. She is beautiful and stands out in the choir. It was so fun to see her in the choir and living her dream. :o) I also saw my friend Matt's Mom (the one that got me into the MoTab Christmas Concert with Archie) and this happened to be her last General Conference that she would be singing in.
I think this was the first time in a LONG time that I actually watched one of the programs that they played after conference was over. It was After the Sunday morning session. Tina and I were sucked in from the very beginning. It was an hour long program that went into two different life changing story lines. First started off with all of these kids of different ages and ethnicity's and they each talked about their mom and their dad and different things about them. Then the camera man asked who their mom and dad was and they each said the same mom and dad. Then it introduced Brother and Sister Clarke (mom and dad) and they told the story of after being married for only 6 months, they adopted one child and ended up with 21. What is special about this was that these were not just any kids... these were all kids that nobody wanted for some reason or another. The first was their son that they adopted from Vietnam. The war had just happened and they thought they would take in a couple of refugees. They got a Father and Son and the Father wanted to go back and find his wife and daughter so he left his son and they adopted him. Others were from mothers that were raped. Some of them their mothers were alcoholics, one boy was deaf, another boy from India was from an abortion and then he was left on a trash can in the streets. Each were sad stories, but they were rescued and their lives were changed because of this loving couple. They went on family vacation every year with out fail. They were not perfect, but ALL of those kids got to grow up in a loving family.
The other story was about a man who wanted to develop a technology where you would control things on a computer screen by censors that are hooked up around your eye and move things on the screen according to your eye movement. He really only did it for the technology. It was featured on the Discovery channel and a mother of a physically handicapped son called him and told him she wanted her son to try. He didn't ever deal with the handicapped well and he wasn't 100% sure about his technology working for them. The mother kept trying until he said he would do it. Her son is 13 and was told that he had the capacity of a 6 month old. She was told because he couldn't function with his body that he wasn't able to learn, but the mother new that he was smart. She read to him. She knew he was taking it in. She hooked him up to this technology and her son could do it. It proved that he knew exactly what was going on and had been learning all the time... just couldn't show it because his body can't function. After that, the boy was put in school and went to class like everyone else. They had a person go with him to class and take notes so that they could put what he was learning in class in the computer program. The last clip they showed was the man that created the technology seeing a clip of this boys high school graduation. All because of him. He worked with other physically challenged kids and they could all do it. He then realized that he didn't create it for the Technology... he created it for the people. Of course Tina and I were both balling this entire program. It was so touching. So Inspiring.
This whole conference weekend left me wanting to be a better person, to make a different in the world. To be more loving and kind. I loved watching everything this weekend and I can't wait for the Conference Issue of the Ensign to come out so I can read and re-read the talks. I am so thankful for General Conference and that we have it every six months. Its EXACTLY what we need to hear. Right here. Right now. I love this church. It is such a blessing in my life. I love the good people that inspire me to want to be better. What a great weekend.
3 comments:
I'm going to have to look up those "in between" programs. They sound awesome. The only one that I saw was that movie about Joseph Smith.
amen...
my favorite talk was Elder Holland... he "brought it home" as they say!
Yay! Thanks for the shout out. Singing in conference was so incredible! One downside is I miss the programs in between so thanks for filling me in. It sounded great. LOVE conference! All the talks were SO amazing!
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